Max Verstappen, with Red Bull, finished Q3 of the Chinese GP in Shanghai in the lead. The Dutch world champion, with a time of 1’33″660, took pole ahead of the Mexican and teammate Sergio Perez (+0″322). Third was the Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), fourth and fifth went to McLaren with the British Lando Norris and the Australian Oscar Piastri. The Ferraris immediately followed with the Monegasque Charles Leclerc and the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, sixth and seventh respectively. Closing out the top ten are the British George Russell (Mercedes), the German Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and the Finn Valtteri Bottas (Sauber).
“I think that after the Sprint there are some more ideas. The car went better in qualifying and also in Q3. I’m happy to have driven in the dry, the conditions are good and the situation is fun”, said Verstappen, first and therefore in pole position at the end of the GP qualifying. “In qualifying you come out of a race and you have to have time and calm to be at ease – explained the Dutch Red Bull champion – You need to push more and more, have points of reference, the track also had a bit of rain but we had a set of tires to go more. The track hasn’t had a huge evolution.”
“They were intense qualifying, in Q1 they almost took me out. I entered with hot and new tyres, I encountered traffic, I was making a mess. In Q2, however, I found better rhythm and balance”, explained teammate Sergio Perez, finished second. “There has been some progress, in the end I was missing something to match Max – added the Mexican rider – However I have a fantastic time, everything is at stake tomorrow. We need to fight and do a good race with a good pace. I’m looking with optimism Until tomorrow”.
“It was a chaotic session, we struggled a lot – admitted Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari team principal -. But this morning we had a good pace over the long distance, we lost a lot between turns 1 and 3, more than the gap from the front row We need to understand why, given that it wasn’t like that this morning in the race (in the Sprint, ed.) There are good conditions, it’s a question of preparation or the launch lap, I don’t know, of course more than 70% of the gap is due from that factor. The podium is possible. Everyone had a fair amount of degradation while we were in good condition after the Sprint. It certainly wasn’t the result we expected but we can recover tomorrow.” Speaking to Sky Sport, Vasseur then added: “Have we sacrificed performance from a race perspective? We’ll see this tomorrow. We’re always scoring points on Sunday. Last year we were good on Saturday and bad on Sunday. Tire degradation will be very important “.
“Even today we didn’t give everything on tire preparation but we took a good step, a step forward”, was the first comment from Ferrari’s Monegasque, Charles Leclerc. “In qualifying I left some performance, a good set for tomorrow – added the Cavallino driver – We are surprised by the result of qualifying, I didn’t expect this position because the feeling was quite good. In Q3 the wind changed, we lost the feeling with the car, but Sunday’s result is what counts. I think we can think about the podium: that is the goal for tomorrow. With Carlos (Sainz, ed.) we have made it clear, there are no problems.”
“My spin resulted from a very simple mistake by the driver – observed Carlos Sainz, Spanish Ferrari driver -. I hit the gravel and turned, aligning myself with the track to do as little damage as possible to the car. I’m a bit disappointed but I expected it. In yesterday’s FP1 we weren’t very fast on the single lap, the circuit has many long corners, all of which are high speed, not the best for us. The position on the grid doesn’t surprise me but we can do better in the race ‘There’s a lot to clarify with Charles and there’s not much to talk about now,” added Sainz regarding the “dispute” with the Monegasque over friction on the track during the Sprint.