China - Qualifying
To the surprise of few, the first sprint of the season ended with yet another Mercedes victory. As the fans waited for the qualifying for Sunday's main event to start, one question flashed through all their minds: would the penultimate session of the weekend bring more of the same? Valtteri Bottas was the first driver on track, quickly followed by everyone save for the two Mercedes, who decided to wait out the early runs in the pits. Without their presence, Oscar Piastri set the quickest first time, but was beaten out from the top as soon as George Russell and Kimi Antonelli added their efforts to the timing sheet. For once, they did not end the session unbeaten. On his last attempt, Charles Lecerc was lightning fast on the track and therefore took Q1's first position. The other side of the standings, the elimination zone, included Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, and Sergio Perez. Hoping to save two sets of new tires for the last qua...