China - Qualifying

Only a few hours after the first sprint of the season ended, the drivers rolled out on track once again, this time for the qualifying for Sunday's race. Q1 began rather slowly with the biggest news being a problem with Tsunoda's DRS which the RB team managed to fix. Perez and Albon had a tense moment as the Red Bull driver claimed that the Williams impeded him on track. FIA investigated the claim and decided that no further action would be taken. The most interesting part of the session was, as usual, the last few minutes which began with a momentary yellow flag. It was brought out by Logan Sargeant who spun at turn 9 during his last flying lap. The American was able to recover the car but the wasted lap meant that he didn't manage to move out of the elimination zone. The biggest surprise was Hamilton's unexpected early exit. The driver's wheel locked up on one of the last corners, making him lose a few tenths of a second. The time loss put him in the bottom five, alongside Zhou, Magnussen, Tsunoda, and Sargeant. It was his first Q1 elimination since the 2022 season. 

Q2 started smoothly but took a turn when Carlos Sainz drove into the gravel around the last corner of the track and spun, ending up in the wall. He managed to control his car enough to make sure that it hit the wall sideways, minimising the damage. He ended up with his front wing off, and his accident brought out a red flag. While the crew cleaned up, Ferrari changed Sainz's nose. He was able to drive out with the other cars and put a good lap time on the board. Red Bull dominated the session but the Ferraris followed closely behind. Stroll, Ricciardo, Ocon, Albon, and Gasly made up the elimination zone.

Max Verstappen showed his skills in Q3, improving upon his own time and ensuring that no one would be able to catch up to him. His great performance left only one spot on the front row open and the remaining nine drivers were desperate to take it. Hulkenberg put in a superb performance and spent a great part of the session in front of the cars of the much stronger teams. The Ferraris both saw provisional P2, with Sainz getting it first, only to have it taken away by Leclerc. The McLarens out-qualified both scarlet cars, pushing them further down the grid. For a while, it looked like Alonso, who impressed at the Chinese circuit, would find himself right by Verstappen's side but Perez's last-minute great lap ensured, yet another, Red Bull front-row lock-up. The well-deserved P1 marks Verstappen's fifth pole position in a row. 

Order of the grid

1. Max Verstappen

2. Sergio Perez

3. Fernando Alonso

4. Lando Norris

5. Oscar Piastri

6. Charles Leclerc

7. Carlos Sainz

8. George Russel

9. Nico Hulkenberg

10. Valtteri Bottas

11. Lance Stroll

12. Daniel Ricciardo

13. Esteban Ocon

14. Alex Albon

15. Pierre Gasly

16. Zhou Guanyu

17. Kevin Magnussen

18. Lewis Hamilton 

19. Yuki Tsunoda

20. Logan Sargeant