Lando Norris, British GP 2022

Sophia Crothall

The Chinese Grand Prix returned for the first time in five years and saw Max Verstappen win both the Sprint Race and Grand Prix.

It was also the first time a driver has driven at their home race in China, with Zhou Guanyu making history.

 

The weekend also introduced the new sprint format, with the first sprint race of the year taking place on Saturday. Under the new format, teams will have one free practice session on Friday, followed by qualifying for the sprint race.

The sprint race will then take place on Saturday. However, unlike before, there will then be a separate qualifying for the race on Sunday. The Grand Prix will then take place on Sunday as usual. 

Free Practice 

With only one chance to test their cars, it was vital for teams to make use of the free practice session. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll topped the free practice session, which was disrupted by a red flag for a grass fire on the track. 

The Canadian driver secured the top spot late in the session after using the soft tyres, securing a time of 1m 36.302s. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri placed second, followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third. 

Lando Norris Takes Pole In The Sprint Qualifying

Following free practice, the qualifying for the sprint came. McLaren’s Lando Norris secured pole position ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, with a time of 1m 57.940s. 

Hamilton appeared to have claimed the pole when Norris had his final flying lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, but his time was later reinstated in the closing moments, giving the McLaren driver the second Sprint pole of his career. Hamilton retained P2 with Fernando Alonso placing third for Aston Martin.

During qualifying, there was a pause as the grass on the side of the track caught fire, allegedly caused by sparks flying off the cars. In addition to the disruption from the fire, the drivers also had to contend with the rain. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was seen spinning his way out of Turn 8 towards a light tap with the barrier. 

Speaking to Sky Sports on securing his pole position, Norris said: “I saw on the board that I was not at the top but I saw when I went over the line on the TV that I was. So I got a little bit nervous but I did not do anything wrong, so it should be fine.”

The Sprint Race

UK fans were awake nice and early for the sprint race on Saturday, which took place at 4 a.m. BST. 

Despite Norris starting on pole, it was Verstappen who took first place and won the first sprint race of the season.

During the first corner, Norris slid wide, which meant he lost six positions with Hamilton taking an early lead. This was until Verstappen found his feet and sped through to take first place. 

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The battle between Carlos Sainz, and his teammate saw the two touching wheels at the hairpin before Leclerc prevailed to take fourth ahead of Sainz. Another notable moment was when Alonso suffered after a battle with Sergio Perez, which saw him sustain a tyre puncture and retire the car.

Commenting on the race, Verstappen said: “The first few laps were quite hectic. They were pushing quite hard up front and I had Carlos behind with new tyres and it was very difficult to keep behind him.

“Then as the race went on we became stronger and I felt more comfortable with the balance of the car and could look after my tyres. Very pleased with that.” 

The sprint race provides the first eight drivers with points, with Verstappen securing eight towards his potential fourth championship. 

Speaking on his second place, Hamilton shared: “That’s the best result I’ve had in a long time so I am super happy and grateful, this is a huge step and improvement.”

During qualifying for the race, Verstappen secured another pole position. This set the record for 100 pole positions for Red Bull. Teammate Perez secured second, with Alonso in third.  Verstappen set a lap time of 1m 34.742s. 

Max Verstappen Wins Chinese Grand Prix 

Sunday’s race in Shanghai was not short of battles and chaos, with two yellow flags being called, and a dramatic post-safety car restart, making the Chinese Grand Prix a spectacle for viewers.

Midway through the race, a Safety Car was called after Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas pulled off track with a mechanical issue. Following the restart, this led to many separate incidents between cars. 

The drama unfolded when Yuki Tsunoda got tipped into a spin by Kevin Magnussen exiting Turn 6 – leaving the RB with terminal rear-right damage and sending the Haas limping back to the pits with a puncture. Tsundoa was left to retire his car. 

There was also a dramatic concertina effect as cars bunched up at the final hairpin before the restart, with Stroll running into the back of Daniel Ricciardo and sending the RB airborne, with debris scattered across the track. 

Ricciardo was eventually told to retire his car due to the damage caused. Stroll was given a 10-second penalty. 

In the end, Verstappen secured first place, followed by Norris in second and Perez in third. 

https://twitter.com/ESPNF1/status/1781975611767980500

Speaking about the incident between Ricciardo and Stroll, fellow Australian driver Piastri commented: “Yes, but everyone else didn’t crash into each other. I mean, I think in that kind of corner, you always expect that. But yes, it did get quite close between a lot of us.” 

Piastri’s comments follow after Ricciardo shared his frustrations over the incident. Ricciardo said: “The only thing you have got to do is watch the car in front. We can not predict what the leader is going to do. The race does not start until the control line.” 

Ricciardo has also been hit with a 3-grid place penalty ahead of the Miami Grand Prix next weekend for overtaking under safety car conditions. 

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Featured image courtesy of Jen Ross via Flickr. No changes have been made to this image. Image license found here.

Sophia is a MA Cultural and Creative Industries graduate from Cardiff University, and a BSc Criminology graduate from the University of Bristol. She has experience writing for publications such as GPBlog and Metro. Sophia runs her own F1 Tik Tok account: @sophiacrothallf1

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