From fire to rain: Lando Norris steals pole position in one of the wildest sprint qualification in Shanghai

In the rain and fire-affected Sprint qualification round of the Chinese Grand Prix, McLaren driver Londo Norris stole the pole position. With a difference of more than 1.3 seconds, he surpassed Mercedes driver and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso finished third with a gap of almost nine-tenth to Hamilton.

Notably, with this top three, there will be all British front row on Saturday for a 19-lap dash. However, with a wet track and a lot of drifts, Red Bull racing’s Max Verstappen finished fourth, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished fifth in the provisional qualification round.

It’s worth noting that Verstappen was the most struggling driver on the track in Shanghai as he went off-track on multiple occasions losing his lap counts. Apart from him, some other drivers also went off-road due to new bitumen paint and moderate rainfall in China.  

‘It was wild’, says Lando Norris

After getting pole position for the upcoming sprint race, McLaren’s Lando Norris called it a wild win. He said, “It was [wild]. I am extremely happy, big thanks to the team. It was tricky. I was quite happy with how we were in the dry, I was nervous.

"I was quick, I kept catching the Ferrari so had to keep backing off. I got a good final lap. I am happy, and sad it is not for a proper qualifying but good enough. It was good fun, it gets your heart going. A nice surprise and a good position for tomorrow.”

Here is the provisional starting line-up for the sprint race: