Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll have escaped a penalty after Sprint Qualifying at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.

Leclerc was investigated by the stewards after exceeding the maximum lap time limit during the second segment of Friday’s Sprint Qualifying.

The act by the Monegasque driver was a result of him slowing down to let Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton as instructed by his race engineer.

After the FIA stewards investigated the matter, they deemed no sporting advantage was gained and Leclerc wasn’t driving “unreasonably slowly” or in a matter to danger his fellow competitors, thus escaping punishment.

Aston Martin’s Stroll was also investigated for breaching the maximum time limit during Friday’s session.

However, the Canadian escaped punishment as his lap was in preparation for a push run on his second tour of the Shanghai International Circuit.

Thanks to his preparation lap being impacted by McLaren’s Lando Norris coming through, Stroll was handed a reprieve by the stewards.

“The evidence showed that Stroll stayed at or above speeds necessary to stay below

1:54.0 around the vast majority of the circuit,” the verdict read. 

“In this case Stroll’s ability to stay below 1:54.0 was compromised by Norris’ overtake. No car behind Stroll was affected because the two cars following were on in-laps. 

“Therefore, Stroll did not impede other drivers and gained no sporting advantage.”

READ MORE – Charles Leclerc reveals the repeat China struggles behind Lewis Hamilton deficit

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Oscar Piastri has queried the McLaren run plan that he suspects had a role in him missing out on pole position in Sprint Qualifying at Formula 1‘s Chinese Grand Prix.

Having won the opening race in Australia, McLaren’s status as the team to beat was consolidated as Lando Norris led Piastri in the sole practice session in Shanghai.

However, McLaren was beaten to pole position for tomorrow’s Sprint race as errors from Norris and Piastri enabled Lewis Hamilton to capitalise to put Ferrari on top.

READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton grabs Chinese GP Sprint Race pole

Norris committed mistakes on both of his attempts in SQ3 to be resigned to sixth, while Piastri, who had been on provisional pole, couldn’t improve on his second lap.

Piastri has claimed McLaren’s decision to send both drivers out for two timed runs rather than the singular-lap strategy its rivals employed proved counter-productive.

“I think probably quick at the wrong points of it, unfortunately,” the Australian, who got bumped down to third amid Max Verstappen’s last-gap run to second, reflected.

“Yeah, SQ1 and SQ2 felt good, then SQ3 we tried something a bit different and went out much earlier and tried two laps, which I’m not sure was the best thing in the end.

“But I think it’s something we need to have a look at.

“But the pace in the car is still very strong and I’m still confident to fight from third tomorrow.”

The ‘interesting challenge’ impacting teams in China

Piastri highlighted how the relaid asphalt at the Shanghai International Circuit has added to the complications the drivers have had to contend with upon F1’s return.

“It’s been difficult,” he conceded. “I think with the track surface, it’s got a lot of grip, but it’s peaky.

“I think it’s been pretty tough all day to keep on top of the car.

“Honestly, I think we did a good job of trying to tame it for Sprint Quali, just maybe got the run plan a bit wrong.

“It’s been an interesting challenge, the grip has been a lot better than last season which is nice. But some things we can do better tomorrow.”

READ MORE – Lando Norris laments ‘too difficult’ McLaren after China Sprint qualifying errors

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Red Bull chiefs want to give Liam Lawson time to adjust after the Kiwi finished dead-last in Sprint Qualifying for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.

Lawson has had difficulty adjusting to the Red Bull RB21, suffering a Q1 exit and DNF at the season opener in Australia.

Another new circuit awaited the Kiwi this weekend in Shanghai with Lawson granted just one practice session to prepare ahead of Sprint Qualifying, where things unravelled once again.

While Max Verstappen wound up second in Friday’s session, Lawson was dumped out at the first hurdle, propping up the field in SQ1.

Four tenths off of the Dutchman in his first flying run, Lawson saw his second attempt struck from the timesheet after running wide at Turn 9.

Struggling to cool his Medium Pirelli rubber ahead of the blast, Lawson’s lap was fraught with low grip and he was seen grappling with his Red Bull RB21 before his untimely Sprint Qualifying exit.

“I went off, so yeah, it’s obviously a shame,” a downbeat Lawson said after SQ1. 

“I think from a starting point it wasn’t too bad, the first lap was alright, and then we were just looking to build on there. 

“But we stayed out to try to cool the tyres on track, and to be honest I really struggled to get the temps down starting the second lap.

“Basically we started too hot and then through the lap I just struggled. It’s frustrating.

“It’s really a shame because I think honestly, we started okay in Quali.

“The first lap wasn’t amazing but it was relatively okay, so it’s just a shame to be out for something so frustrating.

Given his team-mate qualified second, it’s no wonder Lawson believed “Our pace should be a lot further up than where we are.

“Obviously we have tomorrow’s sprint race to try and learn some stuff and then tomorrow’s quali as well, obviously. We want to do a better job on this.”

Marko and Horner taking pressure off of Lawson

The typically harsh Helmut Marko was more sympathetic to Lawson’s struggles when speaking with the Dutch arm of Motorsport.com.

“It’s sad, but he needs some laps and he must get in a rhythm to show his potential,” the Austrian said.

“I think we have to give him more time. Both circuits, he didn’t know, Melbourne and this one. 

“So we’re looking forward and of course first, next to Max, it looks also that our car is quite difficult to drive.”

Team Principal Christian Horner’s assessment of the Lawson situation was similar when approached to comment by Sky Sports‘ Martin Brundle ahead of Friday’s session.

“We’re only at race two,” Horner said. 

“It’s a circuit he’s never seen before. So I think we have to be fair and give him time. And he will he will get there. 

“But we just need to give him the back and give him time. And, you know, he’s in a highly pressured seat. And it doesn’t get any easier.”

Later in Friday’s press conference, Horner continued his Lawson analysis.

“I think Liam’s got a pretty sensible head on his shoulders,” Horner added. 

“It was a tough baptism for him [in Melbourne]. 

“He still came away with the second fastest race lap. And I just told him: “Ignore the naysayers, ignore social media, put your head down and you’ll be fine.” 

“He just needs a bit of time.”

Time is something Lawson has been granted by Red Bull and the crucial element he needs to find out on track.

READ MORE – Christian Horner highlights positive from incident-ridden Liam Lawson Red Bull F1 debut

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Max Verstappen believes Red Bull shouldn’t have had the pace to secure a front row spot for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint race.

Verstappen is set to line up alongside old adversary Lewis Hamilton for Saturday’s Sprint at the Shanghai International Circuit with the legendary duo separated by a mere 0.018s.

The shock omission was the two McLaren drivers who suffered with a fast, but prickly MCL39 leaving a positively surprised Verstappen to capitalise.

“I do think that in first practice we were quite a bit off so I’m very happy to be on the front row,” the Dutchman said on Friday.

“The lap was very good, it’s very tough when you go from a medium to a soft to nail the lap with no references,” he added, referencing the peculiar tyre rules that mandate medium compounds for the first two segments of Sprint Qualifying. 

“I mean, of course, when you look at it, it was 18 thousandths or something off of pole, but I don’t think we should have even been on the front row anyway, so I’m very happy to be second.”

Verstappen went on to say that he and the team made minimal changes to the RB21 as drivability wasn’t an issue heading into Sprint Qualifying.

Instead, the 2025 Red Bull challenger lacks overall pace, as Liam Lawson’s SQ1 exit demonstrated.

Equally, Verstappen’s result showed how maximum efficiency can pay huge dividends.

“I don’t think the balance is massively off we’re just too slow, I would say,” said Verstappen. 

“But this [result] is good for us, a little motivation boost I think as well for everyone. 

“We keep nailing the laps, we keep trying to maximise everything that we got and you need to do that as well when you’re maybe struggling a little bit more for pace.”

Verstappen analyses China Sprint prospects

Looking ahead to Saturday’s Sprint, Verstappen held a glass-half-full mentality.

He expects Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to pose a threat from third and sixth on the grid, but at least thinks he can challenge amongst the front runners in his Red Bull.

“I think we’ve got a car to try and keep something because the McLarens didn’t look as quick today in that session as we thought they would be,” he began. 

“I think they looked very fast up until that last run, so I think it will be very hard to keep them behind, but hopefully it’ll be fun. 

“We are all, I wouldn’t say close, but at least we can race a bit around, that would be nice for me.”

READ MORE – Max Verstappen makes admission on Red Bull win prospects in F1 2025

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Charles Leclerc has revealed that repeat struggles at the track which hosts the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix are behind his gap to Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton was on song in his second race weekend with Ferrari as he edged out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to collect his maiden pole position with the Italian marque.

However, Leclerc was unable to rival the seven-time F1 champion as he propped up over two-tenths adrift in fourth place, behind Oscar Piastri in the leading McLaren.

Leclerc had trailed Hamilton in the standalone practice hour and that pattern was maintained across all three segments in the session that determines the Sprint grid.

The Monegasque explained how trouble getting the car rotated through the opening complex of corners was a limiting factor that also hampered him 12 months ago.

“I’ve struggled on my side of the garage,” Leclerc admitted. “From the beginning, I felt like I was a step back compared to Lewis and Lewis was faster today.

“Struggled a lot in Turns 1, 2, 3 which is more or less the same struggle that I had last year which is a bit of a shame.

“But apart from that everything was quite tight, so it’s a shame we start P4. But Lewis on pole, and hopefully we can have a good race tomorrow.”

Leclerc lacking confidence in Ferrari’s SF-25

Leclerc admitted he had more trust to explore the SF-25’s limits compared to the preceding practice session, but not enough to replicate the time Hamilton produced.

Asked how challenging FP1 was with the track conditions, Leclerc responded: “Very difficult. We really struggled to put everything in the right window.

“At the end of the day, it felt a little bit better in qualifying, but not where I wanted it to be.

“So still some work to be done for qualifying tomorrow. However, the race is another story and this we will only see tomorrow.”

Leclerc highlights decisive element to China Sprint

Leclerc suspects the high demand that is placed on the tyres at the Shanghai International Circuit will play a dominant role in the outcome of the 19-lap Sprint race.

“First we have a Sprint race which I think will be tricky around here with the tyres and we have to focus on that, then we’ll see about qualifying later on,” he added.

READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari car ‘came alive’ for ‘shock’ F1 Chinese GP Sprint pole

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Lando Norris lamented a McLaren MCL39 that was “too difficult” to drive during Sprint Qualifying for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.

Allcomers expected Norris to run to Sprint pole at the Shanghai International Circuit, despite the McLaren driver warning on Thursday that Ferrari could be resurgent.

Those comments came among a notion the MCL39 was a car that has ultimate potential but can bite and that’s exactly how Sprint Qualifying played out.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton romped away to Sprint Pole with a lap record while Norris slid to sixth thanks to two errors.

On his first SQ3 run, Norris had a moment coming onto the back straight, costing him vital speed and six-tenths in the final sector to team-mate Oscar Piastri.

In his final run, locking up into Turn 14 forced Norris to abort the lap and he was adamant once out of the car that an improvement is needed.

“We just struggled a bit more now, just not quick enough simply, I struggled a lot with the car,” Norris said.

“So, yeah, just our difficulties that we’ve been struggling with showed a lot more today.

“Nothing more than that, honestly, just too many mistakes, but it’s just too difficult of a car to drive.”

Wind exposed McLaren’s weaknesses

Norris added that windy conditions helped expose McLaren’s weaknesses, akin to the findings he discovered during pre-season testing in Bahrain.

“I think just throughout the day we’ve been struggling a bit with the front locking and struggling a lot in the last corner with all the tailwinds, he said. 

“Kind of a lot more in line with Bahrain, so just a lot windier when the wind’s blowing, then we struggle a lot more.

“Both myself and Oscar struggled more, clearly me more than him.

“Just pushing a bit hard to try and make up for not quite being quick enough.”

Asked whether McLaren can make improvements for the remainder of the weekend, Norris acknowledged that it’s up to him, rather than the team to turn his Chinese GP around.

“That’s more me rather than the car,” he said. 

“I can’t make the car perfect, but, this was me just trying to, again, like I said, just push a bit too much. 

“I think the car’s still good and in a good window, maybe not good enough for pole, but, yeah, we can definitely go forward.”

READ MORE – Lando Norris: McLaren MCL39 made it difficult to dominate F1 Australian GP qualifying

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Lewis Hamilton revelled in his Ferrari Formula 1 car “coming alive” as he bagged his maiden pole position with the team in Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton, the record pole and win holder at the Shanghai International Circuit, pipped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to secure first position on the grid for the Sprint race.

The Briton had endured an arduous debut with Ferrari in Australia, but he had appeared much more at one with his SF-25 during the single practice hour this weekend.

Having held an upper hand over team-mate Charles Leclerc throughout the three segments, Hamilton’s sole run in SQ3 also saw him usurp the pacesetting McLarens.

The McLarens were unable to improve on their second attempts, while Verstappen came up short in a last-ditch bid to beat Hamilton’s track-record-setting benchmark.

“I didn’t expect that result, but so, so happy and so proud,” Hamilton, who edged out Verstappen by 0.018 seconds, beamed.

“The last race was a disaster for us, and clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car but we weren’t able to extract it.

“To come here to a track that I love: Shanghai, a beautiful place and the weather has been amazing.

“The car really came alive from lap one. We made some great changes, the team did a fantastic job through the break to get the car ready.

“I’m a bit in shock, I can’t believe we got a pole in the Sprint.

“Obviously it’s not the main race so we’ve got work to do tomorrow, but this puts us in good stead for the race.”

How Hamilton earned maiden Ferrari pole

Hamilton believes nailing the opening sector on his one-timed run in the SQ3 shootout was pivotal to claiming his first pole in red, a landmark he described as surreal.

“My first sector was really, really strong,” he recalled. “I think that’s where I made most of my improvement on that lap.

“But just little increments through the whole place.

“There’s still time to find for sure which I’ll try and make sure I apply to the next qualifying session we go out in.

“It’s amazing to see the number one as you stop and be in the red car, it’s pretty incredible.”

Hamilton in the dark on Ferrari race prospects

Hamilton has conceded that he goes into tomorrow’s 19-lap Sprint encounter in the dark over how the Ferrari SF-25 handles over a race distance in drier conditions.

“I didn’t get to do a race run in Bahrain. We did the race last weekend in the wet,” he highlighted.

“But tomorrow will be my first real race run and Sunday will be my first proper race run in the dry with this car.

“I’m hoping that we can hold onto it, but I think the McLaren is very, very fast, as is Max.

“We’re in a good position, we’ll stay positive and we’ll keep our heads high and keep pushing forward.”

READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton grabs Chinese GP Sprint Race pole

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Lewis Hamilton set a new lap record at the Shanghai International Circuit as he claimed Sprint Race pole position for Ferrari.

Hamilton moved to the front with a time of 1:30.849s during an enthralling SQ3 session in China, beating reigning champion Max Verstappen by just 0.018s.

READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton ready to ‘rebuild’ Ferrari amid F1 title vow

McLaren, favourites heading into the session, wound up with Oscar Piastri third and Lando Norris sixth, as neither improved on their first laps.

Norris had errors on both of his push laps in SQ3 as he bid for back-to-back Sprint poles at the venue faltered.

Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, with George Russell in fifth spot, and his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli seventh.

Yuki Tsunoda was eighth for Racing Bulls, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Fernando Alonso missed out on a spot in SQ3 by two-thousandths of a second and will start from 11^th, while Oliver Bearman gave Haas reason for encouragement after a difficult start to the campaign by taking 12^th place.

Carlos Sainz was unable to match the pace of team-mate Alex Albon and finished 13^th, while Gabriel Bortoleto was again the faster Sauber driver across a single lap and took 14^th spot.

Isack Hadjar finished 15^th after an error through Turn 1 on his SQ2 lap proved terminal to his prospects of advancing.

Alpine suffered a double elimination from SQ1 as neither Jack Doohan nor Pierre Gasly were able to escape the 12-minute session.

Esteban Ocon was 18^th for Haas, ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, while Liam Lawson had another dismal outing for Red Bull Racing.

Lawson struggled to get the Medium tyres working and an error through Turn 9 compounded his woes as he finished last of the 20 drivers.

READ MORE – F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying Results

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Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has qualified on pole position for the Sprint race at the 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, edging out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri was the lead McLaren in the third, heading Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari. George Russell completed the top five, ahead of Lando Norris.

READ MORE –

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Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner is unsure how the latest clampdown on flexi-wings will impact the Formula 1 pecking order as Alpine is forced to make a change.

The FIA informed teams ahead of the new season that front wing flex-limitations will be restricted as of Round 9, with rear wing flex restrictions in place at the season opener to the tune of 2 mm vertical movement on the main plane under a load of 75 kg. 

However, during pre-season testing, Red Bull Technical Director Pierre Wache accused the likes of McLaren and Ferrari of abusing rear-wing flex rules, a phenom colloquially referred to as ‘mini-DRS’ after Oscar Piastri’s MCL38 was scrutinised in Baku last year.

The FIA found no teams in breach of rear wing flex regulations at the season-opener in Melbourne, but its surveillance prompted a new technical directive, effective for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, slashing the flexibility limit from 2mm to 0.5mm.

McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes haven’t had to make changes as a result of the Technical Directive, but there has been a change for some of the midfield outfits.

Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu told the Sky Sports broadcast team during practice at the Shanghai International Circuit that the VF-25 has had to stiffen its rear wing after being close to the margin on the 2mm limit in Melbourne.

As well as this, Alpine Racing Director Dave Greenwood confirmed to Motorsport.com that his team has made a change.

“We’ve had to do some work back at the factory to make sure we were in a correct place here, but I think that’s fairly normal in these situations,” he said. 

“When a rule and an allowance of deflection changes, you need to check that you are going to be able to comply with that as well.

“I think you can imagine the time scales were very small, so it’s not like you can do something revolutionary. But yeah, there are things we can do to make sure we comply.”

Horner unsure of TD impact

Given that none of the top four teams have admitted to making changes, adamant that the rear wing flexibility has been adhered to both at Melbourne and Shanghai, it’s hard to see how this latest technical directive will impact the pecking order.

This was predominantly the thoughts of Horner when he was asked about the new rules during Friday’s press conference in China.

“Well, I mean, the FIA, it’s their job obviously to police these things,” Horner said. 

“They obviously saw things that they weren’t particularly happy with at the last race.

“So therefore, as is their prerogative, they’ve tightened up those regulations through TD that came out this week. 

“Now, what effect it has up and down the grid, I really don’t know. 

“But that’s just part and parcel of Formula 1. TDs are almost forthcoming on a weekly basis.”

What could create a bigger impact, is the front wing flex clampdown in Spain later this year.

Horner has already commented on the matter, querying the timing.

“Yeah, it’ll be interesting the effect that it has – I guess the slight oddball about it is the timing of it,” Horner said.

“Why race nine? It might have been better to have been addressed during the off-season, because you end up doing sort of two specs of wings.

“But who will gain or who will lose from it, I think, is impossible to predict.”

READ MORE – Lando Norris: McLaren ‘not pushing rear-wing flex limits enough’ amid China clampdown

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