Shanghai. McLaren’s Lando Norris had his fastest lap erased and reinstated, taking pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race on Friday at the end of a chaotic qualifying. The Mexican Czech Pérez will start from sixth place.
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes rounded out an all-British front row, while Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin secured third place for Saturday’s 100km test, the first race at sprint of the season.
Red Bull championship leader Max Verstappen will start from fourth position after falling out of the top 10 twice in the final stint, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz fifth and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez sixth.
Hamilton seemed to have secured pole for the points sprint, but Norris then took first with a time of one minute and 57.940 seconds, a mark 1.261 seconds faster than the Mercedes.
Norris had his lap erased for apparently exceeding track limits, returning Hamilton to provisional pole, before stewards reset the time moments later.
“It was wild,” Norris said of the conditions, describing his pole lap as all or nothing after aborting two previous attempts. “I got a little nervous, but these are conditions in which you have to risk a lot.”
Main qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix is on Saturday afternoon, after the sprint.
There was some uncertainty over the lap being scrapped and reinstated, but McLaren principal Andrea Stella told broadcaster Sky Sports that she believed it was because Norris had gone off in the final corner of the previous lap.
“They may have thought that in this case going off in the last corner has implications for the next lap,” he said. “That (pole) lap is completely clean, there is no problem.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc qualified seventh, despite skidding earlier and damaging the front wing of his car. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was eighth and the Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and local Zhou Guanyu delighted the crowd to complete the top 10.
Verstappen, winner of three of the first four races of the season, was more than two seconds slower than Norris.
Friday’s on-track action marked the return of F1 to the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time since 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
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– 2024-04-20 02:16:27
