F1 Chinese GP: Verstappen takes pole and wins sprint race

Defending world champion Max Verstappen stormed to take pole and win the season’s first sprint race at Shanghai International Circuit. The Sprint race sprung a lot of surprises as the runner-up position went to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished third. As for the qualifiers, it’s a 1-2 start for Red Bull while the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will start third. 

F1 Chinese GP: Sprint Race

For a change, it wasn’t Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who started from pole in the Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. The top honours went to Lando Norris of McLaren. Sadly, the celebrations in the British camp were quickly subdued as Norris had a poor start and went wide on Turn 1 while he was trying to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay. It was a rare sight, but Hamilton quickly led the Sprint, while Norris slipped down and lost five places to Fernando Alonso, Verstappen, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Perez. 

The Flying Dutchman didn’t have a smooth start to the Sprint race. In the first couple of laps, the Red Bull driver was struggling with battery charging issues and was forced to change the settings for the steering wheel. With Sainz starting to breathe down Verstappen’s neck, the Red Bull car got back its pace and the three-time world champion overtook Aston Martin’s Alonso in the DRS zone for second place. Verstappen was gaining on the Sprint leader Hamilton as the Red Bull driver also clocked the fastest lap. Once Verstappen went past the Englishman, there was no stopping him as he won the Sprint as Hamilton finished second after 13 seconds. 

Alonso and Sainz were in a fierce tussle for third. Perez finished in third place with a cool head as the other two were occupied fighting. A punctured tyre forced Alonso to pit. The drama continued when the Ferrari teammates started squabbling, causing Sainz to drive wide and allow Charles Leclerc to finish in fourth. 

F1 Chinese GP: Qualifiers

Max Verstappen was back to his best as he will start in the first position. This was also Red Bull’s 100th pole. In the three qualification sessions, Sergio Perez managed to get the better of his teammate in Q2. This is good news for team Red Bull as they look undefeatable by a mile. Fernando Alonso kept Aston Martin’s hopes alive as he qualified third behind the two Red Bulls. 

With so much promise shown at the Sprint, Hamilton had a nightmare of a qualifying session as he will start 18th on the grid. Unfortunately for the Mercedes racer, he couldn’t qualify for Q2. 

Drama abounding in the Q2 sessions was caused by Sainz’s crash in the last turn. The Ferrari driver was able to return to the pits despite this being a red-flag incident. After Ferrari was able to repair the vehicle, Sainz finished seventh, one place behind his teammate. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris classified fourth and fifth, respectively, on a successful day for the McLaren team. The top ten concluded with George Russell of Mercedes in eighth place, followed by Nico Hulkenberg who maintained his impressive form to secure ninth, just ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas.