Lando Norris of McLaren celebrated his pole position in the parc ferme after a rain-hit Sprint Qualifying session at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday. China is hosting the first Sprint of the Formula 1 season, with a modified schedule for 2024 that replaces second practice with sprint qualifying. The Sprint Race will kick off Saturday’s track activity. The wet conditions during SQ2 and SQ3 made it difficult for drivers to maintain grip on the Shanghai International Circuit. Norris set the fastest time of 1:57.940s, but there was a brief moment of doubt regarding track limits after he went off at Turn 16 on his previous lap. However, his time was ultimately reinstated, giving him a comfortable lead of 1.3s over Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, with Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin in third place. Max Verstappen, the reigning World Champion, had a challenging session and finished fourth after having his lap times deleted for exceeding track limits. Carlos Sainz was the highest-placed Ferrari driver in fifth position, while Charles Leclerc recovered from a spin and a light tap with the barrier to finish seventh. Sergio Perez of Red Bull led the running in the early stages of SQ3 but ended up in sixth place. Oscar Piastri finished eighth, and Sauber made an impressive appearance in the top 10. Valtteri Bottas briefly held second place but slipped down to ninth, while Zhou Guanyu, the home hero, completed the top 10. The first two parts of the session were mostly dry, but the rain intensified during SQ2. As a result, George Russell of Mercedes missed the cut-off and finished in 11th place, followed by the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin were also eliminated in the second segment. Alpine had a disappointing session, with both drivers being knocked out in SQ1. However, Pierre Gasly outperformed his teammate Esteban Ocon despite Ocon having the advantage of upgraded components. Alex Albon of Williams finished 18th, while Yuki Tsunoda struggled with grip and ended up in 19th place, ahead of Logan Sargeant. The Sprint Race is scheduled for 11:00 local time on Saturday.
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