After a Sprint earlier in the morning, it was now time to focus back on one lap pace as the teams and drivers looked to qualify as high as possible for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix!
Q1
In Qualifying 1; Pierre Gasly, Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Isack Hadjar were the five slowest drivers! It was a second successive day where Pierre Gasly qualified 16th as Alpine struggled for pace whilst Oliver Bearman got knocked out in Q1 after failing to reach the chequered flag to start his final lap! Jack Doohan was P18 after spinning in the other Alpine, ahead of the Kick Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto whilst Liam Lawson was once again last for Red Bull! Lando Norris topped Q1 for McLaren, amazingly ahead of the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar!
Q2
In Qualifying 2; Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, and Carlos Sainz all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! This was much more like it from Esteban Ocon as he got within 3 hundredths of a second off a Q3 appearance whilst Nico Hulkenberg was barely behind in P12! Aston Martin managed to lock out the 7th Row of the Grid, with Fernando Alonso heading Lance Stroll by just under a tenth, and it was Carlos Sainz who found himself slowest in Q2 after once again struggling to pull out a competitive lap time! It was a McLaren 1-2 in Q2, with Lando Norris some 4 and a bit tenths ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri!
Q3
In Qualifying 3, a 1:30.641 was enough for Oscar Piastri to finally take his Maiden Pole Position! It’s been a long time coming for Oscar, his pace has been strong this weekend, and he definitely deserves this moment! George Russell also starred with a terrific lap to get his Mercedes onto the Front Row, ahead of the other McLaren of Lando Norris who will be disappointed with his outing whilst Max Verstappen managed to get his Red Bull into 4th! It’s an all Ferrari 3rd Row as Lewis Hamilton managed to outqualify Charles Leclerc again whilst Isack Hadjar pulled out a terrific bounce-back performance to get his Racing Bulls into P7! Andrea Kimi Antonelli could only manage P8 in the second Mercedes, ahead of the other VCARB of Yuki Tsunoda whilst Alex Albon can be proud of himself for securing another Q3 appearance for Williams!
Starting Grid for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix and My Qualifying Grades
Oscar Piastri: 10
George Russell: 8
Lando Norris: 8
Max Verstappen: 8
Lewis Hamilton: 7
Charles Leclerc: 6
Isack Hadjar: 10
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 5
Yuki Tsunoda: 8
Alex Albon: 8
Esteban Ocon: 8
Nico Hulkenberg: 8
Fernando Alonso: 6
Lance Stroll: 5
Carlos Sainz: 4
Pierre Gasly: 3
Oliver Bearman: 3
Jack Doohan: 2
Gabriel Bortoleto: 2
Liam Lawson: 1
Credit: Motorsport Week
My Predictions for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix
Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris
George Russell
Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen
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