The opening practice session at the Chinese Grand Prix provided little clarity for the upcoming sprint qualifying event. The new format, introduced in 2024, has shifted the focus of Friday’s practice session towards preparing for the sprint race rather than the main grand prix. As a result, teams experimented with different strategies to assess the track, tires, and their cars before committing to a qualifying setup. This led to an unexpected order, with Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and Oscar Piastri of McLaren taking the top spots, while Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, followed closely behind. Despite the track being partly resurfaced since its last use in F1 five years ago, drivers adapted quickly and encountered minimal issues. One notable incident was a brief red flag caused by a small fire on a patch of grass at Turn 7. Overall, drivers navigated the challenging Shanghai circuit, occasionally experiencing minor slips and overshooting pitlane entries. The session’s dynamics were heavily influenced by the need to familiarize themselves with the track, validate simulation data, fine-tune their cars, and manage the limited allocation of soft tires for the sprint weekend. Each of the top teams approached the session differently, with Red Bull using a combination of medium and soft tires, Ferrari opting for softs throughout, and Mercedes predominantly using hard tires. While Verstappen initially set the pace using medium tires, the softer compounds and track evolution allowed other drivers to surpass his time. Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, Piastri, and eventually Stroll took turns at the top of the leaderboard. Lando Norris, despite showing promising pace in the first two sectors, aborted his lap and missed out on joining the leading group. Notably, both Haas drivers performed well with their upgraded cars, and Esteban Ocon showcased potential improvements for Alpine. Ferrari and Mercedes, however, did not prioritize a top-10 finish in FP1 due to their respective strategies.
The 2024 FIA World Rally Championship continued with the Rally Portugal from 9th-12th May, 2024. The first full day of the rally provided thrilling action as five different...
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