The Chinese Grand Prix program continued with the first free practice sprint qualifying, where, to a huge surprise, Lewis Hamilton took pole position!
The SQ1 started similarly to what we have seen in the past. With McLaren in the lead, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli. Then, just before the last moments, the dice turned and Scuderia Ferrari took the baton in hand: Lewis Hamilton ended this stage in the lead, ahead of Norris and Charles Leclerc, while the two Alpines, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg and, surprisingly, Liam Lawson in last place, were among the eliminated.
SQ2 started with McLaren dominance once again, with the only difference being that this time the orange cars did not relinquish the lead. Behind them Lewis Hamilton appeared again with a strong lap, but before we could write that he finished third, George Russell arrived, who got between the two McLarens - Hamilton thus only finished fourth. Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoletó and Isack Hadjar had no such problems, they were able to go to the shower.
After such a history, the last stage could come, where, strangely enough, Scuderia Ferrari and especially Hamilton felt the rhythm and took the lead. Piastri was close to the Briton, and Norris did not even try to catch his compatriot. Not so Verstappen, who until the last moments had a very serious chance of winning the sprint time trial. It did not work out, he missed it by a hair, so Lewis Hamilton already achieved a “historic” success ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. It will be worth getting up for tomorrow's sprint!
Photo: IMAGO
