Nico Rosberg criticised one driver after what he saw as an ‘unnecessary’ mistake in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. As part of a new format, the session took place just hours after the sprint race.
Home favourite Zhou Guanyu, who impressed on Friday by reaching SQ3, disappointed the home fans with a Q1 exit. Teammate Valtteri Bottas found much more performance in his Sauber and made Q3.
It was a similar story at Haas, where Kevin Magnussen crashed out in 17th. On the other side of the garage, Nico Hulkenberg was able to advance to the top-ten shoot-out.
The big shock of the session saw Lewis Hamilton, runner-up in the sprint race, suffer his first Q1 exit since Saudi Arabia 2022. Hamilton now trails George Russell 4-1 in the Mercedes qualifying battle.
Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda saw his 100% record against Daniel Ricciardo come to an end as he ended up down in 19th. Tsunoda expressed confusion with his struggles over the team radio.
And the struggling Logan Sargeant propped up the grid for Williams. He suffered a spin on his final run, dashing any hope of progression.
Nico Rosberg ‘baffled’ by what he saw in Chinese Grand Prix Q1
Speaking live on Sky Sports F1, Rosberg criticised former teammate Hamilton. The 39-year-old locked up into the hairpin at the end of the lap, scuppering his solid efforts in the first two sectors.
His time was initially good enough to take him out of the drop zone and up to 12th place. But as others improved, Mercedes watched him tumble down the order.
2016 F1 world champion Rosberg feels Hamilton took too great a risk on the brakes at the end of the lap. In his eyes, it was an ‘unnecessary’ error.
“Wow,” he said. “That is painful. That is seriously painful. In 18th position. Honestly, you know that the wind is coming from the back there. He’s had a great lap until then.
“It was really unnecessary to push the limit there so much. As a seven-time world champion, that’s a mistake that probably should be avoidable.”
Lewis Hamilton brought crashing down to Earth after F1 sprint heroics
Hamilton has endured his worst-ever start to an F1 season but he produced a glimpse of his finest form on Friday. The 103-time race-winner qualified second for the sprint race as he held his own during a late downpour.
On Saturday morning, he snatched the lead from polesitter Lando Norris, only to lose out to Max Verstappen later in the race. Still, his haul of seven points was the largest he’s picked up at any event this season.
Rosberg was full of praise for a ‘magical’ qualifying lap and he also called his tactics against Norris ‘super smart’. But he didn’t hold back in his criticism after Hamilton’s Q1 exit.
The Englishman now faces a mighty task to score points on Sunday in a car that’s only the fourth-best on the grid this season. He might well be reliant on some chaos around him.
Mark Webber recently suggested that Ferrari may regret axing Carlos Sainz in favour of Hamilton for 2025. He still hasn’t been able to definitively banish that suggestion.
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