The rolling cheers were the first clue. Reverberating as if sprint qualifying for Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix was taking place within a leisure-centre swimming pool – such is the way the Shanghai track’s giant main grandstand traps noise - was the noise that greeted Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari pole.
At this stage, there was still Max Verstappen left to run as Motorsport.com continued peeking through the trackside catch-fencing as the sun began to set behind the long Turn 3 – the end of one of two ‘snail-shaped’ complexes at this track, as nicknamed by the event organisers.
