Lando Norris beat Lewis Hamilton to Sprint pole at the Chinese Grand Prix after dramatically having his fastest lap reinstated at the end of a wet session.
Hamilton appeared to have claimed pole when Norris had his final flying lap deleted for exceeding track limits, but the stewards then reinstated the lap in the closing moments to give the McLaren driver the second Sprint pole of his career.
Fernando Alonso took third for Aston Martin, while world championship leader Max Verstappen was fourth having also lost a lap during the final part of the session for running off track.
With Verstappen’s Red Bull appearing to be the fastest car in dry conditions at the start of the session, Saturday’s 19-lap Sprint race, live on Sky Sports at 4am, promises to be a thrilling contest as the Dutchman attempts to get past the trio ahead of him.
Carlos Sainz was sixth ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with the Spaniard once more outperforming his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was fortunate to claim eighth after avoiding significant damage when spinning into the barrier in SQ3.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was unable to match Norris’ pace as he took eighth, while there was a feel-good story as Zhou Guanyu rounded out the top 10 at his first home grand prix behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
George Russell was a surprise casualty in SQ2 as Mercedes once more struggled in dry conditions, with the Brit to start 11th having only narrowly avoided being knocked out in the first part of the session.
More to follow…
Saturday April 20
3.30am: Chinese GP Sprint (race starts at 4am)*
7am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
8am: Chinese GP Qualifying*
10am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday April 21
7am: Grand Prix Sunday: Chinese GP build-up*
8am: The CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
10am: Chequered Flag: Chinese GP reaction*
11am: Ted’s Notebook*
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
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