Sprint Qualifying-
The first sprint qualifying of the year is complete, and it was quite entertaining with both rain and fire, yes FIRE..
But it was Lando Norris who claimed pole during Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, however it wasn’t easy for the Brit as originally he had his lap time deleted but it was reinstated.
In the top three joining him, is another Brit, Mr Lewis Hamilton flew to P2, looking like he was going to get pole at one point. Finishing the top three is Fernando Alonso.
The full top 10 are- P1: Norris, P2: Hamilton, P3: Alonso, P4: Verstappen, P5: Sainz, P6: Perez, P7: Leclerc, P8: Piastri, P9: Bottas and P10: Zhou.
A great qualifying from Lando Norris, he excelled in the wet and put it on pole when he needed to. His teammate with a decent result aswell starting in P8.
Verstappen was struggling a little as he skidded off the track a few times too, but with starting P4 his still got plenty to give, and will no doubt make up positions in no time. His teammate also isn’t too far behind him in P6.
A great result for Kick Sauber! Especially for Zhou as it’s his first ever home grand prix and to have both drivers in the top 10 is a great result, they will want to score points in the Sprint to put towards the constructors championship.
There was quite a shock for Yuki Tusonda as he was eliminated in SQ1 where he will start down in 19th, his teammate had a decent qualifying in 14th even though he abandoned his final attempt amid the rainfall.
We also had George Russell who was forced to abort his flying lap in SQ2 with the rain starting to fall during the final moments which means he will be starting P11.
Sprint Race-
Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen move back to the top of the pecking order during Saturday’s Sprint race at Shanghai International Circuit as he turned his low-key P4 into a commanding victory.
Verstappen slowly made moves up the order across the 19 lap race, benefitting from pole-sitter Lando Norris running off the track during the first lap and then set his eyes on Alonso and Hamilton.
The full top 10 are – P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Perez, P4: Leclerc, P5: Sainz, P6: Norris, P7: Piastri, P8: Russell, P9: Zhou and P10: Magnussen.
A good result from Verstappen to claim the Sprint victory, I think there was no doubt about it from the Dutchman he was going from strength to strength. His teammate has got a good result aswell P3 for Perez.
A great result for Hamilton in P2, a lovely result from the Mercedes driver, a decent points haul aswell. Russell managed to grab the final points position in P8, a decent recovery drive from him.
Fernando Alonso was the only DNF in the sprint. Sainz attacked Alonso heading Turn 6, with a strong exit from Ferrari seeing them go through Turn 7, where the two Spaniards made contact.
Alonso dropped back with a puncture from that contact, losing several places in the last sector.
A decent result for the Ferrari pair, they also had a very close fight at the final hair pin after the Alonso incident, which caused an angry message from the Monegasque.
Zhou was close to the points! P9 for the Chinese driver, it’s a shame he couldn’t get any at his home race but sometimes that’s just racing…
Jordan's Track Talk 
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