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It’s a very early start once again, though hopefully one worth getting up for. F1 returns to China for the first running of the Chinese Grand Prix since 2019 and yesterday’s running did not disappoint. The drivers only had a single hour of practice before jumping into qualifying for today’s sprint race. Not many of them were all that happy about it, but so what. You are the best drivers in the world, so deal with it.
In any case, this lack of familiarity with the Shanghai International Circuit was not what created an entertaining sprint qualifying, it was the rain. Just before SQ1 it started spitting. The drivers got through on slick tyres for that session before it started pelting it down in SQ2. George Russell did not put in a first lap good enough to make the top 10 and the weather meant it was impossible to improve. And so he was out.
By the start of SQ3 the conditions were poor. Not poor enough for full wet tyres admittedly but difficult enough for several drivers to run off. Charles Leclerc spun his Ferrari into the barriers but luckily the damage to his front wing was not significant to end his session. Even Max Verstappen struggled with the conditions, having a couple of offs, running into the gravel in the final corner.
In the final reckoning it was Lando Norris who crossed the line fastest, though with some confusion. Initially his fastest lap was shown as deleted for exceeding track limits at the final turn meaning his following lap – which was shown as fast enough to beat Hamilton – was also discounted. But just as it looked Hamilton had secured top spot, Norris’s lap was reinstated to slight confusion.
It’s Norris, Hamilton, Alonso and Verstappen on the front two rows for the sprint race, which begins at 4am. We will be here for that as well as qualifying for the main grand prix later this morning. Let’s hope it’s as good as yesterday.
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