All language subtitles for F1 GP Chine 2024 Qualif anglais

So here we go again then. Time for your
second qualifying session of the

weekend. But we've dispensed with a
sprint now. And on London Marathon

it's time for Formula One.

to look ahead to the big one to come on
Sunday afternoon. Here in Shanghai,

round five of the Formula One season. In
2024, it is the Chinese Grand Prix.

First time we've been here since 2019,
and the 17th Chinese Grand Prix in

Raced around this 3 .387 -mile circuit.
You take it at full throttle for 62 %

of your lap time. Two DRS zones to help
you up to a top speed. Around about

214... miles an hour and 16 corners
waiting to catch you out with some

traps on the outside too. Now the three
tyre compounds for this weekend are the

same numbers that Pirelli brought here
back in 2019. The tyres themselves have

changed a lot since then and it's the
middle of the range. C4, C3 and the C2

tyre. And conditions have changed
somewhat since the sprint qualifying

on Friday. It's got a lot warmer. We've
seen some blue sky.

And it stopped raining as well. So it's
a very different proposition for the

drivers as they go into qualifying for
the Grand Prix. And a very different

proposition, Nico Rosberg, to what
they've been used to in their entire

career. Because they've raced and now
they've got to qualify. And normally in

motorsport, it is the other way around.

Yeah, that would be very, very strange
for all of them.

especially the time also between this
morning's sprint race and this

qualifying, because what are you going
to focus on? You know, now you learned a

lot for the race, but actually you need
to qualify now, and it's so important to

qualify up front.

So that would have been very unusual.

But I think it's good to have a bit of a
disruption, something different, and we

thoroughly enjoyed it so far, didn't we?
We certainly did. It was a very

exciting sprint. We're not going to talk
about the results of that, because some

of you, getting up early wherever you
are in the world, might not have seen

the race a little bit earlier. What I
would tell you, in the qualifying

yesterday, the local hero, Joe Guanjun,
got into the top ten. Now, he's not

managed to get out of Q1 in proper
qualifying so far this season, along

Pierre Gasly and Logan Sargent. But the
60 ,000 fans here, some of whom will

have come yesterday, are waiting to see
if history can repeat itself when he can

get into that top ten.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yesterday, when he qualified in the top
ten, I mean, the whole grandstand went

completely crazy.

He's a superstar here, which is so nice
to see.

And, yeah, he seems to have a good car
under him as well this weekend. So good

luck to him, and maybe he can make it
into the top ten, I'd say, for

race. Ted Kravitz, I can see the crowd
standing up in front of our commentary

box. I can hear them cheering.

I'm assuming that's not just for you.

No, thank you, Crofty. Yes, hello, Nico.
Hello, everybody from the pit lane.

It's because everybody, including Zhou
Guangyu, has come out of the garage.

Well, I say everybody from about three
or four teams has come out from the

garage and has queued up at the end of
the pit lane ready to go. So we have the

Alpines, we have the Saubers, we have
the Williams.

And two reasons.

First of all, nearly all teams have
changed their setup in some way between

sprint race and then what they want to
have underneath them for the Grand Prix.

Of course, what you have in the Grand
Prix, you have to run in this qualifying

session. So reason one is that they need
to get out there and test whether these

changes they've made in between the
sprint and now actually work. And reason

two, I hate to say it, Crofty, but
there's weather in the area. I checked

radar and there are some blue...
splodges of rain on the radar quite a

out. It doesn't look like it's going to
hit, certainly not in this session, but

there is weather around the area.

So I think they've got a lesser eye on
some incoming weather. But yeah, mostly

they just want to get out and get on
with qualifying.

But they're all sat there, engines
revving for at least two minutes.

Yeah, we have no weather radar.

Kevin's clearly about to go.

And we came up the pitch before he did.

If we were there first, then we're ahead
of the queue.

So it should be your position, but just
caution.

Make sure he doesn't force his way out.

See, it's like this, Alex.

British team, British queuing rules. We
got there first.

Everyone else could wait.

Yeah, let's see if you can ask Kevin
Magnusson to let him buy again.

I doubt Kevin is going to do that.

Let's have a look. He's trying to go and
see Kevin instead of letting him buy

the next one. Yeah, but that's
Hulkenberg. Kevin Magnusson has waited

But Nico Hulkenberg has rather...

boisterously just charged out onto the
track. We've seen that all weekend.

There's been a race in the pit lane.
Yeah, there certainly has.

We have no weather radar in our
commentary box. I'm told the

are standing up in a field somewhere
near here. They're not lying down yet.

rain is not coming.

According to our official radar service
or our official information from the

stewards room, risk of rain for this
qualifying session.

0%. But I'll tell you what, if Ted says
there's blue splodges on the horizon,

there's blue splodges on the horizon.
And wouldn't it be great to see a bit of

rain towards the end? Because
yesterday's sprint qualifying session

final session, absolutely phenomenal in
terms of drama.

Here in the dry, pretty much everyone
expecting Red Bull to dominate here, but

could.

Could they sacrifice a bit of qualifying
speed, which might give the others a

bit more chance today in exchange for
Red Bull having a better race pace

tomorrow? Yeah, I mean, let's still wait
and see. I still have a slimmer of hope

because I saw a very fast Lando Norris
yesterday in the dry.

So, for example, and the Ferraris, you
never really know. So let's wait and

It could be that someone surprises us
today. I'm with you, sliver of hope on

that one. Fernando Alonso.

waiting to get out. Former pole sitter
here, of course, and one of three

on the grid in 2024 who have taken a
pole position here before.

Carlos Sainz isn't one of them. Valtteri
Bottas was on pole for the last time we

were here in China. Alonso had one pole.

Lewis Hamilton, six pole positions to
his name around the circuit more than

other driver.

Yep. Can I just add something for
clarity for everybody also who's

we're doing the sprint.

a race is going to be the highlights
after qualifying because it's kind of

difficult for me because i'm looking at
all these drivers i'm very excited about

adding something that happened this
morning sprint race also in my

i'm not allowed to talk about that well
you see some people you know back in the

uk might just be getting out of bed now
you know unlike you they're not up with

the locks Every single day.

And I don't want to spoil any highlights
for them. They might have set their

SkyQ, of course, you see, to record the
sprint race. So let's try not to spoil

it for them.

Nico Hulkenberg, for that pushing and
shoving his way into the queue, has been

spotted by race control, who may or may
not decide to refer that to the

stewards. But that pit lane incident has
been noted. And Joe Guanyu is on his

way now for his first flying lap of this
session. So, Nico, take it away.

Yeah, so first flying lap here, which
will be very different to this morning's

race, because suddenly the car is light,
you have maximum grip.

Here today the wind is different, you
have the wind from the front here, so

can brake really deep.

Missed the apex a little bit there.
Straight lining the exit there. Steering

wheel open now quickly to the right to
get the ideal line for that fast, flat

-out left -hander. Stay left on the
exit.

Stay left, left, left so that you have a
good line into the next part.

Very difficult here to hug the apex. The
car always understeers. And now, again,

understeer through the middle here. You
see he's almost running off the track.

And then as soon as you get past the
point, you get big oversteer where you

to control the rear and try to get the
power down as quickly as possible.

Big braking here into this tiny chicane
where the exit is. So fundamental

because it brings you on to one of the
longest straights in the year of F1. And

here this exit now, so difficult.

You're like balancing the rear tires on
the limit there as you're putting the

power down to the maximum as early as
possible.

That looked like a good run he had out
there.

Joe is generally driving really well
this weekend. And now it's so difficult.

First lap out there and he needs to nail
the braking point. So he goes for 110

meters. He went there. And the wind from
the back, you know, but he got it

perfect. Super job.

And then when you turn around the corner
and you accelerate, you get the wind

from the front suddenly. So you have
this awesome traction.

So it's all these things that the
drivers now need to get used to very,

quickly. And he aborted into the pit. I
wonder why.

Decided he was not going fast enough and
probably needs to make a few tweaks to

the car. So better to come in now than
waste another lap going around. And that

braking spot here into the hairpin, not
only behind, but behind and from the

right. So it's kind of pushing you wide
and pushing you forward.

everything that you don't want it to be,
I'm sure, as an F1 driver.

Yuki Tsunoda with a 1 .38 .1. The DRS
isn't working. Carla Sainz is working

on the medium tyre, according to the
graphic there. George Russell very much

the soft tyre, going fastest overall
with a 1 .36 .4.

Yuki Tsunoda, who got out -qualified by
Daniel Ricciardo with a sprint

qualifying yesterday for what was the
first time.

this season in any qualifying format.

We're on board now with Lando Norris.

So I heard this morning because Lando
was struggling with his rear, that I'm

allowed to say, I think, in the race. So
they've stiffened up the front end

mechanically is what I've heard to give
him a bit of a better race pace then.

But that could hurt him with understeer
in qualifying. So let's see how that

goes.

Breaking once again into that hairpin.

And you're decelerating there from the
top speed of about 214 miles an hour to

what is pretty much a 45 mile an hour
corner.

Scrubbing off a lot of speed there in
the space of about 100 metres. Norris

second fastest.

Behind his good mate George Russell, and
a tenth of a second separating the two

of them. And while that's going on on
track, Kevin Magnussen now with the

fastest time, and his team -mate Nico
Hulkenberg, currently Hulkenberg's sixth

fastest, is going to be investigated
after the session for a bit of pit lane

barging. Now, Logan Sargent showing
those understeer issues that you were

talking about. Yes, he was everywhere
apart from on the ideal line.

in two subsequent quarters.

Very true.

Max Verstappen.

And what is his ideal line as he starts
off on his first flying lap of this

session? Verstappen pole in every race
this season. Pole, of course, in Abu

Dhabi to end last season. So five in a
row and aiming to become the first

since Mika Hakkinen back in 1999 to take
five poles in the first five races of

the season.

Been waiting a while for that to happen.
Will this be his day? I wonder. Charles

Leclerc has just gone to the top by
nearly half a second from George

And Verstappen just over four tenths
quicker than anyone else in the first

sector. That's across 25 seconds of
first sector. Yeah. Four tenths. So

pretty rapid start there.

I can hear your eyebrows raising there
at that one in the tone of your voice.

And I think that was probably echoed by
a lot of people around the world, too.

On board with Verstappen while we ride
with the Red Bull driver, Karim

Chandhok's at race control for us.

I think that somewhat surprised George
Russell as well, Crofty. He just came on

the radio to ask what the benchmark was,
was totally about four tenths behind

Leclerc, and seemed a little bit
surprised to hear that he was on the

not far behind.

You have to say, George, even yesterday
didn't look particularly comfortable,

the car did. It was P11 in sprint quali
2, 7 tenths of the stopping space, even

yesterday.

Yeah, and one of the issues was that
George... Came out of the garage for

laps in SQ2 and came out just at the
wrong time.

We'll just watch Verstappen over the
line here to complete his lap and go

fastest behind Fernando Alonso at all
the pace.

In the first sector, and Fernando Alonso
across the whole lap managed to go just

a few hundredth quicker. Lewis Hamilton
goes eighth fastest. Yeah, the two

Mercedes came out for the second part of
qualifying yesterday.

And as George left the garage, someone
went, no, stop, just hang on a minute.

And George had already gone, and Lewis
was still sat there. And the reason they

wanted to hold the drivers was because
there was a queue at the end of the pit

lane. George sat in that queue. That's
Sergio Perez going wide.

What was that?

What was he doing there?

Goodness knows.

Okay, not ideal, but he was some way off
the track, to be honest.

But yes, it's not great, because if you
go just a little bit deep, you just

understeer straight towards that driver.

He was literally off the track, but
still in a bad place. So I understand a

little bit of frustration there from
Perez, because it's dangerous, because

Perez gets it wrong, he will go straight
flying into Albon. Did Albon need to

be? Yes, Lance Stroll struggling under
braking with that tailwind.

Did Alex Albon need to be on the far
right -hand side, on the inside? there.

Would that have been better for Sergio?

That could have been a better place to
do it, yeah.

To really stay hugging on the very, very
inside, possibly.

But it was difficult.

He was in a bad timing there.

So I'll finish that George Russell
story. He sat in the pit lane, queuing

tyres going cold, and then never got the
heat in his tyres for the rest of that

session. Lewis Hamilton stayed in the
garage, tyre blankets on, and came out

with nice warm tyres. And that explains
some of the difference between the two

Mercedes drivers. That information
coming from the team.

Yesterday, it's Alonso from Verstappen
with Bottas, currently third fastest.

keeps popping up with some very
impressive laps at the start of

sessions? Yeah, but it's that car. It's
the Sauber this weekend. Look at Joe. He

just went sixth fastest.

The Sauber this weekend is...

A better car than we've seen in the last
couple of races. So it's really a car

to be in the top ten with, which is good
to see and great for our local hero.

It certainly is.

Alex Albon speeding his way down that
back straight. Oscar Piastri just

his adventures down the back straight.
You can see the Papaya McLaren in the

distance there. Piastri going at a rate
of knots currently.

and sending Purple Sectors first and
second. Albon to the final corner gravel

trap on the right -hand side. That's
been introduced for this year. The

brought closer to the side of the track,
and Alex Albon goes fourth fastest, six

-tenths of a second behind Fernando
Alonso.

There's Lily, his partner, watches on
from the garage, and Oscar Piastri with

1 .35 .0 goes to the top of the
standings. Another good lap from Oscar

but are we seeing Nico Rosberg?

Some pretty hefty track evolution going
on here.

Yeah, of course, we're seeing track
evolution, yeah. And it's very close at

front so far.

So for now, it's looking exciting.

And even better for Yuki Tsunoda, the
DRS is now working. His first

time here at the Shanghai Circuit.

Oscar Piastri's first time here as well.

And Oscar Piastri with the fastest time
so far.

Carlos Sainz was on the medium compound
tyre.

They've abandoned that experiment at
Ferrari.

I guess they feel there wasn't the pace
in the mediums compared to the softs.

Yes, I would tend to agree with that.

So now we have some exciting laps coming
up here. Carlos Sainz, as you said, is

on course for a very quick one.

And Lando is coming up as well then for
his first really big one. So that's

going to be really interesting to watch
now.

Sergio Perez still to get a time on the
board too as Carlos Sainz makes his way

round. Turn 16. Once again, that final
corner track dips down underneath the

bridge and it's a 1 .34. Neymar into the
1 .34s with Carlos Sainz. Fastest time

in Q1 in 2019 was a 1 .32 .6 from
Valtteri Bottas. Ted, down to you.

Yeah, down at RB, we haven't spoken too
much about them. It's been a pretty

horrific weekend for them pace -wise.
But Yuki Tsunoda has just got into the

10 just to be pipped by Esteban Ocon. So
Yuki at the moment 11th. Daniel

Ricciardo has reported that he's seen
some smoke coming from the front right

his brake, of his wheel, the brake on
his front right.

He's been wheeled back into the garage.

They're going to put some new tyres on,
check over that brake.

Hopefully, for Danny Rick's sake, it's
all OK. They can send it back out again.

Got a bit of a pause there.

I thought when you said reported a bit
of smoke, you were going to say Ted by

the side of turn seven at the side of
the track, because obviously we've had a

couple of...

Sparking fire issues in the dry here
this weekend. But the FIA have taken

to prevent that happening again. And I
think they've even got a fire crew

standing by down at that corner to stop
the sparks igniting the turf, which

you'd think would still be pretty damp
here.

But things have dried out somewhat since
yesterday.

And we're on board with Lando Norris.
Come on then, Nico Rosbo. Yeah, so he'll

touch the inside curb, then run it out
very wide. And it's so difficult that,

oh, a big oversteer moment.

Completely missed the apex there.

Definitely lost probably two tenths at
least.

That was quite costly.

Wow, still big oversteer. They still
didn't stiffen the front up enough

mechanically, it looks like.

Very, very nervous still in the rear
end. So here now breaking into the wind.

Let's see if he hits the apex there.
Again, a meter off, but that's fine in

corner. Oh, I thought it was quick, but
actually that's only compared to

Sargent's time.

So here the fast corner.

Sparks flying, the ones that...

Put the grasp on fire. That's exactly
the place.

Now let's see how he gets through here.
So quite nice there. Let's see if the

rear holds this time. The rear held on
quite well there.

And now you go into this slower chicane
here, so very deep braking, and then try

and carry the speed in. But here, the
exit is the one that's so important to

really, really good exits. Use the
maximum width of the track. And here,

still, like, different drivers use
different lines. So he had the very,

inside there, which is quite unusual.

But it looked very, very good there. So
I think he's got a great run on to the

longest straight here.

He's about half a tenth down on Oscar
Piastri through the first two sectors.

obviously trying to get out of the
bottom five and going out, I think, with

everyone else at Lando Norris. But I see
this is McLaren saying, right, you've

got a clear track, just go out and do
it. This time should be good enough for

easy progression through into Q2. Let's
see, as he crosses the line, will that

be good enough? He's gone quickest
overall, 1 .34 .8 for Lando Norris. And

actually nicely taken through, you would
imagine, into the second part of

qualifying. Sergio Perez, last time
he...

clocked in on, or checked in on Sergio.
He was rather complaining about Alex

Albon being in the way at turn one. The
stewards have decided no further

investigation needed on that one.

You know, I was struggling early on.
It's Mercedes, unfortunately, again. I

mean, George, look where he is. He's
nine -tenths off the McLaren. And Lewis

Hamilton down in 18th as well. Yeah,
that is looking quite difficult to get

going here. Yeah, pressure is on
Mercedes.

To get both of their drivers safely
through here. Perez crosses the line.

six -faster, Sergio Perez.

It's where he qualified for the sprint
qualifying.

And he's sixth in this Q1 session.

But look at that. He's six -tenths off
Norris in the McLaren. So there is

still hope. And it's what we saw
yesterday.

The Red Bulls were not so exceptional on
one lap.

There's a trade -off here, isn't there?
You've got single lap pace to get

yourself grid position.

But that might not then help you in the
race when it could all be about

preserving your tyres.

You want to energise your tyres for
qualifying and keep a bit of that energy

your hands for what is going to be a
very long race of attrition tomorrow.

You've got Kevin Magnusson and Lewis
Hamilton, Danny Ricciardo, Logan Sargent

and this man, Joe Granu.

In the bottom five currently, and we
think that Sauber has got the pace to

through the Q2, which will be the first
time this season for Joe Guanyu.

And he's already two and a half tenths
up on a time he needs to jump himself.

Out of that bottom five. But while we
focus on him, they're all coming out

apart from Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri
and Fernando Alonso to start their final

flying lap. Big pressure moment here for
Joe, you know, in front of the whole

nation now, expecting him to again get
out of that drop zone, first of all, and

get into the top ten. So he needs to
nail this lap because this is his last

at it.

And at the moment, he's out at 16.

But he's going well so far. Look, he's
massively up on Hülkenberg. So looking

like a really good lap so far. And his
teammate, Valtteri Potat, has just gone

fifth fastest. Now, he is one of the
calmest, nicest people you could ever

to spend time with, Joe Guan Yu.

If anyone's not going to feel the
pressure of an expectant China, it is

be the man from Shanghai.

But these are high, intense pressure
moments. And the track, I do believe, is

evolving and getting faster and faster.
And the more we go on... He's locked up.

He's locked up, isn't he?

Alex Albon has just gone quickest
through the first sector.

We had a yellow flag. That was all
behind Joe Guanyu. Might have been Yuki

Tsunoda, which might have caused a few
just to stop. He goes eighth fastest.

So six tenths off the pace, which is
good. And it gets the standing ovation

here. Now is that time of a 1 .35 .5
going to be good enough to get him

Gets him a round of applause, but it's
all about whether it's good enough to

him through.

Albon goes seventh fastest. So ahead of
Joe Granu, it was Logan Sargent, not

Yuki Tsunoda, who had a spin at turn
nine.

And that is going to cost Logan Sargent
big time.

He is going to stay in that bottom five
because he's lost a heap of time, as you

would understand, in that middle sector.
So Sargent's going to be out once again

in Q1 in 2024.

Magnussen goes 10th fastest.

And here's the pressure moment now for
Lewis trying to get out the drop zone.

Let's hope he doesn't break too late
with the wind from the back.

And he did. He did exactly like Joe. He
went off the road even there. That's

going to cost...

Definitely sometime, but I think he was
up far enough to still make it through

comfortably. Hulkenberg just went fourth
fastest in the Haas.

Hamilton crosses the line, only 12th
fastest.

For Lewis Hamilton, there's a lot of
green sectors being set below him at the

moment, including Daniel Ricciardo,
pushes Hamilton down to 13th. Ricciardo,

ninth fastest. Really good lap from him
at the end. Charles Leclerc is on a

decent lap, but he's one of the drivers
at risk currently.

Pierre Gasly, who out -qualified Esteban
Ocon for the sprint qualifying.

He's running neck and neck with his
teammate at the moment as Lance Stroll

eighth fastest.

Hamilton's now down in 15th as his
teammate George Russell goes fifth. And

that lock -up from Lewis Hamilton going
to cost him dear and see him out in Q1

here? Max Verstappen goes quickest once
again.

Hamilton stays 15th, but look at
Leclerc's time. Purple in the middle

That's going to be a big threat.

Gasly and Ocon might be a big threat
too.

Around the final turn we go with Pierre
Gasly.

line Hamilton is out of qualifying
because Gasly has got himself in a Q2

first time this season here's his
teammate Esteban Ocon he goes 11th both

Alpines out of Q1 Charles Leclerc is the
next one to try and get himself out of

the bottom five and does so at the
expense of Joe Guan Yu the local hero

also locked up like Lewis Hamilton into
that hairpin is out of qualifying Yuki

Tsunoda Two pays the price for a poor
middle sector, and he's out as well.

Magnussen is on the track, but he will
find himself in that bottom five.

Are we through? No.

No, we've been bumped loose.

Wow, that is painful.

That is seriously painful.

I mean, in 18th position, Lewis.

But honestly, that was, I mean, you know
that the wind is coming from the back

there. He's had a great lap until then.
It was really unnecessary to push the

limit there so much for Lewis. You know,
as a seven -time world champion, that's

a mistake probably that should be
avoidable.

And that's Logan Sargent with his spin,
which he would have wanted to have

avoided as well.

Did Hamilton just need to pick a
slightly safer braking zone 10, 20

before he applied the brakes that time?

It's going to be 20th and last for Logan
Sargent for the Grand Prix and he picks

up a brake marker board for his pain
too.

So it's Sargent and Tanoga and this man
Hamilton. It's not 10 metres, it's 3

metres always.

And he also had the brake balance too
far forward and just lost so much time

there. I mean, lost at least four
tenths.

in that moment, which easily would have
put him through, you know, easily.

He lost. That is a disaster.

He lost six -tenths of a second to his
teammate, George Russell, in that final

sector. George Russell went through
comfortably in seventh place.

Lewis Hamilton, for the first time since
Jeddah in 2022, is out in Q1. And

that is the big shock after the first 18
minutes here in Shanghai.

That was close, yeah.

And he only just made it, Sergio Perez.

The 1 .35 .5 cut -off point was
absolutely spot on. He was the 1 .35

Joe Magnusson, Hamilton, Sonoda Sargent,
all out of qualifying, the Saffron

fastest.

Yeah, I mean, there's definitely
something going on. It can't be changed,

honestly. That must be good.

Yeah, it was really difficult.

I don't know why. I just lost all the
grip in T14.

Pretty good.

Yeah, it was really difficult.

I don't know why. I just lost all the...
And

just a few hundredths of a second
costing Joe Guanyu

a place in Q2.

Aston Martin have both of their drivers
safely through to the next stages. Lance

Stroll, 11th, and Fernando Alonso, 8th.
Their team boss... Mike Crack is with us

on the pit wall. So first things first,
Mike, both safely through. How are the

conditions out there for you?

Yeah, it's not easy.

Both drivers, nobody's really happy.

The wind, the temperatures have picked
up now and there was also a little bit

probably dust in the beginning of the
session. So nobody's really happy. I

also from, I think it's something that
the comments all across the field is

you hear.

Mike, Fernando said his time pretty
early on, if I'm not mistaken. Do you

there's some real potential there maybe
to be right at the front today?

First of all, we have to go into Q3
before we think of anything more. I

see that you can get called out very
quickly here.

We see it now.

So let's take it step by step. And then
we see with Fernando, you never know.

There's always...

something extra coming in the last
session. But first of all, we need to

both cars into that.

Do you want to send your cars out then,
Mike? Why is everyone still sat in the

garages? I can see a green light at the
end of the pit lane.

Yeah, we have a bit of time.

They will go soon, Crofty.

You know me, I'm never patient. Thanks
ever so much, Mike. Great to talk to

And I'm sure we'll be talking to Mike in
between Q2 and Q3.

Great cheers, great applause, no
consolation, I'm sure, for Joe Guanyu

afternoon. No, that's a real pity. After
the brilliant qualifying yesterday,

that's a real pity for him to be so far
back. Because the car, I mean, is

working exceptionally well this weekend
for them.

Yuki Tsunoda had been on a run of three
consecutive Q3 appearances.

That has ended here. Kevin Magnussen and
Logan Sargent also out in that first

part of qualifying, as was Lewis
Hamilton.

The big shock of the first part of
qualifying.

Hamilton out, not making it through.

Sorry, guys.

I was just watching Lewis walking
through the pit lane.

That is a painful moment.

The weekend is gone. With that car,
you're not going to be able to come far

the grid anymore in the race.

So, painful.

He has done it once before, from 22nd on
the grid in 2016.

He came home to finish 7th that
particular afternoon at a time when the

was a way more dominant car and a
championship -winning car, as I'm sure

remember, Nico, from that season than it
probably is now. Ted Kravitz, down to

you.

I know it's been a long weekend, Crofty,
but remember with the Mercedes in the

dry of sprint qualifying and Lewis was
pretty much nowhere then as well, and he

only... declared it was such an
opportunity when the rain came down.

saved his sprint qualifying, having the
wet conditions that we had yesterday.

So maybe he wasn't too surprised that he
wasn't able to get some pace out of the

Mercedes.

Curious case of the two Haas drivers.

Kevin Magnussen had a good sprint race.
Sorry to be a slight plot spoiler, and

he was tensed in the sprint race earlier
today, but out in Q1...

Great job from Nika Hulkenberg. P6 in
the first qualifying session.

And he manages to get his house once
again into Q2. Good job by Hulkenberg.

Thanks, Ted.

12 minutes to go, and we've got the
drivers coming out onto the track. So if

want to ride on board with any of them,
now's a good time to do it. You need

your Sky Sports app and your Sky Sports
login.

Log in and choose any one of your
favourite 15 drivers that are still

you can ride on board and listen to the
team radio too. And if you want to press

your interactive button to access this
facility, you can do so if you're

watching via SkyQ, Skystream, SkyEar
Glass, or even Now TV.

And if there's a shoeie on the podium at
the end of this weekend, well, I'm sure

everybody would like to partake in that.
Daniel Ricciardo is through to Q2.

He's not out -qualified Yuki Tsunoda in
Grand Prix qualifying this season. He's

done the double over his teammate this
weekend.

He's enjoying himself, I think, back at
a track that he's won at previously.

Yeah, let's praise him at this point.

He's doing exactly what he needs to do
now, which is...

Clearly beat Tsunoda, you know, and he's
been doing that the whole weekend so

far. So that's been a very positive
progress.

And they cannot stop twice like this.

I assume he means in the pit lane.

They're trying to build a gap to the car
in front so that they don't have to go

slowly on the track and hold anybody up
who might be on a fast lap. I want to

say slowly, going so, so slow that
they're all stacking up into turn 14.

And what the Clare wanted to do was just
to keep rolling, keep rolling and not

stopping in the pit lane. But that seems
to be the way forward now for 2024,

that all the gaps get sorted out before
the cars leave the pit lane.

It's better, isn't it?

I don't think it looks good, but I think
it's better to sort it out, yeah.

This is Formula One, Nico. This is about
cars going fast, not stopping in the

pit lane and forming an orderly queue.

But the engineers have worked out the
best way to do it. And the reason why

do it is because you...

Well, you need to tiptoe sometimes. You
need to tread very carefully, not go too

fast on these tyres and build up the
temperature to the working window where

they operate at their absolute peak
right from the start of your lap.

And if you've done that, then you can
barrel into turn one with absolutely no

fear whatsoever, knowing the car's going
to stick for you. They'll be doing that

because they have the temperatures of
the front and rear tyres on their

wheel, yeah, and they're on the outlap.
They're trying to manage so that they

nail the exact right... point for those
temperatures to be as they hit the

beginning of the lap, which is what
Fernando will have done just now.

Usually it's around 130 degrees, both
front and rear.

Let's see how he gets on in the first
corner. Super, wow, super grip he has.

Super grip. Wow, nailed the apex.
Brought it back in nicely there. A

snappy on the back two times.

Yeah, a little bit nervous, but quite
beautifully driven there.

That looked good first part.

of that sequence not necessarily from
the second part it's okay it didn't lose

much it was okay and then here again
nailed the apex now straight line

wheel keep hugging the curb on the
outside and now pull it back to the

you get a beautiful run into this flat
out corner here and then you have to

left on the exit here that's so
important but he's under steering you

see the understeer on the car and here's
so bumpy on the front end super

uncomfortable through there big
understeer again here now and now the

around and But he had super traction.

I mean, Aston looks to have really great
grip on the rear here at the moment.

It's another purple sector for Fernando
Alonso. It's a purple sector in the

first part of the lap. Then Oscar
Piastri and then Lando Norris both went

little bit faster.

And once again, Oscar Piastri has gone
faster in the middle sector.

He's about three tenths up on Alonso.

Two -time world champion gets himself
onto the back straight. Nico

put in a 1 .34 .9.

Improved by about a tenth of a second
from his best time in Q1.

Lance Stroll has improved by three
-tenths of a second from his best time

Ricciardo improved by two -tenths. Ocon
by a tenth. And Gasly has gone a little

bit slower than he did with his best
time in the first part of qualifying.

Alonso crosses the line, goes quickest.

1 .34 .8, but the two McLarens are
queuing up behind him, and then Max

Verstappen is going a little bit quicker
himself through the first two sectors.

Here comes Piastri over the line,
quickest so far by a tenth and a half,

look at that. Alex Albon ragging it,
ragging that Williams out of the final

corner. Looks spectacular, not exactly
fast.

No, that's not the best thing to do.

Lando Norris, a little bit more sedate
around the final corner, and showing

actually... was a little bit better, 1
.34 .4 for him.

Valtteri Bottas goes fifth fastest, half
a second down. And here's Max

Verstappen, who seems to have found a
nice set of rails by which to run on

around that final turn and goes quickest
and becomes the first driver into the 1

.33s. He's half a second clear of Lando
Norris.

Charles Leclerc next, only eighth
fastest for Charles Leclerc. What a lap

Max Verstappen and what a lap for Hector
also.

Unbelievable. He's found incredible
pace. Let's see what Perez can do

to Max Verstappen.

Fifth fastest. Oh, and in the background
there is Carlos Sainz sliding towards

the barrier, which he hits, but not at
huge speed. Is there damage on that

Ferrari?

And has he kept the engine going or not?

Out of that final turn, Carlos Sainz has
dropped it, and there's a red flag as

well. Because he obviously hasn't kept
the engine going.

And they're going to need to recover
that Ferrari. And that is Carlos Sainz

of qualifying.

He's okay, which is the first news we
want to hear.

But he just got onto the gravel.

And at that stage, he's then a
passenger.

Dear, dear Carlos.

I mean, it's a pretty big impact. But at
the same time, it looks like the car is

still one piece.

So I think he is trying to get going
again. You can just see him run too

outside tires on the gravel, but he kept
it lit and spun him around into the

tire barrier.

And I think even though the car looks
okay, it seems to be broken.

The crowd all craning forward to try and
get the best view.

You see how he kept the power on? Yeah.

He put the outside tires into the
gravel, but he kept the throttle in

fully committed.

And that was a little bit too much.
Which he has been all weekend.

Had incidents with his teammates in the
sprint race.

Had quite the debrief at Ferrari
afterwards.

Whatever was said there would have been
forgotten going into this session. But

I'm sure plenty will be said after that
mistake from Carlos Sainz Jr. and his

dad. A two -time world rally champion
looking on from the rear of the garage.

Corinne Chandler at race control.

Yeah, I've been listening in to Carlos
Sainz's radio.

They're going through the instructions.
Hey, he's got it going. Because these

cars, of course, you can restart the
engine using the hybrid system.

So it took a little while for him
because when he had the impact, he was

fifth gear.

It took a little while to go through the
systems to get the car back into

neutral and then get the engine fired up
using the MG UK.

Basically, by my understanding, he can
still...

If they can fix the car, restart the
session.

Yeah.

So it looks like the front wing took a
lot of the load there on the impact.

But then, so for the front end, but the
rear end still went hard into the tyres.

Also, it would seriously be a miracle if
that car was still in one piece. But it

looks like it could be.

The one thing that's going to help
Carlos Sainz to Ferrari here is the fact

we've got a red flag. Clock has stopped,
which gives him and the team a bit of

extra time.

to try and get that car ready. But they
are going to have to give it the fastest

of all once -overs to make sure that
there is no further damage, other than

obvious, which at the moment is there's
a front wing missing.

This is where the chief mechanic comes
into play.

Karun, you've been listening to the team
radio.

Yeah, still listening. He says he's not
able to offer any feedback because the

tyres are completely flat -spotted.

and he's missing the front wing, but the
steering wheel seems square. So,

effectively, the tracking hasn't gone
off from that impact.

But, yeah, he's not able to offer any
other feedback just because the tyres

completely flat -bottomed.

I think this is where the chief mechanic
is going to come into play because he

will have to make the call. You know, he
has all the experience. He'll look at

all the sensitive parts there on the
rear especially to see if there's

bent or cracked or whatever.

And then he's going to make the call and
say good to go or not. And at the

moment, my feeling is he's going to get
going again. Well, I mean, you're the

driver. You'd want to get going even if
the steering wasn't straight as well.

No, I'll live with that. That'll be
fine.

He's still got quite a long way to get
that car back to the pit.

This is like, of course, as a spectator,
you don't know what it feels like, but

when the tires are there, they are
completely square.

Yeah, because he was standing on those
brakes, sliding forever.

The vibration in the cockpit, like you
literally cannot see properly where

you're going. Everything, the whole road
is just a blur.

It's so extreme. That's why he's going
so slowly also.

Let's have a look once more on board at
the incident that has caused the damage.

Definitely low lack of commitment, huh?
Yeah.

So the front end goes much harder, but
it's the front wing that takes the load

there. And then the rear was a little
bit softer, so it's possible that he

lucky. Is that just too much speed
carried around that final corner?

Yeah, of course, yeah. But maybe he also
just got a little bit of an unexpected

understeer or something.

And then even when he was out there, I
think he would still be okay if he would

have lifted a little bit the throttle,
just accepted that, okay, I need to be a

little bit careful now because I'm on
the gravel.

But he just kept it full in.

Ted, down to you in the pit lane.

where Carlos Sainz has made it back to
the Ferrari garage.

And I've got to say, he still had full
steering authority, Crofty. Obviously,

he's made it around the track, so we
know that. But he's able to come into

pits, sweep left a bit, and then be
rolled back by the mechanics. So

looks okay.

Front suspension for where I am, a
couple of garages down looks okay.

Obviously, there's no nose on it, but
that's a 12 -second job.

And then, yeah, I think whatever,
they'll send him out.

Definitely, they'll send him out again
with a new front wing. And if there is

further damage, then obviously he'll
come back into the pits. But I think

Sainz has got away with that one. And
you've got to say, Krofty, after the

stellar start to the season he's had,
that's the first mistake he's made in

2024. Not bad going.

Yeah, absolutely.

Second time this weekend, a Ferrari hits
the wall in qualifying.

Bit more damage this time around.

And a lot of scampering now.

to see if that car is road -worthy or
track -worthy to send back out again. We

saw the flat spots on the front tyres.

You had a good, close look up on the
replay of the front suspension as well,

Nico. Yeah, no, but I couldn't see
anything.

Everything seemed OK.

It's such a high -pressure moment now
for the chief mechanic because it's all

his responsibility.

He needs to look at the entire car and
make the call.

Three times last year, Carlos Sainz
missed Q3. Hungary, Qatar and Abu Dhabi

the smooth operator in for a rough
afternoon here with missing out on Q3.

I love that. The prayer from the fans
who desperately want to see their hero

back out in qualifying. And no news yet.

to when we might get a restart.

Debris to be collected by the marshals
and the barriers need to be given the

once -over.

Freddie Beathur on the pit wall. His
predecessor, Jean Todd, would have

his fingernails down to the bone at this
stage.

He was the proper fingernail chewer
during a Grand Prix weekend with Jean

Yeah, but you could see Fred before also
putting his hands to his face, and you

can just see the incredible intensity of
the moment, not only for the fans, but

also for the team boss, and of course,
even more so for the driver.

Fabulous team boss.

Freddie Vasseur. He was my team boss in
Formula 2.

I know him very well.

Super smart and a proper racer at heart,
you know, and that's what everybody

loves about Freddie Vasseur. You know,
he's not a businessman or whatever. He's

just a pure racer.

And a much more jovial person than
sometimes you would think from the

well. Yeah, he likes his dark humor and
joking around, yes. He does that.

Didn't he try to shove Carlos' face into
his birthday cake? That's right. By

surprise. He just underestimated the
strength of a Formula One driver's neck.

Because Carlos went locked up instantly.

Yeah, you're not shifting a Formula One
driver's neck.

It's quite the trained muscle, it really
is. So six minutes and 45 seconds on

the clock when it stops. You can see the
sweeping operation taking place on the

track.

60 ,000 fans here today as well. A
brilliant attendance for a Chinese Grand

Prix. That man's wearing...

There's colours on his head and on his
shirt. And there's plenty of Ferrari

here as well. And that was the moment
that Carlos Sainz went too wide at the

final corner.

And what looked like ending his session.

Managed to restart that engine.

Has brought it back to the pits. And we
have got now three minutes and 20

seconds until we get going again.

And as they're fitting the tyres, one
assumes here they go, Rosberg.

that car is going to be good to go.

It does look like it.

And it's just somehow, it's how it goes
when you're a race car driver. You just

get these streaks where suddenly
everything goes your way, you know, and

all the luck is on your side and results
just come your way. And that's how it's

been going for Carlos Sainz this year,
except for his operation, of course.

But apart from that, just everything
goes his way.

As he told Lando Norris, get rid of the
appendix. You're going to be that much

lighter and better for it.

Yes, after the pain of Jeddah, and that
really was immense pain for him on the

third day in Jeddah before he had to go
and have that appendix operation. He's

returned back to the track, and every
race he's competed in this season, he

finished on the podium, and he's won one
of them.

Right, Ted, down to you.

Got a little bit more information from
Mercedes about the changes they made

might have contributed to Lewis
Hamilton's early exit from qualifying.

They say that both drivers wanted to
improve the car in low speed and medium

speed corners. So that's towards the
changes that they made between the

race. And this qualifying session,
George Russell Crofty has just been on

radio saying that they need to improve a
little bit the traction in turns two

and three. But Nico, give us some
insight. If Mercedes would have made

changes to make the car, give it more
grip in low and medium speed corners,

would that have contributed to the
Hamilton lockup? Or is there anything

would have been unsurprised, surprised
by? Or was it just that mistake which

meant that he was out in Q1? What do you
think?

No, so they had too much understeer this
morning in the race on Lewis's car in

the slow -speed corner. So what they
would have done is soften the front up a

little bit, which actually would have
helped with that braking problem that

Lewis got with the front lock -up. So it
will not have been because of a set -up

change. It was really just an
underestimating on Lewis's behalf with

coming from behind.

Thanks ever so much indeed, Ted.

We approach the resumption of this
qualifying session.

Would they have been aiming to do two
laps at this stage anyway? Or are we

to get a period of about three minutes
where nothing happens and everyone all

goes out together to get the lap in
right at the end? I wonder.

We shall see.

With George Russell, Carlos Sainz yet to
get a time on the board, but crucially

for Carlos Sainz.

Even if he does get out there, that's
one set of tyres he will not be using

again this weekend, let alone in
qualifying.

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon and Alex
Albon also in that bottom five.

Alex Albon has been knocked out in Q2 at
every race so far this season.

Currently on the fringes of Q3, but
separated by about five one -hundredths

second from Daniel Ricciardo. We're
going to get our answer.

George Russell, at least, is coming out
straight away with no time on the board

to at least set a time that he hopes
will be good enough to take him through

Q3, but he might need two laps here.

George was going well, though, in the
first part of qualifying, so I

see him as a candidate to make it
through.

He's got the track all to himself.

at this moment in time. Now it's all
about tyre management.

You're always watching front
temperature, rear temperature.

How do you bring the front temperature
up? You put the brake balance far

forwards and you do it from inside. So
you brake very, very hard as much as you

can and you build the temperature up
from inside. So from the brakes is how

build the temperature into the tyre up.

Less so by driving and swirling and
things like that. Of course, that force

also important for the surface
especially to get the whole surface

softened up.

Bulk temperature is the one that's
critical, and that's from the inside.

So he's going to be managing that with
brake balance and everything.

And especially on the rear, then you
need to take it easy. On the traction

he's going to be very careful always on
the exit of the corners because you

don't want to build up load on the rear
tires because the rear is always going

to be very quick to come up on
temperature.

And you want to start with them right at
the bottom of the window when you start

the lap.

Cooking your dinner. You don't want to
burn the outside straight away. You want

to get your core temperature.

It's pasta al dente.

Absolutely. Get your core temperature.

Honestly, it could be Sunday roast,
actually.

But your core temperature nicely up to
where it needs to be, and then you work

on the surface after that. But it's an
art, huh? It's an art. Because you can

also say, hey, I'm going to start the
lap with a little bit cold, just

turn one, and that can be from driver to
driver. You know, it's really an art to

nail it.

Can you sacrifice turn one too much
here, though? That's the thing. It

You can't say it across the board. It
really depends on the driver, what

feeling out there.

So, Max Verstappen and George Russell
out on the track.

Lewis Hamilton out in Q1. Before we get
going with the action here, let's hear

from him right now.

Well, Lewis, not expecting to see you
here.

It looked like you did have the pace to
get through. What happened in that last

sector?

Yeah, I just struggled.

I made massive changes into qualifying
and, yeah, it wasn't too bad in some

places, but I struggled. I couldn't get
the race to stop in 2014, so it is what

it is. I'll have fun from that day.

You said you'd found something in the
car and it looked decent in the sprint.

know you'd made some changes through.

Maybe with tomorrow partly in mind, is
it going to be a hard day, or do you

think you can make it?

Well, this morning, George and I had
very similar cars, but then this

we're trying to experiment still with
the car, so I went one way, a long way,

and then he went the other way, just to
see if we can find anything. That's what

we need to do at the moment.

But, yeah, it didn't work.

I'll give it my best shot. 18 is pretty
bad.

But when I was making the setup changes,
I was like, you can't get any worse,

surely. And it did.

So, yeah.

Apologies for the language at the end of
that interview there, Lewis Hamilton.

I still think in a confident mood that
he will at least enjoy himself tomorrow.

Yeah, I mean, it's interesting how this
year, because George has most of the

time been in front of Lewis, 4 -1 now in
qualifying, and Lewis always tends to

say, yeah, but we have so different
setups and such a big car difference.

that's kind of his excuse been so far
this year. And each time he says that,

George is like, last time I checked, the
cars are pretty similar.

And he's gone again for that. So it's
quite interesting.

Whatever way George Russell has gone, it
worked better for him in that first

part of qualifying. He goes third
fastest now.

Had Hamilton not made that mistake and
lost 6 tenths to Russell in the final

sector in that first part of qualifying,
he'd have been around where Oscar

Piastri was, and that won 35 -0, so he
would have been safely through.

Set -ups, wind direction, missing your
braking point, whatever it was, the fact

is Hamilton starts the race in 18th
place.

Good lap -lap from George Russell to go
third faster to 1 .34 .6.

Where's the cut -off going to be? With
two and a half minutes to go, though, to

send ten drivers through to the shootout
for pole.

Once again, Valtteri Bottas is there in
the top ten.

Once again, Oli Behrmann watches on from
the back of the Ferrari garage.

after his magnificent performance in
Jeddah, where he got driver of the day.

Well, no F2 action for him this weekend,
so he can focus on what you need to be

an F1 driver.

I've seen him for the first time in
person just before. He is tall.

He is very tall. He is very tall.

He's almost 187, 190, I'm not sure, but
I don't know what that is in feet.

He's about six foot one, I thought.

Something like that, or six foot.

Definitely on the very tall end for a
Formula One driver. Yeah, and young, and

very young too.

And very fast.

at the two old boys in the commentary
box yet. They're tall and they're young.

Do you know what the problem is with
tall drivers? It really compromises the

aerodynamics of the car, because the car
is always built around the limit of the

driver, which is top of the head, so
that you just sit under the air intake,

then bottom, which is where that V
-shape cut comes from the aerodynamics

front of the chassis.

And if you have a tall driver, you have
to put that cut at the front of the

chassis further out, which immediately
costs lap time.

What he needs is to go to a team that
already has a tall driver there, so

they're used to running a tall driver.
You know, like a Haas, for instance,

who've got Nico Hülkenberg there, who
may or may not be going somewhere else

next season. That would work for Oli
Behrmann, potentially for next year.

And that's all for next year. One minute
to go here. This is about getting out

of the bottom five and putting a bit of
distance between yourself and that

bottom five. Carlos is cringing going
into turn one for the first time. Flat

out, you know, I hope this car holds.

Looks to be holding all right so far.

And he takes that slightly wider line.

Swings it back in. Seems to be holding
fine. For Carlos Sainz, who midway

through this session had a big accident.

Caused a red flag.

Lost his front wing.

Managed to get the car back to the pit
lane.

They've given it the once over. Said
it's fine. And he's only three

off through that first sector.

Time so far. That belongs to Fernando
Alonso. He's just done a 24 -9.

Isn't that incredible? The driver
mentality here. A couple of minutes ago,

was in the wall. The whole weekend was
game over. He had a big clunk in the

wall. And now he goes out and he's
straight back on it mentally and

nailing it out there.

So who's improving at the moment? A 24
-9 in the first sector with Sergio Perez

as well.

25s for Bottas and Hülkenberg. 25 -1s
for Leclerc and Ricciardo. And for Ocon,

25 -2 in the first sector for Pierre.

Gasly, as Carlos Sainz carried on on his
way. Not the best middle sector we've

seen, probably dropped a couple of
tenths, and it's the 1 .34 .6 that's the

projected knockout time. If that's
right, anyone from, well, Lando Norris

Max Verstappen should be okay. George
Russell's in the pits, might be okay. He

is that 1 .34 .6, and the first of those
drivers, there's about four of them,

all on a 1 .34 .6 at the moment. It's
Ricciardo, ninth fastest, goes into the

top ten, but... Is that going to be good
enough? Carlos Sainz crosses the line.

Goes second fastest.

That should be good enough for him.

Alex Albon has been out in Q2 at every
race so far. This season adds the

Grand Prix to that as well. Only 14th
for him.

Ricciardo's now at risk as Charles
Leclerc puts Ricciardo into the bottom

and goes third fastest.

Sergio Perez on a decent lap here for
Red Bull. Needs to be because he's

currently 10th. Goes second fastest
behind his teammate.

Valtteri Bottas still out on the track
trying to get out. Out of the bottom

and does so.

Goes 10th fastest, pushes Lance Stroll
down into the bottom five in this Q2

session. And Lance Stroll is going to be
out of qualifying as a result of that.

Pierre Gasly's out too.

And that was a stellar lap there from
Valtteri Bottas right at the end to put

himself safely through at the expense of
Lance Stroll by what? 69 thousandths of

a second.

Yep. That didn't end too well. Mike
Crack was saying we need to first get

cars into Q3. And here we go. Lance
Troll dropped out.

Couldn't have been much closer, could
it?

Yeah, it must be. I would tend to agree
with that.

Beating your teammates straight away out
there after being in the barrier.

I was about to say, all okay with the
car? Yes, it seems to be all okay with

driver too. Science is through. But we
have lost the Alpines of Gasly and Ocon

with Alex Albon sandwiched in between.

We've lost Daniel Ricciardo and we've
lost Lance Stroll with the two Red Bulls

the fastest.

We are so on a knife edge with
everything.

We can see from the video, it's just
difficult to get between the high speed

low speed, but well done today.

Yeah, thank you.

Audrey, we are through in B10. Good job.

Yes! Good job.

About to be got us.

I think we are through. Good job.

Yes. Good job.

I'm very happy about it. Second time
this weekend, he's got to the top ten in

qualifying. At the expense, sadly, of
Lance Stroll.

His boss, Mike Crack, is with us. So, so
close, Mike, between Bottas and Stroll.

And it still seems really tricky out
there for the drivers.

Yeah, unfortunately, just knocked out by
600, unfortunate.

It's very tricky out there, as you say.

A lot of wind.

The car has a different balance through
the corners.

But, yeah, as I said, very, very tight.

But, yeah, we take it from there and we
see how the Q3 goes.

Was it a clean lap from Lance there? I
mean, he's only two tenths away from

Fernando, so it looks to have been quite
a good lap, actually.

Yeah, it was a good lap. I think he lost
a little bit in the first sector.

The other two he could match.

Quite comfortable all session so far. So
we need to have a look into that. But

as I said, with these small margins,
it's really tough.

And with Red Bull quite a long way away
from not just you, but seemingly

everyone else, is the second row
possible? Because it seems very tight

third and fourth spot.

Yeah, we need to see now who has how
many tyres.

and how many they can use.

So certainly having two is not a
disadvantage.

And if you see how close it is, you
know, you cannot really predict. It can

anything, I think, from, yeah, between
the High Line and the Red Bull to down

P10. Let's see. It will be a good
session.

Absolutely. Let's see.

Have you got two tyres left, two new
tyres for Fernando?

Yeah, we have plenty left. No problem.

Thanks, Mike.

Appreciate that. We'll see you out for
two runs then. Mike Crack with us for

this weekend. First time we've had Mike
on the pit wall for us as well. It's

great to have his company this weekend.

Minute to go then for this final part of
qualifying.

If you have two new sets of tyres, two
new sets of softs, what advantage does

that give you other than you get two
runs in? But from a driver's psychology

this. It's a huge advantage.

It's a huge advantage because on the
first run, you know, you can already

the limit there. And it just helps you
practice again. Because everything is

changing all the time out there. The
track is getting faster.

The limit is moving further and further
away from you.

So it just helps so much. Like if you
get a used tire, you don't learn

The used tire is so much slower.

It's like seven tenths slower.

We just got married. This is our
honeymoon.

Watching the Formula One race. That's
awesome.

Did you spend your honeymoon at a
racetrack? No. No, I didn't.

But I hope his wife is feeling it as
excitingly as he is. I'm absolutely sure

that one. What better place to unite
than here at a Formula One racetrack?

Anyway, so it's a big disadvantage when
you don't have two new sets because you

just don't learn anything with a used
set when you're out there.

In fact, you might even unlearn because
you have even less grip than, you know,

you have so little grip.

So sometimes it's even better to just go
for one run then with a new set and

that's it.

I'll tell you who has got two new sets
of soft tyres.

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. And I
think it's Bottas and Hülkenberg are the

drivers that haven't got new sets for
this Q3.

And by the way, we praise Valtteri
Bottas for getting through.

And it was a brilliant lap for Sauber's
first Q3 appearance of the season. But

Nico Hülkenberg as well, second time
he's been in Q3 in five races this year.

Another stellar qualifying performance
from him. That's with a Haas. I mean, in

qualifying, he is just phenomenal time
and time again.

We always see that.

Just with the car he has, it's difficult
for him to convert that then into race

weekend.

generally. Although he's had two 10th
place finishes so far this year. It's

better this year than it was last year.
So certainly Nico deserves also a spot

potentially at Audi then, you know,
which he's on for.

So the paddock rumours suggest he was
being rather coy with me when I

that to him on Thursday and just smiled
and said, we'll wait and see, we'll wait

and see. But the rumour is that he'll be
off to Audi for next season.

As they start their F1 projects with
their own engine to come in in 2026 as

well. Right, McLaren on track.

Oscar Piastri, first time here in
Shanghai and putting up a decent

so far. But you get the feeling he's
going to need to find a couple more

certainly to his teammate, to progress
from what's looking like at the moment,

row four in this race.

Yep, Lando definitely has the edge this
weekend in general.

It is a super difficult track, this one,
also, with these long corners.

It's so hard to get it right, get the
lines right.

So it really helps when you've been here
before.

Lando Norris in the wet pole for the
sprint qualifying.

Would dearly love to add another pole to
his tally of one in the proper Grand

Prix qualifying from Sochi, of course,
back in 2021.

He's out there with Oscar Piastri, his
teammate.

Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hülkenberg out
there doing battle as well.

The two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and
Charles Leclerc. Sainz, who had the

caused the red flag, came back out onto
the track, still went faster than his

teammate in Q2. Fernando Alonso for
Aston Martin. George Russell for

And the two rebels of Verstappen and
Perez.

Verstappen seeking a sixth consecutive
pole, which would be the longest streak

of his Formula One career.

and the longest since Lewis Hamilton did
it in the back end of 2016 and the

start of 2017.

So, Nico Rosberg, take us through this
lap with a three -time world champion.

Yeah, here we go. First of all, I'm
happy to appear on a statistic. I don't

appear much very often anymore because
it's so long ago because of my poll

from 2016.

So, Max Verstappen, here we go.

That's not a phenomenal first sector,
but I suppose decent enough.

Let's see how he gets through these high
-speed corners now.

This one is flat, this first part.

Unbelievable how he's able to... The car
has so much grip through those corners.

And look, he manages to get all the way
back to the edge of the track there

again for a beautiful run through here,
just opening the track up massively.

That was just perfect driving through
there. And that was with a tailwind as

well. Yeah, but you can see how Alonso
has beaten him straight away in the

sector. So that first sector was not so
perfect.

Let's see how the second sector is
compared. Bit of an oversteer snap

which is not good because you lose so
much straight away because it slows down

your speed for the whole straight that's
coming up. So now the whole way down

the straight, Max will be like one or
two hundredths, two kph slower than he

could have been if he had a more clean
exit there. Well, he's three tenths up

his teammate, Sergio Perez, through the
first two sectors.

He's a tenth up on Fernando Alonso.

How much did that little snap cost him
down the back straight in terms of speed

and overall lap time? We'll find out in
a moment. 135 .4 to beat. Beats that

easily. 133 .9 for Max Verstappen.
That's your provisional pole time then.

it's his teammate Sergio Perez who will
be next across the line. Does so with a

134 .4. He's half a second down on his
teammate.

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, going nicely
on the road. He's just got the final

corner to try and navigate. gate.

As he's searching for row two, ideally,
I think, for Aston Martin.

And that puts him onto the front row
alongside Max Verstappen. Four tenths

but a good time from him. And, oh, that
was Oscar Piastri nearly losing it where

Carlos Sainz did lose it. And that
definitely cost him time as he kicked up

load of dust into the air. Carlos Sainz
next across the line. Fifth fastest for

Carlos Sainz. Lando Norris swinging that
McLaren through the dust on the track.

Norris goes onto the... second row.
Fourth fastest for him.

Charles Leclerc next across the line.
And it's only seventh fastest for

Leclerc. It's Verstappen and Alonso.
Front row for Aston Martin.

Provisional pole for Verstappen. What a
phenomenal lap there from Alonso.

And it's a banker lap. So what a
fantastic job.

We see Oscar having a Carlos Sainz
moment there. But Oscar lifted more than

Carlos Sainz.

He went a bit more cautious there. That
would have cost a tenth and a half or

even two, so that actually was a really
good lap from Oscar there.

It certainly was.

Carlos Sainz.

Let's see how the gravel all got kicked
up there. Carlos Sainz ahead of Charles

Leclerc. Sixth fastest for him.

So what happened is he turned in a
little bit too early, took too much of

inside curb, that pushed him into an
understeer, and then he went slightly

and that's why he ended up on the
gravel. So there you go. Your top ten.

With George Russell just coming into the
pits now, as you can see, nine have

been out. Valtteri Bottas yet to come
out for his final run. Karim Shah, knock

down for you.

Yeah, Crofty, just a quick line on
Russell. I forgot, he was the only one

ran the soft tyre this morning in the
sprint race. So he had to do that first

run on a used set as well, apart from
Nico Hülkenberg.

Thank you very much indeed.

What a great position for Fernando to be
in now. He had such a phenomenal banker

in there in the fight for P2.

And then now he can just go absolutely
full attack for his next run. Because if

he then messes up, it's not the end of
the day, but he has the chance to really

then put an incredible lap in
afterwards.

Fernando Alonso, some 4 ,290 days since
his last pole position in

Formula 1. He's currently on the front
row.

His best efforts for Aston Martin since
he joined the Silverstone -based team.

Fernando is someone who has
statistically less poles than one would

only has 20 -something, 23 poles or
something like that, if I'm not

22. 22, which is, I mean, for someone
with his history, it's much less than

would expect. He's always been much
better in the races, so he has 32 race

Yep. And I know that because he's my
rival in those statistics.

That's why I know his numbers. You never
forget.

I love it.

Ted Kram, it's down to you.

Red Bull and Sergio Perez is regretting
a set -up move he made. He's been on the

radio. His engineer, Hubert, saying, did
that extra bit of front wing compromise

you? And Sergio said, yes, it did
compromise me.

What is the gap from Verstappen to
Perez? Four tenths. That's more than

seen recently in qualifying in 2024,
isn't it, Crofty? We've seen Perez

to Verstappen from that. But it looks
like Perez went a wrong way on set -up.

And they're going to reverse that little
tickler front wing on that Red Bull and

see if Perez can get it. But back ahead
of Alonso and make it a Red Bull 1 -2.

Let's see.

It's always so difficult in qualifying
because as the track ramps up, you get

more and more understeer. So you want to
dial the front wing up and up and up.

But there's a point where for the car,
you just put too much and you fall off a

cliff. And then the rears just become
really snappy and struggle.

It's very difficult often to know where
that is. And that's probably what

happened to Sergio there. The Ferrari is
coming out at the same time. Karim,

you've been listening to their team
radio.

Both drivers, Crofty, sounding a little
bit confused. They both came on saying,

oh, not quite sure what happened there.
Went slower than they did in Q2.

Didn't feel like they had a good
balance, especially in the first sector.

Verstappen also two tenths slower. But,
you know, I think Ferrari, both drivers

seemingly less confident than they were
after Q2 for some reason.

Interesting. So here we go then.

We've already got five drivers out on
the track to start their final flying

laps. Valtteri Bottas is joining those,
tiptoeing around,

trying to protect the life of those
shiny red stripes, Pirelli tyres.

The two Red Bulls joining.

On the track in a moment, Lando Norris
and Oscar Piastri already out on the

track. McLaren without a top six start
here since Lewis Hamilton left the team

at the back end of 2012.

And they've got two drivers in the top
five currently.

Verstappen's out on track as Red Bull on
what is the 15th anniversary this

weekend of their first ever win and pole
in Formula One here at the Chinese

Grand Prix.

go in search of their 100th pole in
their Formula One history.

If Ferrari can pit them to it, it's 250
poles for Ferrari.

But Rebel have only been around since
2005, and a 100th pole here this

will be some effort for the Milton
Keynes -based team. Yeah, Ferrari is not

going to pit them to that one today.

For some reason, they are struggling a
little bit more than expected here at

moment. But still, they have a chance
for P2. I mean, really here, I think the

biggest race is on for P2 at the moment,
which is very, very close and very wide

open still.

It certainly is. Alonso just pipping
Sergio Perez to deny Red Bull a front

As it stands currently, Norris, Piatti
fourth and fifth.

Sainz and Leclerc, 6th and 7th.
Hülkenberg ahead of Russell. Valtteri

to complete a lap in what is his first
Q3 appearance of the season.

And so, Carlos Sainz.

The first of two drivers to go into that
gravel trap and rather more

spectacularly than Oscar Piastri starts
then his final flying lap of a session

that could have ended in absolute
disaster in a sporting context for him,

could yet still get him a top four start
if he can find just that little bit

more pace.

And how was he through the first four
corners?

Yeah, it was not perfect, but it was
definitely...

Very decent. Let's see how he does on
the first sector.

Should be a bit slower than for Tappan.

That's not a great first sector.

Ferrari still seem to be struggling.

And not just struggling against
Verstappen, but two tenths down on Nico

Hülkenberg. And while we see Sainz
struggling, his teammate Charles Leclerc

struggling even more. And I wonder if
the track temperature has changed just a

little bit as well, which often affects
some of the times. And the wind

direction swirling around here a little
bit, maybe catching the drivers out. Oh,

yeah. I mean, I'm looking at Sainz on
board here, and he's having quite a

difficult time there. Although the
second sector, he's hanging in there. So

not lost too much more there.

the wind radar, the windsock, it's
turned about 90 degrees.

Charles Leclerc absolutely aces the
middle sector, so reducing some of that

deficit, but he's still got a long way
to make up here. Piastri setting

best times, and he's only a fraction
outside the times he needs.

Verstappen, 24 -9 for the first sector.
George Russell, 25 -1 for the first

sector. George Russell up in third place
as he crosses the line. Fantastic lap

from George there. Seriously fantastic.
Decent lap from him. Carlos Sainz to

finish his lap then.

Where's he going to put that Ferrari?

Crosses the line, goes on to the front
row with a 1 .34 .2.

Now that has just set the bar a little
bit for his teammate Charles Leclerc to

follow. And Leclerc does go faster than
Carlos Sainz, albeit by only two one

-thousandths of a second.

Here's Oscar Piastri. He goes on to the
front row now.

Was going brilliantly for the first and
second sectors.

Kept it together too. Bottas, only ten
seconds. than the Sauber, one place

than he was for the sprint qualifying,
but he will be very happy with that.

comes Lando Norris and he goes on to the
front row now, was polled for the

sprint race and now he's on the front
row alongside this man, Max Verstappen,

who is going to take Red Bull's 100th
pole position in Formula One and he goes

faster than his first lap.

Verstappen on pole for the sixth race in
succession and for the first time since

Mikel... Hackett in 1999.

The first five poles of the season all
go to the same driver. Here's Fernando

Alonso. He's on the front row alongside
Max Verstappen. Brilliant effort from

him. Sergio Perez next to cross the line
and he just knocked Fernando Alonso off

that top row and makes it a Red Bull one
and two in qualifying.

It's Verstappen from Perez, the 100th
pole for the Red Bull team.

As we said, what a fantastic battle for
P2 there.

I think Alonso just did an awesome job
there in the end, putting the Aston

Martin there in P3. At 42 years old,
fantastic to see you.

Absolutely superb. But there it is. Pole
position for Max Verstappen.

And as I say, for the first time since
Mika Hakkinen in 1999,

we've got a driver taking pole in the
first five races of the season.

It is pole. position, mate. So just over
three tenths. Nice job.

Yeah,

very lovely, that.

I mean, the car was definitely very
quick in quality, so well done.

Well done, Max. Fantastic performance.
That's number 100.

So, fantastic performance.

Yeah, that's for the team as well. Let's
thank Christian for the good spirit

there, because the other two by now are
a little bit very measured.

Very good points.

Very good point. It's a nice symmetry,
isn't there, to taking your 100th pole

the track where the team took their
first pole as well. You know what it's

to take a first pole position here in
China.

Nico Hulkenberg with ninth fastest
overall, just to mention that he will

go and see the stewards.

I think it was certainly noted for that
pit lane incident right at the start of

qualifying where he seems to be
accelerating in the slow lane. Bit of a

but fun boy.

Tidical. Good job, guys. Good result for
tomorrow.

Really super, Checo. Really, really good
second run there. And that's 100 poles

for us, so 15 years after the first one.
Well done, mate.

Well done, mate. Well done to the whole
team. So I think those who disappointed

were Ferrari, surprisingly far off.

I mean, six tenths and a bit off.

From Verstappen, that is a huge gap.

And one by one, they all thought they'd
done enough to get alongside Max. And

one by one, they all kind of fell down a
bit. George Russell with his hands on

his hips there, walking away, thinking,
right, we need to find some pace for the

race here.

Might not have got pole Sergio Perez,
but it is his best ever qualifying here

Shanghai. Never previously started in
the top six at this racetrack.

For Red Bull, that front row lockout,
only their fifth in this turbo hybrid

that started in 2014.

And for Max Verstappen, a first ever
pole here in Shanghai, which means

the 21st different track that he's taken
pole at. He'd never actually qualified

in the top four here before.

And he goes past Ernst Senna and Nigel
Mantle, fourth on the all -time list for

the amount of different tracks that he's
taken pole position at.

Difficult weekend for Mercedes again,
no? I mean, P8 and George, I think,

got the maximum out of it. And he's only
a tenth and a half quicker than the

Haas. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's really
tough to digest.

That might swing around a bit in the
race. You know, if the tyres are being

energised a bit too much, they will drop
off quite drastically towards the end

of each stint. But disappointment, I
think, is an understatement.

Not just George Russell in 18th, but
Lewis Hamilton down in 8th, I should

But Lewis Hamilton down in 18th for his
worst start here since he started 22nd

back in 2016.

And one of the worst starts to a season
he's ever had.

Sadly for Lewis Hamilton, that is very
much true.

In terms of Grand Prix racing as well,
no top four finish in the opening four

races for the first time since 2011 for
the Mercedes team.

Worst start to an F1 season for Lewis
with no top six finish in the first four

races as well. So strange and difficult
to understand how the incredible

Mercedes team...

struggle somehow to understand these new
regulations aerodynamically, how to get

the most out of it. I mean, it's changed
a lot because now the aerodynamics are

so much more important under the car
rather than over the car. So there is a

change there. And of course, under is
more difficult to measure in the wind

tunnel and to correlate what you find in
the wind tunnel to the real world.

But somehow they don't get it right.

Born in Holland, raced under a Chinese
license. Ho Pin Tung has the microphone

in his hand and macked in front of him.

This season, the 104th position for Red
Bull Racing.

You kept going faster throughout the
session. How was your lap? It looked

amazing. Yeah, I think after the sprint
race, it gave us a few more ideas for

the car.

And I think the car worked even better
in qualifying now. So, yeah, definitely

very happy with how the whole of...

qualifying when the car was really nice
to drive and also in q3 i think that

final lap felt pretty decent and also
very happy to be able to drive here you

know in the in the dry yeah the
conditions were pretty good so it was a

fun Yeah, we saw a lot of track
evolution throughout the session. Can

explain and share how difficult is it to
adapt to this changing track? I think

also coming out of a race, you know,
when you then go back to low fuel, it

probably takes always one lap, you know,
to get comfortable again.

Plus then, of course, you know, new
tires are getting put on every single

So you know a bit where you can find,
you know, a little bit more in every

single corner, you know, little
references.

And also because yesterday we had a bit
of rain, we had extra sets of tires so

you could practice a bit more.

And that's why I think every time,
besides I think only my first run in Q3,

every time we were going a bit faster, I
think the track evolution wasn't that

massive around here, but that's fine.

Thank you. Good luck tomorrow. Thank
you.

Checo, the Red Bull clearly feels at
home here in Shanghai.

Please share with us, how was your
qualifying?

Yeah, it was very intense.

I nearly got knocked out in Q1. I had a
traffic with one of the Williams.

I had to hold my lap.

Came back, go back on hot used tires and
I just made it through P15.

It was just a very messy start to
qualifying.

And then Q2 was a little bit more
straightforward. I could really get a

into the balance.

And we were making some nice progress
through the session.

And yeah, unfortunately there in the end
it was just not enough.

to get Max. But overall, it's a
tremendous team result because the track

changed a lot. We changed a lot the car
as well to adapt to the conditions. So

hopefully that will also pay out
tomorrow.

Yeah, you say it was just not enough to
catch Max for qualifying.

This morning in the sprint, you had to
come from thirdly starter back.

How confident are you from this
position, Pete, you can fight him

Yeah, I think it's everything to play
for tomorrow. We can be fighting from

there and we can, yeah, we can
definitely be.

have a strong a strong rhythm and wish
on today that we have a fairly good pace

in the long run so i look forward for
tomorrow thank you good luck

Disappointment from the sprint.

This must feel amazing. You didn't get
your best personal sector one on that

lap. Would there have been more
possible?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know how far Checo
is, but yeah, sector one, I had a

moment in turn one and two, and he lost
the car.

And then I said, okay, I keep going or I
abort the lap, you know, because I lost

like two turns in two corners.

But yeah, we didn't give up. We kept
pushing all through the lap. And yeah,

set a good lap time. I think the car did
improve since this morning. We made a

few setup changes.

Let's see tomorrow if we can translate
that into points.

Yeah, how beneficial has this Park for
May opening been for you? And how

confident are you that you can translate
it into good results tomorrow for the

race? Well, I think it's the same for
everybody. You cannot change the car

completely because, you know, you are
into the rhythm of the weekend. But you

can still make...

Some small set of changes, some of them
are just for balance problems, but some

of them are just guesses that you do
into tomorrow's race and you flip the

So until tomorrow afternoon, we will not
know the answer, but extremely happy,

proud of the team.

We are not giving up. You know, we are
not in the position we want yet, but we

keep pushing.

Fernando, a lot of crowd cheering for
you here. Incredibly popular here in

China. Anything you want to share with
the Chinese fans?

This is incredible.

Honestly, one of the best races of the
year, thanks to the fans.

They are so enthusiastic about the sport
in general, and they are so supportive

of every driver and every team. So thank
you, xie xie, and see you tomorrow.