In an exciting and chaotic sprint qualifying session of Formula 1 in Shanghai, Lando Norris secured pole position. The final segment of qualifying, soaked by rain, saw Norris have his time initially deleted, only to have it reinstated, giving him the first position on the grid for Saturday morning’s race. Lewis Hamilton briefly took pole position after Norris’s exclusion, but struggled in the dry conditions before shining when the track became wet. The session was interrupted by a fire in the grass, believed to have been caused by sparks from the cars. Rain arrived in the final minutes of the session, resulting in difficulties for the drivers to keep their cars on the track. Charles Leclerc had an early incident in the barriers, but managed to avoid major damage. Norris and championship leader Max Verstappen also had excursions off the track, costing them valuable laps. Hamilton had the chance to respond, but fell short, finishing 1.261s behind Norris. Fernando Alonso initially held provisional pole, but ended up in third place, closely followed by Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez. Leclerc finished in seventh place, with Oscar Piastri in eighth. The order for the final segment was completed by Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou. George Russell was the fastest in the second segment, followed by the Haas duo, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. Daniel Ricciardo outperformed Yuki Tsunoda for the first time this season. Lance Stroll finished 15th for Aston, while Pierre Gasly missed out on the second segment by a small margin. The Alpine cars were faster than the Williams cars, with Alex Albon in 18th and Logan Sargeant in 20th. Tsunoda finished in a disappointing 19th place and expressed frustration with the lack of grip.
