F1 Chinese Grand Prix LIVE: Qualifying updates in Shanghai as Max Verstappen claims Red Bull’s 100th pole
Formula 1 updates from the Shanghai International Circuit as China hosts the first sprint weekend of the season
Lewis Hamilton’s troubled start to the new season took another desperate twist on Saturday after he qualified a lowly 18th for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton earlier in the day had led the sprint race in Shanghai for eight laps before he had to settle for runner-up after he was overtaken by eventual winner Max Verstappen.
But less than four hours after Hamilton’s drive to second place - a result he described as his “best in a long time” - the 39-year-old was brought crashing back down to earth when he was eliminated in the opening phase of qualifying for Sunday’s main event.
The seven-time world champion locked up at the penultimate corner on his speediest lap, and he finished in the Q1 knockout zone, leaving only RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Logan Sargeant behind him on the grid.
Verstappen beat Hamilton by an impressive 13 seconds in Saturday’s sprint and he raced to a perhaps predictable pole position.
The Dutch driver, who is on course to take his fourth consecutive world championship, saw off team-mate Sergio Perez as Red Bull secured a front-row lockout. It also marked Red Bull’s 100th pole in F1.
Verstappen finished 0.322 seconds clear of Perez, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso third. Lando Norris, who dropped from pole to finish sixth in the sprint race, qualified fourth ahead of Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren.
Charles Leclerc and Sainz finished sixth and seventh respectively for Ferrari, while George Russell could manage only eighth on a poor afternoon for the Silver Arrows.
Follow live coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix with The Independent
Hamilton’s 18th place explained
Russell said 18th on the grid was not where “the best driver of all time” deserved to be, but that Mercedes needed to try things for the team to find the performance gains required to take the fight to Red Bull and Ferrari.
“Of course, when you make these big setup adjustments, straight into qualifying, it does take some time to adapt to it, Russell said. “We just need to keep working, keep trying things.”
Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, the 2016 world champion, said 18th place was “seriously painful”.
“He had a great lap until then,” he added. “It was really unnecessary to push the limit and as a seven-time world champion that is a mistake which should be avoidable.”
Via AP
Hamilton explains poor showing in Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying
“I made massive changes into qualifying,” Hamilton later told Sky Sports, following his elimination as one of the four slowest drivers.
“(The car) wasn’t too bad in some places. I couldn’t stop in Turn 14,” he added. “It is what it is.”
His teammate George Russell qualified eighth on the grid for Sunday, with Verstappen taking Red Bull’s 100th pole in F1.
“(The car) was very challenging out there, almost lost it in Q1 on my fast lap. It’s not easy to drive, for sure,” Russell said.
Hamilton had said he had found out a lot about the car from the sprint and would make adjustments to the setup ahead of qualifying.
“This morning George and I had very similar cars but then this afternoon, we’re trying to experiment still with the car so I went one way, a long way, and then he went the other way just to see if we could find anything,” Hamilton said.
Via AP
Lewis Hamilton claims he is “mentally strong” after being knocked out in Q1
An exasperated Mercedes boss Toto Wolff looked to the heavens after Hamilton’s fate was confirmed.
“Sorry guys,” reported Hamilton over the radio. He finished eight tenths off the pace and half-a-second behind George Russell in the other Mercedes.
Hamilton last suffered such a lowly grid spot when he crashed out of qualifying in Brazil in 2017.
“That is seriously painful,” said Rosberg, who endured a fractious relationship with Hamilton as they duelled for the title.
The German, who eventually beat Hamilton to the championship in 2016 before retiring only days later, added in commentary for Sky Sports: “It was really unnecessary to push the limit and as a seven-time world champion that is a mistake which should be avoidable.
“He broke three metres too late, and he had the brake balance too far forward. He lost at least four tenths which easily would have put him in Q2. That’s a disaster.”
Lewis Hamilton claims he is “mentally strong” after being knocked out in Q1
Lewis Hamilton insisted he is “mentally very strong” after his worst qualifying in nearly seven years which was labelled a “disaster” and “unnecessary” by former rival Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton will line up in 18th position for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix after his troubled start to the new season took another desperate twist in Shanghai.
Earlier on Saturday, Hamilton rolled back the years to lead the sprint race for eight laps before he had to settle for second after he was overtaken by eventual winner Max Verstappen.
But four hours after a result Hamilton described as his “best in a long time”, the 39-year-old was brought crashing back down to earth when he was eliminated in the opening phase of qualifying for Sunday’s main event.
Via PA
Lewis Hamilton to start Chinese Grand Prix in 18th as Max Verstappen clinches pole
Lewis Hamilton’s troubled start to the new season took another desperate twist on Saturday after he qualified a lowly 18th for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton earlier in the day had led the sprint race in Shanghai for eight laps before he had to settle for runner-up after he was overtaken by eventual winner Max Verstappen.
But less than four hours after Hamilton’s drive to second place – a result he described as his “best in a long time” – the 39-year-old was brought crashing back down to earth when he was eliminated in the opening phase of qualifying for Sunday’s main event.
Lewis Hamilton to start Chinese Grand Prix in 18th as Max Verstappen clinches pole
Hamilton had earlier led the sprint race in Shanghai for eight laps before finishing second to Max Verstappen, who also claimed pole position.
F1 Qualifying: Verstappen claims pole position
Here are some photos of the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying:
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F1 Qualifying: Verstappen claims pole position
Sergio Perez said: “It was very intense. I nearly got knocked out in Q1 because of traffic. I just made it through. Q2 I could get some rhythm into the balance, unfortunately in the end it was just not enough to get Max but overall a tremendous result.
“Everything to play for tomorrow. We can definitely have a strong rhythm. We showed today we have a good pace in the long run so I look forward to tomorrow.”
F1 Qualifying: Verstappen claims pole position
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso will start the Chinese Grand Prix in third, he said: “We didn’t give up, we kept pushing all the way through the lap and I set a good lap time, I think the car did improve since this morning. We made a few set-up changes, let’s see tomorrow if we can translate that into points.”
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