Having dominated Formula 1 in Australia, the expectation was McLaren would at least be as quick on the resurfaced Shanghai International Circuit for round two. With China being a sprint weekend, Friday's sole practice pace was particularly difficult to read much into, with almost no meaningful long-run comparisons across teams.
McLaren was still fastest on one-lap pace, mind you, with Lando Norris four tenths ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, followed by Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton. But, while Norris was right up there in in the first two qualifying phases, a mistake in the hairpin put paid to his pole chances, rueing that the windy conditions made his MCL39 harder to drive. Piastri almost picked up the slack, but ceded 0.080 seconds to polesitter Hamilton to qualify third, with Max Verstappen surprising himself by grabbing second after a very difficult practice session for Red Bull.
