There was chaos in sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix as rain arrived in the latter part of the session. But even before SQ3, there were some notable upsets.
First of all, Yuki Tsunoda made a shock exit in SQ1, halting the RB driver’s brilliant run of form. Tsunoda had reached Q3 in the last three Grand Prix qualifying sessions, but could only manage 19th here.
He split the Williams duo of Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon at the back of the field. Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were faster but couldn’t make it to SQ2.
Later, there was further pain for Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll as he wound up in 15th. Once again, teammate Fernando Alonso was a spec in the distance, qualifying third.
Daniel Ricciardo out-paced Tsunoda in a meaningful session for the first time this season, but had to settle for 14th. Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg will feel they have an outside shot of points from 12th and 13th.
But the biggest-name casualty prior to SQ3 was George Russell. Russell didn’t set a good enough lap time on his first run, and then the rain arrived to prevent any improvement.
David Croft notices unhappy Toto Wolff at Chinese Grand Prix
During commentary for Sky Sports F1, David Croft observed that Toto Wolff was unimpressed after Russell’s premature exit. The 26-year-old has generally performed well this year, scoring 14 more points than Lewis Hamilton (24 vs 10).
He also leads Hamilton 3-1 in the main qualifying head-to-head this year, although the seven-time world champion got the better of him last time out in Japan. His teammate was also one of the stars of Friday’s session as he bagged a front row alongside Lando Norris.
Speaking to co-commentator and former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, Croft said: “I’m sure you’ve seen that face before – Toto Wolff not looking best pleased.”
George Russell runs special helmet for Chinese Grand Prix
Prior to the weekend’s running, Russell unveiled a special helmet design on his social media pages. The former Williams driver expressed his excitement over the ‘cool details’ on his customised lid.
This is F1’s first visit to China since 2019 following five years away. The track had been a mainstay on the calendar but Covid-19 regulations saw the race repeatedly cancelled.
Things haven’t gone to plan so far for Russell but he has plenty of time to respond. First off, he’ll hope to gain some ground and pick up points in the 100km sprint on Saturday morning.
The top eight will score, rather than the top 10 as we typically see in a Grand Prix. The winner receives eight points, the runner-up seven, and so on.
When that’s done and dusted, Russell can effectively press the reset button as qualifying for the full-length race gets underway in the afternoon. That, of course, is where the lion’s share of the points will be up for grabs.
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