The first practice session continued with sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton surprisingly won pole position!
SQ1 started out similar to what we've seen lately. McLaren, Oscar Piastre, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli in the lead. Then, in the final moments, the tables turned and Scuderia Ferrari took over: Lewis Hamilton finished the stage in the lead, ahead of Norris and Charles Leclerc, while among the dropouts we saw two Alpines, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg and, a small surprise, Liam Lawson in last place.
SQ2 started again with McLaren dominating, with the difference that this time they didn't give the lead away to the orange cars. Behind them Lewis Hamilton appeared again with a strong lap, but before we could write that he finished third, George Russell arrived, getting between the two McLarens - Hamilton finished fourth. Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoletto and Isack Hadjar no longer had such problems, they could go to the shower.
After these events came the final act, where strangely Scuderia Ferrari and especially Hamilton felt the rhythm and took the lead. Piastri was close to the Briton, Norris did not even try to catch up with his compatriot. Unlike Verstappen, who had a very decent chance of winning the sprint qualifying until the last moments. He did not succeed, he fell just short, so Lewis Hamilton has already achieved a "historic" success ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. It is worth getting up for tomorrow's sprint!
Photo: IMAG
