Verstappen completes perfect Saturday in China in Qualifying, Hamilton P18

Max Verstappen was the fastest in qualifying, and claimed his fifth pole position of the season. The Dutchman was three tenths quicker than his teammate Perez. Fernando Alonso also completed a superb lap, and finished third similarly to SQ3 a day earlier.

The two McLarens outqualified the two Ferraris, with Lando Norris finishing fourth ahead of Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc finished in P6  and got the better of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who caused a red flag earlier in Q2. George Russell finished eighth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas.

Q2

It was Carlos Sainz who caused a red flag in Q2. The Spaniard got a bit too eager exiting the final, put his wheel in the gravel trap which made him spin and end up in the wall on the opposite side. Sainz could get his car going again, and Ferrari were able to stitch up his car in order for him to continue. In the end, Sainz finished third in this season.

This session, the margins were in the Stake F1 Team’s favour. Valtteri Bottas for the second time this weekend qualified for the final qualifying session of the day, knocking out Lance Stroll.

OUT - P15 Gasly, P14 Albon, P13 Ocon, P12 Ricciardo, P11 Stroll

Q1

After an impressive Sprint where Lewis Hamilton finished in P2, the second half of his day was not as cheerful for the Briton. On his final lap, he was on course to qualify, but he made a mistake and locked up hard into Turn 14. That led to his elimination.

Finishing just behind Hamilton in the Sprint, Sergio Perez was also bound to be eliminated, but the Mexican got away with it. Checo’s lap time was just enough to be ahead of home favourite Guanyu Zhou to make it through. Struggling in P20, Logan Sargeant has spun once again, but for the Williams’ mechanics sake, he did not damage his car.

OUT - P20 Sargeant, P19 Tsunoda, P18 Hamilton, P17 Magnussen, P16 Zhou