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
Chinese Grand Prix LIVE
How can I watch it online and on TV?
The Chinese Grand Prix will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom - and ESPN in the United States. Sky’s coverage of Sunday’s race starts at 7am (BST).
Sky Sports subscribers can watch all the action in China on the Sky Go app. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
Highlights of qualifying in the UK will be aired on free-to-air Channel 4 at 12:15pm (BST) on Saturday afternoon; the race highlights are at 12:30pm (BST) on Sunday.
Chinese Grand Prix LIVE
When is the Chinese Grand Prix?
(All times BST)
Friday 19 April
- Sprint qualifying: 8:30am
Saturday 20 April
- Sprint race: 4am
- Qualifying: 8am
Sunday 21 April
- Race: 8am
Chinese Grand Prix LIVE
How does the sprint race work?
The F1 Commission and the FIA have approved another modification to the sprint format this year.
The new order of play sees the ‘sprint qualifying’ take place on Friday afternoon instead of a second practice session, with traditional qualifying in its usual spot on Saturday afternoon.
It means there will be just one practice session over the course of the weekend, while Saturday is no longer designated as a ‘sprint day’.
The result of the Saturday morning sprint – a 100km dash, roughly a third of the distance of the grand prix – will not impact the grid for Sunday Points will be awarded to the top-eight, as was the case in 2023.
The sprint race result will not have any impact on the grand prix qualifying on Saturday nor the grand prix on Sunday.
Sprint qualifying will follow the same Q1-Q2-Q3 format but the session times will be shorter than traditional qualifying: SQ1 (medium tyres) will be 12 minutes, SQ2 (medium tyres) will be 10 minutes and SQ3 (soft tyres) will be eight minutes.
Chinese Grand Prix LIVE
The sprint format is back in Formula 1 this weekend as the sport returns to Shanghai for the re-emergence of the Chinese Grand Prix for the first time in five years.
The sprint was first introduced in 2021 at Silverstone as a way of making more sessions over the course of the weekend competitive, with the target of driving interest in F1. In 2021 and 2022, there were three sprints a year.
2023 saw a new format. The number of sprint races were doubled to six, while Saturday was designed ‘sprint day’ - with a new “sprint shootout” qualifying session determining the grid for the sprint race. In addition, the result of the sprint race had no baring on the grand prix on Sunday.
However, the format has been tweaked again in 2024 and we will see it in action for the first time this weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Good morning!
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix. It’s an early start for fans in the UK as qualifying for Saturday’s Sprint Race takes place this morning with the action getting underway at 8am.
China has returned to the F1 calendar for the first time since 2019 when Lewis Hamilton was victorious here but there are a couple of tweaks with the main on being that it is now hosting a sprint race.
Today’s track action will see three shortened qualifying sessions which will then determine the grid positions for tomorrow’s sprint race.
Max Verstappen triumphed in Japan last time out and the reigning world champion will be hoping for a similar result this weekend. Will anyone be able to stop him?
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