F1 has altered its sprint race schedule once again, with sprint race qualifying shifting to Friday and the sprint race moving to Saturday. The race weekend format then reverts back to a traditional schedule for grand prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon with the grand prix on Sunday. Here’s how the latest sprint race format changes will work.
In sprint race qualifying, McLaren’s Lando Norris grabbed pole position but only after having his best lap time initially deleted and then reinstated for track limit breaches.
Q3 of sprint qualifying was hit by rain which made conditions extremely difficult and slippery, triggering multiple offs, including Charles Leclerc’s glance off the Turn 9 barrier.
Lewis Hamilton will join Norris on the front row of the grid for the Chinese GP sprint race, ahead of Fernando Alonso in third and championship leader Max Verstappen in fourth.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start fifth in front of the sister Red Bull of Sergio Perez and Leclerc, while Oscar Piastri dropped to eighth having hit neutral with a gearbox issue during his final Q3 lap.
It was an impressive showing for Sauber with Valtteri Bottas ninth and home hero Zhou Guanyu in 10th as he becomes the first Chinese driver to compete at his home grand prix.
