Oscar Piastri took his first Formula 1 pole position for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix ahead of Geroge Russell and Lando Norris. Oscar set the lap record at the Shanghai circuit and his two final runs were fast enough for pole.
The session was an interesting departure from Ferrari’s pace during the Sprint qualifying and race with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc only managing a P5 and P6 result respectively. One might suggest that the lessons learned from the Sprint events made for some performance enhancing adjustments for McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull.
I suspect the tire management and wear rates will be an interesting dynamic, as well as strategy, will be an interesting and major element to the race.
Ultimately Ferrari may not have had the pace during qualifying but Lewis did seem to manage his tires well during the Sprint. Can he do the same for twice the distance?
A great result for the RB’s as Isack Hadjar has had a great weekend so far as well as Yuki Tsunoda. They will start 7th and 9th respectively.
Chinese GP Qualifying Results:
Pos | No | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:31.591 | 1:31.200 | 1:30.641 | 20 |
2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:31.295 | 1:31.307 | 1:30.723 | 22 |
3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:30.983 | 1:30.787 | 1:30.793 | 17 |
4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:31.424 | 1:31.142 | 1:30.817 | 15 |
5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:31.690 | 1:31.501 | 1:30.927 | 21 |
6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.579 | 1:31.450 | 1:31.021 | 21 |
7 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:31.162 | 1:31.253 | 1:31.079 | 20 |
8 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:31.676 | 1:31.590 | 1:31.103 | 22 |
9 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:31.238 | 1:31.260 | 1:31.638 | 19 |
10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.503 | 1:31.595 | 1:31.706 | 20 |
11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.876 | 1:31.625 | 15 | |
12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:31.921 | 1:31.632 | 15 | |
13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:31.719 | 1:31.688 | 15 | |
14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:31.923 | 1:31.773 | 15 | |
15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.628 | 1:31.840 | 15 | |
16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:31.992 | 9 | ||
17 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas Ferrari | 1:32.018 | 8 | ||
18 | 7 | Jack Doohan | Alpine Renault | 1:32.092 | 8 | ||
19 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:32.141 | 9 | ||
20 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:32.174 | 8 |
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