Shanghai qualifying report: Charles Leclerc P6, Carlos Sainz P7

Shanghai qualifying report: Charles Leclerc P6, Carlos Sainz P7 | 2024 F1 Chinese GP. Shanghai qualifying report: how Ferrari performed in China.

Let’s go through our summary of the highlights from the Chinese GP qualifying, which followed this morning’s sprint race.

Q1
Max Verstappen is the fastest at the end of Q1, with the Dutchman finishing in 1:34.842 on soft tires, 55 milliseconds ahead of Charles Leclerc and a solid tenth ahead of Lando Norris.

Carlos Sainz is fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth, with Nico Hulkenberg doing very well in sixth. A great achievement for Valtteri Bottas, who manages to qualify for Q2 in ninth place. Finally, a good performance from both Alpine drivers, with both making it through.

Sergio Perez just barely makes it through, knocking out local idol Guanyu Zhou, who, along with Lewis Hamilton, is dramatically eliminated. The Brit finishes in eighteenth position, paying for a mistake made on the decisive lap. Besides the Mercedes driver and the Chinese, Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda, and Logan Sargeant are also eliminated.

Q2
In a Q2 marked by a red flag due to an incident caused by Carlos Sainz against the barriers, Max Verstappen is once again the fastest. The Dutchman clocks a monstrous 1:33.794, two-tenths ahead of his teammate.

Red Bull creates a gap behind them, with Sainz managing to return to the track and complete the lap in third place, but nearly six-tenths off the leader.

The same goes for Leclerc and Norris, while George Russell, Fernando Alonso, Piastri, and Hulkenberg stop at eight-tenths. Bottas is the last of the qualifiers, demonstrating a truly competitive Stake on the Shanghai circuit.

Eliminated: Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon, Alexander Albon, and Pierre Gasly.

Q3
As widely predicted, Max Verstappen secures the pole position for the Chinese GP, with Sergio Perez completing a Red Bull one-two. Verstappen’s pole time is 1:33.660, a full three-tenths ahead of his teammate.

Fernando Alonso takes third place with a fantastic performance, with the two McLarens starting just behind the Spaniard. A poor performance from the two Ferraris, with Charles Leclerc only sixth and Carlos Sainz seventh, six-tenths away from pole. George Russell is eighth, while Hulkenberg and Bottas finish in ninth and tenth positions, no longer having new soft tires available.

The top ten for the Chinese Grand Prix: