Formula 1 – Chinese Grand Prix qualifying: Star

That’s a perfect imperfect record for the gifted Williams driver, who is yet to make it into the top-half of the grid in 2024.

But what skill from Sainz! Down and out mere minutes ago, he not only got out in time, but posted a faster time than team-mate Leclerc.

1. VER
2. PER
3. SAI
4. LEC
5. NOR
6. RUS
7. ALO
8. PIA
9. HUL
10. BOT
11. DROP ZONE: STR
12. RIC
13. OCO
14. ALB
15. GAS

And Sainz is still without a time, his team-mate Leclerc dangling in danger in 10th.

Riccardo skirts into the top 10 as Sainz goes second fastest, immediately knocking him down.

… with just over two minutes to go.

Sainz is still not on the board, and could be in danger if he can’t post quickly.

Leclerc, too, needs to get a move on, having briefly dropped into the relegation zone.

This morning, George and I had very similar cars. but we’re still trying to experiment. I went one way, he went the other way, just to see if we could find it.

I’ll give it my best shot. 18th is pretty bad. I’ve said before, it can’t get any worse but… this is pretty s***.

… and its a race against time for Sainz and George Russell, who are yet to post times.

That’s 3.45pm local time.

By some miracle, Sainz looks like he’ll be out and back on the track after the lightest of patch-jobs.

Six minutes and 44 seconds left of the session, and this is how the order looks under the red flag.

1. VER
2. NOR
3. PIA
4. ALO
5. PER
6. HUL
7. BOT
8. STR
9. LEC
10. RIC
11. DROP ZONE: ALB
12. OCO
13. GAS
14. SAI
15. RUS

Not the smoothest of operators in this particular moment.

No news yet on the restart…

Managing to turn on the car, he crawls back to the Scuderia garage where on a wing and a prayer, the mechanics could be able to patch him up to continue the session.

Under a red flag, he might just do it. The rest of the cars have pitted too.

It’s a red flag as the Spaniard finds the gravel, slips and spins, drifts across the track and smacks into the barrier.

Sorry guys.

… is the word from the radio. He might be hitching a lift back to the garage.

Alonso is the first to post a time, but is immediately pipped by Piastri.

Albon wrings every last drop from his Williams, but can only manage sixth, before slipping back to ninth.

The Dutchman eventually posts his lap, and it’s a thing of beauty: 1:33:946 – and fastest.

His former team-mate doesn’t mince his words here, but Hamilton is unlikely to take umbrage with anything the ex-world champion has to say.

A nightmare end to the day for the driver.

This portion will be 15 minutes, and although the green light at the end of the pit lane is on for go, the drivers are lingering in their garages. Bags of time, eh…

Zhou heads along the side of the pit lane on foot, likely absolutely dismayed by his early drop-out, but he’s picked up by the loud cheers and an ovation from the crowd.

There must be something going on. It can’t be f****** 19th. Honestly, it was a pretty good lap.

After the heady highs of second in the sprint race, Hamilton is out in Q1 for the first time since the Jeddah Grand Prix in 2022.

The feeling is exemplified in the garage by a shot from Sky Sports of a beleagured Toto Wolff tipping his head back in resignment.

1. VER
2. LEC
3. NOR
4. SAI
5. PIA
6. HUL
7. RUS
8. ALO
9. BOT
10. GAS
11. STR
12. OCO
13. ALB
14. RIC
15. PER
16. DROP ZONE: ZHO
17. MAG
18. HAM
19. TSU
20. SAR

Zhou will need to turn it on him, languishing in 16th and very close indeed to being axed with minutes to go.

He speeds past the finish line and goes eighth fastest with 30 seconds to go, soundtracked by the roar of the home crowd on their feet.

But will it be enough?

He has limited time to post a lap that can keep him in the session.

Norris shows there’s nothing wrong with his McLaren – and that good things come to those who wait – going from the bottom five, straight to the top of the timings.

The bottom five have some work to do if they want to make it through to Q2.

As things stand, those drivers are:

• SAR
• RIC
• NOR
• HAM
• MAG
• PER

But Norris and Perez are on their out laps, and should yet haul themselves out of the relegation zone.

Verstappen couldn’t catch the Spaniard, and posts a time just shy of the Aston Martin before heading briefly into the pits.

But Oscar Piastri can, and with a time of 1:35:014, he claims the top spot for now. He’s trailed as followed:

• ALO
• VER
• BOT
• ALB
• RUS
• LEC
• STR
• HUL
• ZHO

Britons everywhere may consider the below queue-barging more vulgar than an X-rated film.

But no sooner has he posted the fastest time as he’s pipped by Leclerc.

Here comes Verstappen – and in a not entirely surprise twist, the Dutchman is whipping through the turns and looks set to claim a lightning fast time.

Alonso, Bottas, and Stroll are also leading the pack with 10 minutes to go.

My DRS is not working.

The driver says over his radio. That’s going to be very severe news indeed if true. The RB driver heads straight to the pit.

… driven by Hulkenberg. Whether they decide to take it further up the chain of command is anyone’s guess. But no one likes a queue jump!

But ALonso, Hamilton, Norris, and Leclerc are at the back of the queue.

Sainz has no interest in waiting for his team-mate, however, and is out and getting his tyres warm on the Shanghai International Circuit.

As a reminder, we’ve got 18 minutes of this first portion, and with just under 15 minutes to go, drivers will be looking to get their flying laps underway.

The cars are lined up in the pit lane, and raring to test their changes made after this morning’s sprint.

The Alpines are the first out and onto the track, and Hulkenberg skids past a waiting Kick Sauber and shoots onto the track.

No fondness for queuing politely, then.

It’s a muggy-looking 21-degree day in Shanghai, but crucially: it’s dry.

Yesterday, the drivers had to slip and slide around in the bucketing rain, much to the delight of Lewis Hamilton.

But it’s almost-blue skies here today, and the weather should hold off for the entirety of the session.

The garages have been hard at work making tweaks before qualifying before parc ferme, with Ferrari and McLaren in particular changing things up before their drivers go to grid.

For all of Alonso’s protestations, it’s he who picks up the penalty.

An FIA statement says: ‘The Stewards heard from the driver of Car ​14 (Fernando Alonso), the driver of Car 55 (Carlos Sainz), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 14 caused a collision with Car 55 at Turn 9.

‘The result of the collision was that Car 55 was damaged and that Car 14 had a puncture and retired before the end of the sprint session.

‘As per the guidelines on driving standards, which was agreed with the teams, an infringement of this nature required that a baseline penalty of 10 seconds was to be added to the time of a car that caused a collision.

‘Article 54.3 of the Sporting Regulations states if the 10 second penalty is imposed after the end of a sprint session, then 10 seconds will be added to the elapsed time of the driver concerned.

‘We accordingly added 10 seconds to the elapsed time of Car 14.

‘As an aside to the FIA, we note that the language in the regulations as to when a car has retired and the resultant consequences on penalties that may be imposed or served, especially when that car is otherwise classified, is somewhat unclear and we would recommend that the FIA considers making the necessary amendments to bring greater clarity to this issue.’

This is an almost entirely meaningless penalty, as the time penalty is with regards to the sprint, which he finished last in.

But Alonso does also pick up three penalty points, which could yet pinch…

After the shock of Hamilton’s move had dissolved somewhat, a second question lingered – what about Carlos Sainz? The driver had certainly done very little wrong, but his credentials had no chance of overturning the seven-time world champion’s move.

But a few months on, and the driver cuts a much more confident presence – and with good reason.

You can read more from HENRY CLARK in Shanghai, below.

Not content with battling his compatriot, Sainz also scrapped with his team-mate Charles Leclerc – much to the frustration of the Monegasque national after the checkered flag.

Things could be beginning to tell at Ferrari. With an exciting, competitive car, the gloves might come well and truly off between the two drivers as Sainz polishes his proverbial shop window with the aim of picking up a seat next season.

The Spaniard has certainly been looking the bigger star in the car, so far. Despite having missed a race after falling ill with appendicitis, he is just five points behind Leclerc in the standing.

The Chinese Grand Prix may have slipped off the schedule for five years, but it comes back with a bang this weekend thanks to an all-new entrant.

Zhou Guanyu is the first-ever Chinese driver to take to the Shanghai International Circuit and feel the support of a home crowd – and interest has been at a fever pitch since the race returned to the calendar.

According to Zhou, such was the demand for tickets that the website crashed within minutes of going live with spots. The Kick Sauber driver has found scant points this season, but can the backing from the stand act as his… fifth wheel?

1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull – 85 pts
2. Sergio Perez – Red Bull – 70
3. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – 64
4. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari – 59
5. Lando Norris – McLaren – 40
6. Oscar Piastri – McLaren – 36
7. George Russell – Mercedes – 25
8. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – 24
9. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 17
10. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – 9
11. Yuki Tsunoda – RB – 7
12. Oliver Bearman – Ferrari – 6
13. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas – 3
14. Kevin Magnussen – Haas – 1

Hardy veteran Fernando Alonso and young upstart Carlos Sainz tangled in the sprint race, after the latter’s feisty overtake in lap 16.

After a tussle, there was a coming together that allowed both cars to be left in Perez’s dust, and Alonso was keen to pass the buck after the race at the ‘lack of space’ he was given by the soon-to-be-former Ferrari man.

Both men have been summoned to the stewards in the aftermath – watch this space.

On the subject of the seven-time world champion, all has not been well this week. Hamilton hit out at those who ‘continue to talk s***’ about his move from Mercedes to Ferrari.

But who are these critics? Or does Hamilton simply feel stronger when he believes himself to be the underdog.

Mail Sport’s JONATHAN MCEVOY shares his thoughts, below.

But he does warn that ‘this afternoon will be a lot harder’.

After recording a highest qualifying finish of seventh this season, you can understand why he might want to manage expectations.

…. and his report from this morning’s sprint race is in. Max Verstappen may have edged his longstanding rival, but this early session could suggest Lewis Hamilton will have reasons to be cheerful behind the wheel of a Mercedes before long.

You can read his report in full below.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of this morning’s qualifying session – with the fifth race of the season, the Chinese Grand Prix, taking place tomorrow.

After an early sprint race, we’re all tee’d up to bring you all the latest build-up and more ahead of our 8am start time.

Qualifying will last around about an hour – potential for small fires not withstanding – so we should know our order for tomorrow’s grid by 9am BST.