SHANGHAI – McLaren’s Lando Norris was pleased to beat Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, as rain played havoc with a “tricky” qualifying in Shanghai on April 19.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was third with championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull in fourth.

“It was tricky, you are always nervous going into a session like this. You just have to risk a lot, push and build tyre temperature and what not,” said Norris.

“I’m happy, sad it’s not for a proper qualifying, but good enough. You get only three laps. The first two I aborted on both, so it was all or nothing, a good position for tomorrow.”

Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez was in sixth, splitting the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz in fifth and seventh-placed Charles Leclerc, who survived a spin on the wet track.

Hamilton was briefly on top when Norris’ quickest lap of 1min 57.940sec on intermediate wet tyres was deleted for breaching track limits, only to be reinstated by stewards a minute later.

“It was very tricky conditions. Not a lot of grip for everyone. But as soon as I saw the rain coming, I was getting excited. In dry conditions, we were not quick enough. It (the sprint race on April 20) really depends what the conditions will be like. If they are like they were just now, we have a chance of being up there,” said the Briton.

A big crowd at the Shanghai International Circuit let out a huge roar when hometown hero Zhou Guanyu qualified in 10th.

“We will give everything. I am just happy with the first day and great to have everyone here. The pressure before the weekend was so extreme. Everyone is here and that is when you want to do well,” the Chinese said.

Oscar Piastri took eighth spot in his McLaren and Zhou’s teammate Valtteri Bottas finished in ninth to round out the top 10 on the grid for the 19-lap shoot-out.

The sprint will be followed by the main qualifying session to set the grid for the 56-lap grand prix on April 21, the first in China since 2019.

In other news, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said that he is not in a rush to announce their driver line-up for 2025, following reports that the champions are in talks with Sainz. 

Verstappen has a long-term contract until 2028, but Perez is contracted with the team until the end of this season.

“We as a team aren’t in a particular rush,” said Horner.

“We’re in a fortunate position where many drivers would obviously like to drive for the team. We’re happy with the pairing we have.” AFP, REUTERS