China – Qualifying: Hamilton holds off Vettel!

After a zero Friday, FP3 delivered the first trend of this second weekend of the season. Following a successful Australian Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari emerged as the reference car, with Sebastian Vettel leading ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. The two Mercedes drivers were pushed to the background, Valtteri Bottas ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who had not shown his full potential. However, concern was evident within the reference team. Toto Wolff even expressed his fear on Canal+ microphone: that of seeing the pole slip away from the Silver Arrows.

The two mentioned teams were therefore expected to be at the forefront, on a track that would be spared from the rain, while awaiting further deterioration this Sunday for the race.

Giovinazzi condemns the French in Q1

The light turned green and rookie Antonio Giovinazzi set the very first time. All drivers were equipped with super-soft tires, except for the two Ferrari cars, which had soft tires. Vettel even had the luxury of beating Hamilton, who had still set his time without pushing. A few seconds later, Romain Grosjean spun at the exit of the last corner. The Frenchman burned a joker and a set of tires in this mishap. Once again, a driver was suddenly caught out by a difficult throttle application, although the Haas driver skillfully avoided the wall!

Translate: On his side, Fernando Alonso was battling with his stubborn McLaren, the Spaniard even admitting to his engineer to be “attacking like a beast”. But with 5 minutes remaining, the double world champion was in the top 10. Vandoorne placed himself just ahead of a provisional red zone, composed of Stroll, Ocon, Palmer, Grosjean, and Verstappen, who were struggling with engine problems.

First eliminated, Stroll managed to stay out of trouble by climbing back to fifth place. The young Quebecer chose the right timing as another rookie made a mistake. Promising in Melbourne and on track to reach Q2, Giovinazzi repeated Grosjean’s move at the same turn, hitting the wall this time. The slide was more violent, and the Italian tore off a side part of his Sauber. Fortunately, the GP2 vice-champion exited the car on his own.

This situation penalized the battling drivers, including our two Frenchmen, who were eliminated at the first stage. Frustrating for the Haas driver who still improved despite slowing down under the yellow flag conditions. Catastrophic session for Esteban Ocon, who was also improving. The Norman will start from the last row for tomorrow’s race.

Eliminated in Q1: Vandoorne, Grosjean, Palmer, Verstappen, Ocon.

Absolute record in Q2 for Räikkönen

The second segment of these Qualifications started with a few minutes delay after necessary repairs along the wall damaged by Giovinazzi.

Offensive, Lewis Hamilton was ordered to secure his place in Q3 on his first set of tires. But his new rival, Sebastian Vettel, took the lead with a time of 1:32.391, less than two-tenths off the absolute track record. Their respective teammates also secured passage to Q3, leaving six drivers to fight for the remaining tickets. With 5 minutes to go, Ricciardo, Massa, Stroll, Kyvat, Sainz, and Pérez were in the lead, even though Alonso was battling hard in eleventh position, just two-tenths away from a precious slot.

After a few minutes of calm, Alonso, Hülkenberg, Magnussen, and Ericsson were the challengers, with Giovinazzi out after his mistake at the end of Q1. Among them, the standout performance came from Nico Hülkenberg, who made it to Q3! The Renault driver knocked out Carlos Sainz, the first to be eliminated in eleventh position. For the first time since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2011, the official team returned to the final stage of Qualifying.

At the top, Kimi Räikkönen officially broke the track record with a time of 1:32.181. Even faster, Vettel intentionally eased off to save a set of tires…

Räikkönen claims P1 in Q2 with the fastest lap ever recorded at Shanghai

1:32.181 = 🔥🔥🔥#ChineseGP #Quali 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/ae10xns0rp

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 8

Eliminated in Q2: Sainz, Magnussen, Alonso, Ericsson, Giovinazzi

Q3: Hamilton doesn’t back down!

The explanation at the top could take place between Mercedes and Ferrari. Starting first, Lewis Hamilton delivered an aggressive lap and broke a new barrier, with a time of 1:31.902. Despite a strong first sector, Vettel finished just over a tenth of a second behind, ahead of Bottas and Räikkönen. Disappointment for Iceman who instantly complained via his radio about a lack of grip. In fifth, Ricciardo was still far behind: precisely one second and three tenths. Temporarily sixth, Hülkenberg ended his session with the feeling of having accomplished his duty.

Everything remained to be done at the summit at the start of the last run. Vettel was going last, just to gain some height over his opponents. But Lewis Hamilton upped the ante! Focused in all three sectors, Hamilton improved his own mark by three-tenths. Räikkönen, then Bottas, and finally Vettel failed to unseat him. By one-thousandth of a second, the German from Ferrari was ahead of the Finn from Mercedes. The same quartet as in Melbourne! Just like two weeks ago, Massa also secured a sixth place, behind a Red Bull, this time Ricciardo’s.

Hamilton thus confirms his dominance in the flying lap exercise, with a fourth pole position in five years in Shanghai. Communicative, the driver jumped over the Parc Fermé barrier to greet the crowd in the main grandstand. Consecutively, Mercedes takes its sixth pole within the Middle Kingdom.

The joy of @LewisHamilton after his pole position during the #quali 🎉 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/KPf6dPGSzt

— La F1® sur CANAL (@LaF1SurCanal) April 8

Here is the complete ranking:

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALIFYING)

6th pole in a row for HAM 👏

One THOUSANDTH between VET (P2) and BOT (P3) 😮#ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/EvtOFEABwA

— Formula 1 (@F1) 8 avril

The appointment is set for the race, which proves uncertain with the return of rain. As a reminder, the start is scheduled for 8 a.m. French time. Don’t forget our live text, commented on this occasion!