There was a certain sense of surprise hanging in the air after the sprint race of the Chinese Grand Prix, but pre-season favourites McLaren made sure that wasn't the case.
Q1 brought a truly colorful spectacle, as with little exaggeration the entire peloton turned around in the top 3. McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Racing Bulls were in the lead, and finally Lando Norris, Isaac Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda closed this stage in first place. Pierre Gasly, Ollie Bearman, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson were not so lucky or fast and said goodbye to the next fight. The last-named pilot was in pain, his boss gave him only one advice before qualifying: avoid social media...
In Q2, the situation developed similarly to the previous stage, after a brief excitement between the Mercedes, McLaren quickly took the initiative and never let it go. Once again, Lando Norris emerged as the fastest ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastre, while Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, Carlos Sainz and two Aston Martin names were among the retirees.
After the first fast laps of Q3 we saw the same picture again: two McLarens in the lead, Verstappen close behind. At this stage it was almost clear that the orange team would take pole position, the only question was which driver and with which car. In the end it was Oscar Piastri who managed to do it, overtaking George Russell and Lando Norris. The finish was incredibly close, let's hope that this excitement will continue for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix!
Photo: Motorsportweek / PlanetF1
