Norris will start the sprint race in China, ahead of Hamilton

Undaunted, Briton Lando Norris will start Saturday at the head of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, the fifth meeting of the season, after setting the fastest qualifying time on Friday in difficult conditions.

On the Shanghai track, made very slippery by rain on the new track, the McLaren driver beat Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who will start second in Saturday’s 5:00 race. am (Paris time, GMT+2).

“We had to take a lot of risks,” Norris assured when he arrived. “We were only allowed three laps and the first two I cut, so it was all or nothing,” he explained.

In front of the stands and few spectators for the return of the Chinese event after a five-year absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the poleman also had one last look to ensure that the pole was cleared … before being reinstated at the very end. of the session, at the expense of Hamilton who sorry seemed promising.

The second row will return on Saturday to Spanish world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who will start ahead of another champion, Max Verstappen (Red Bull).

– “Like driving on ice” –

The Dutchman, who currently leads the championship thanks to his three wins in four doctors, saw his two times canceled as he crossed the track’s boundaries. Like several of its competitors, “Mad Max” had a few scares in the rain.

“It was very slippery and I had a lot of trouble getting the tires warm,” replied the three-time reigning champion. “It was like driving on ice, so we deserved our place (…) but in the dry, the car was very good.” The rest of the weekend should be done on a dry track according to the latest weather forecast.

Behind the quartet, follows the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, 5th, who once again did better than his Ferrari colleague Charles Leclerc, 7th.

The Monegasque also had a scare at the start of SQ3, the final qualifying stage where pole is at stake, when he hit the wall after leaving the track.

If he could leave, “it jeopardized our qualification but we couldn’t do much more,” he admitted.

He will start ahead of Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 8th while another Red Bull, Mexican Sergio Pérez, 6th, is placed between the two SF-24s.

– Lawn lights –

Acclaimed by the public, event host Zhou Guanyu will start 10th at the wheel of his Sauber. The Shanghai native, who arrives on the elite list in 2022, is the first Chinese in history to compete in Formula 1 in China.

As in the only practice session held earlier in the day, the end of the first qualifying session (SQ1) was interrupted by a fire that broke out in the grass near the circuit.

During the fire – apparently caused by sparks from the single-seater – the drivers returned to the track for the rest of qualifying.

Only the final five of this SQ1 remain in the garage, including the Williams pair of Thai Alexander Albon and American Logan Sargeant – and the Alpine pair of Frenchman Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, who will start from 16th and 17th positions respectively.

The Chinese GP is the first of six rounds of the year to feature a sprint format, which changes the course of the weekend.

Therefore, drivers only do one free practice session on the Friday before qualifying which determines the grid for the sprint races to be run the following day. After this race, drivers will compete in “classic” qualifying, which will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s GP.

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