As rain fell and track conditions worsened it was Lando Norris who emerged on pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race, laying down a 1:57.940 lap time on the intermediate tires to put him 1.2 seconds ahead of 2nd place Lewis Hamilton and nearly 2 seconds ahead of 3rd place Fernando Alonso.
All drivers were improving in the rain-soaked SQ3, but it was Norris who reigned supreme, stating “I was quick, I just kept catching a Ferrari, so I had to keep backing off. I didn’t do the first two laps well at all, but I got a good final one, a good enough one for pole. I’m happy… sad it’s not for a proper qualifying, but it’s good enough”.
With only one practice session in dry conditions before the wet and rainy Qualifying, Norris and others still question where the grid sits for Sunday’s race. The limited running left many wondering what a dry race will look like, especially with mixed conditioned expected for Saturday’s Sprint Race and race qualifying.
WATCH: Go onboard with Norris for his stunning wet pole lap during Sprint qualifying in Shanghai
Full Sprint Qualifying results are below, check out the weekend schedule and tune back in here for more updates as we await the first Sprint of 2024.
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FORMULA 1 LENOVO CHINESE GRAND PRIX 2024 Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (Local Circuit) |
| Apr. 19th | Practice 1 | 11:30 – 12:30 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 15:30 – 16:14 | |
| Apr. 20th | Sprint | 11:00 – 12:00 |
| Qualifying | 15:00 – 16:00 | |
| Apr. 21st | Race | 15:00 |
Sprint Qualifying Results:
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:36.384 | 1:36.047 | 1:57.940 | 13 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:37.181 | 1:36.287 | 1:59.201 | 15 |
| 3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:36.883 | 1:36.119 | 1:59.915 | 14 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:36.456 | 1:35.606 | 2:00.028 | 12 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:36.719 | 1:36.052 | 2:00.214 | 15 |
| 6 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:36.110 | 1:35.781 | 2:00.375 | 12 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:36.537 | 1:35.711 | 2:00.566 | 15 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:36.542 | 1:35.853 | 2:00.990 | 15 |
| 9 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:37.112 | 1:36.056 | 2:01.044 | 16 |
| 10 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:37.544 | 1:36.307 | 2:03.537 | 16 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:37.310 | 1:36.345 | 10 | |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:37.033 | 1:36.473 | 10 | |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:36.924 | 1:36.478 | 10 | |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:37.321 | 1:36.553 | 9 | |
| 15 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:36.961 | 1:36.677 | 8 | |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:37.632 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:37.720 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:37.812 | 6 | ||
| 19 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:37.892 | 6 | ||
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:37.923 | 6 |
