Max Verstappen took pole position for the first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019. It was business as usual for the world champion but Lewis Hamilton endured a shocker in Shanghai, knocked out in Q1, the seven-time champion will start Sunday’s race 18th on the grid.
It was a stark turnaround for Hamilton after he had enjoyed a feisty sprint race, claiming second place earlier in the day. Verstappen had taken the flag to win the first of six sprints this season, coming back from fourth to beat Hamilton, who had led for the opening half of the race but was ultimately powerless against the pace of the Red Bull at the Shanghai International circuit.
Hamilton had declared himself enormously pleased describing it as his “best result in a long time”. In qualifying however a mistake ruined his day. He locked up at the hairpin, forcing him wide and losing time, dropping six-tenths to his Mercedes teammate George Russell in the final sector, a chasm that cost him a place in Q2.
“Sorry guys,” he told the team, acknowledging his error. It is the first time since Jeddah in 2022 he has been knocked out in Q1, while his trying run of failing to finish in the top six this season looks set to continue on Sunday. Sergio Pérez qualified in second for Red Bull, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in third, with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri impressing in fourth and fifth on a circuit not expected to suit their car.
With no racing at shanghai for five years, because of the pandemic, the circuit has presented something of a conundrum to the teams. They have not driven the 2022-regulation ground-effect cars here and that it was also a sprint weekend with only one practice session, this was something of a journey into the unknown. However Red Bull had its measure with formidable form.
On the decisive runs in Q3, Verstappen who comfortably led in Q1 and Q2, was on top in the final two sectors, setting the pace with a 1min 33.977sec lap, four-tenths clear of Alonso and there was more to come. For the final laps Verstappen proved he did indeed have a better lap in him, going three-tenths quicker with a 1min 33.660. It was an immense lap, this time on rails and hree-tenths up on Pérez but almost half a second clear of Alonso and the rest of the field.
The pole continues Verstappen’s dominant run over the single lap this season, with his fifth in a row. He was beaten in the wet conditions in qualifying for the sprint race but with no variables was once more firmly on top in Shanghai. It is his first pole in China, a race where he has never won but has competed at five times, with a best finish of third in 2017.
It is Red Bull’s 100th pole position and their first in China for over a decade with Sebastian Vettel having last taken the top spot in 2011.
In the morning’s sprint race, Hamilton had made a cracking start to beat pole-sitter Lando Norris off the line to take the lead, with Verstappen starting from fourth. Norris dropped back through the field, struggling for grip, while Hamilton enjoyed himself, leading a race once more on a track where he has won six times.
There was a brief consideration that the British driver might hold the place and take his first win since the Saudi Arabian GP in 2021 but normal service was resumed as the Red Bull found its true pace as he overcame issues with the battery charging of his hybrid system.
By lap seven he had moved up to second and by lap nine was on Hamilton’s tail. The British driver could do nothing to prevent a pass and with the place and clean air Verstappen demonstrated his true pace. He put a two-second lead on Hamilton within a lap and took the flag a full 13 seconds clear of the Mercedes driver, his pace a second a lap quicker and an ominous indicator for Sunday. Pérez was third, Charles Leclerc fourth for Ferrari and Norris in sixth.
After four rounds Verstappen leads the drivers’ championship by 15 points from teammate Pérez, while Red Bull lead Ferrari by 26 points in the constructors’ table. The qualifying session was delayed with a red flag after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz spun at the final corner in Q2 and hit the barriers but he was able to return to the pits and continue, finishing in seventh. His teammate Charles Leclerc was sixth.
Russell was in eighth, Nico Hülkenberg in ninth for Haas and Valtteri Bottas in 10th for Sauber. Lance Stroll was 11th for Aston Martin, Daniel Ricciardo 12th for RB, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly 13th and 15th for Alpine, with Alex Albon 14th for Williams. Guanyu Zhou was 16th for Sauber, Kevin Magnussen 17th for Haas, Yuki Tsunoda 19th for RB and Logan Sargeant20th for Williams.