Chinese GP Results: Lando Norris Takes Pole Position For First Sprint Race Of 2024

The results of Sprint Qualifying for the Chinese GP Sprint Race.

Lando Norris has secured pole position for the first Sprint Race of the 2024 season in Shanghai. Joining the McLaren driver at the front of the grid tomorrow will be Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso who start from second and third, respectively.

The Chinese Grand Prix weekend hosts the first Sprint Race of the season. This means that the weekend consists of Free Practice 1 and Sprint Qualifying on Friday, the Sprint Race and Qualifying on Saturday, and the Grand Prix on Sunday. Another key feature of the Sprint weekend is the mandatory tire allocation for Sprint Qualifying. Drivers must use new medium tires in SQ1, new medium tires in SQ2, and new soft tires for SQ3.

What Happened In Sprint Qualifying?

Zhou Guanyu, who is the first Chinese driver to drive at his home race, was the first to take to the track.

Shortly after, Oscar Piastri reported spitting rain to his team. However, it managed to hold off for the remainder of SQ1. Logan Sargeant claimed Pierre Gasly impeded him asking for his Williams team to flag the moment to the Stewards, however, 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg, who is presenting with Sky F1, claims the French driver did nothing wrong.

Just as the chequered flag was waved on SQ1, another fire broke out at the side of the track at Turn 5. This has now become a repeat issue during the weekend as Free Practice 1 was put under red flag conditions earlier today for the same reason. The issue is stemming from a slight bump in the track surface which causes sparks to fly from the cars as they run over it, the sparks then land on the grass to the side of the track and set it alight.

Out in SQ1

1. Pierre Gasly
2. Esteban Ocon
3. Alex Albon
4. Yuki Tsunoda
5. Logan Sargeant

The start of SQ2 was delayed whilst the fire was tended to, however, this delay increased the risk of rain during the session. Each team was reporting different timings for the rainfall, with some predicting it to impede the first out-lap.

With 3 minutes to go, the track was officially deemed wet leaving with heavy rainfall. Bad news for Mercedes and George Russell who is unable to put in another competitive lap leaving him in the elimination zone.

On a positive note, the crowd erupted with cheers as it became clear home hero Guanyu had got through to SQ3 due to the rain.

Out in SQ2

1. George Russell
2. Kevin Magnussen
3. Nico Hulkenberg
4. Daniel Ricciardo
5. Lance Stroll

All drivers have the intermediate tires for SQ3 with rain expecting to mix things up in the fight for pole position.

Just as SQ3 got underway, Charles Leclerc aquaplaned at the entry into Turn 9. Thankfully, the Monegasque driver was okay and managed to minimise damage to the SF-24 and was able to get the car back on track to return to the pits. The Ferrari team changed the tires and he was able to continue with the session.

The rain caused chaos in the final qualifying session with the drivers struggling with grip. Max Verstappen was the next driver to run off the track. All so far have managed to avoid a major crash. Verstappen's run-off led to his lap time being deleted so he now has 2 and a half minutes to get a lap time in.

More lap times were deleted for Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris. An odd moment at the end as Norris took provisional pole, had the lap time deleted, and then as Hamilton was about to celebrate pole position, Norris' lap time was reinstated. It is currently unclear as to whether Mercedes will contest this decision.

Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying Results

1. Lando Norris
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Fernando Alonso
4. Max Verstappen
5. Carlos Sainz
6. Sergio Perez
7. Charles Leclerc
8. Oscar Piastri
9. Valtteri Bottas
10. Zhou Guanyu
11. George Russell
12. Kevin Magnussen
13. Nico Hulkenberg
14. Daniel Ricciardo
15. Lance Stroll
16. Pierre Gasly
17. Esteban Ocon
18. Alex Albon
19. Yuki Tsunoda
20. Logan Sargeant