SHANGHAI — McLaren’s Lando Norris had his fastest lap deleted and reinstated as he seized pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race at the top of a wet and chaotic qualifying on Friday.
Mercedes’ seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton made it an all-British front row, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso securing the third slot for Saturday’s 100-km race, the primary sprint of the season.
Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen will start from fourth on the grid after twice going off in the ultimate top 10 shootout, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz fifth and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez sixth.
Hamilton appeared to have secured the pole for the points scoring sprint but Norris then went top with a time of 1 minute, 57.940 seconds and 1.261 faster than the Mercedes.
The younger Briton then had the lap deleted for seemingly exceeding track limits, putting Hamilton back on provisional pole, before the time was reinstated moments later by stewards.
“It was (wild),” said Norris of the conditions, describing his pole lap as all-or-nothing after aborting two previous attempts.
“I got a bit nervous but they’re conditions where you have just got to risk rather a lot, you have got to push, construct tire temperature.
“I was quick, I just kept catching the Ferrari so I had to keep backing off … I got a good final lap, a good enough one for pole so I’m happy. Sad it’s not for a proper qualifying but good enough.”
The predominant qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix is on Saturday afternoon, after the sprint.
Completely clean
There was some uncertainty concerning the lap deletion and reinstatement but McLaren principal Andrea Stella told Sky Sports television he believed it was because Norris had gone off at the ultimate corner of the previous lap.
“They might have thought in this case having been off at the last corner it kind of has implications for the following lap,” he said. “That (pole) lap is completely clean, there is no problem at all.”
The qualifying began dry then turned damp before rain at the top with a small trackside fire also flaring up early on and blamed on sparks from the cars’ skid blocks.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc qualified seventh, despite earlier skidding off and damaging his automotive’s front wing, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri eighth and the Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and residential hero Zhou Guanyu delighting the group to finish the highest 10.
Hamilton’s lap got here as a surprise even for Mercedes, who had George Russell qualify only eleventh.
Hamilton, winner a record six times in China with six poles there also, was only ninth within the second phase before the rain got here down but made probably the most of the treacherous conditions.
“I think obviously the driving is most important in the wet but I think it shows it’s about tire preparation,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“On the final run the tires were in the sweet spot, combined with a great drive. That made the time.”
Verstappen, winner of three of the season’s first 4 races, was greater than two seconds slower than Norris.
“It was incredibly slippery. I just struggled a lot to get the temperature in the tires,” said the triple world champion. “That’s why it was very difficult to maintain the automotive heading in the right direction and it never really switched on for me.
“It was just like driving on ice. I think it’s quite deserved where we are in qualifying, it was just not really working for me in the wet even though I think in the dry we look quite good.”
Friday’s track motion marked Formula One’s return to the Shanghai International Circuit for the primary time since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Credit : www.autoblog.com
