Key events
Lap 7/56: Only Lance Stroll, Ollie Bearman, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto – the latter who’s just had a spin-out and is dead last – are using the harder tyres, so could be going for a one-stop policy. The rest are on medium tyres.
Lap 6/56: Fernando Alonso has no brakes and looks set to retire. That’s such a shame for the veteran Aston Martin driver.
Lap 3/56: We had a yellow flag warning out there very briefly while the track was cleared of debris. Leclerc is saying on the Ferrari radio that he thinks his car can survive a little while. At the back, Liam Lawson – who started in the pit lane – has made up a cpiple of places, leaving the two Saubers at the rear of the field.
Lap 1/56: Verstappen says “Charles has a broken front wing” so clearly there was contact between his Red Bull and the Frenchman’s Ferrari.
Further down the grid, Andrea Kimi Antonelli has jumped ahead of the two Racing Bulls, while British rookie Ollie Bearman is struggling; he’s been passed by a couple of cars.
Piastri holds George Russell off on the first turn and Lando Norris nips into second in the process. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have squeezed past Max Verstappen too!
LIGHTS OUT
AND AWAY WE GO!
Here’s a reminder of how they start, by the way. It’s advantage Piastri and McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton won the sprint race yesterday after starting on pole. Can he produce more heroics in Ferrari red today? He sits fifth on the grid.
The cars, teams and various others are lined up on the starting grid and we’re not far off lights-out time. Excitement is certainly. building in Shanghai.
Debate is still raging as to whether drivers will go for a one-stop or a two-stop strategy for the race. Conditions aren’t quite as hot and sunny as they were for qualifying on Saturday.
Preamble
It was an intriguing day of firsts in the Shanghai heat on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton picked up his first win of any kind in Ferrari colours, winning the sprint race – the first Ferrari win in the short format since it was introduced in 2021; then Oscar Piastri picked up his first ever pole, sealing top spot in qualifying ahead of his teammate Lando Norris, who was third and struggling for top speed, despite his Grand Prix win in Australia last week.
Breaking up the McLaren stronghold is another Brit, George Russell, who produced a white-hot final qualifying lap to sit P2. A place on the front row isn’t quite the clean air Piastri will enjoy racing into, but it gives the Mercedes driver a sporting chance. Max Verstappen is fourth with the two Ferraris of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc lurking just behind.
At the back of the grid sits Verstappen’s new Red Bull colleague Liam Lawson, who is struggling to come to terms with his role – by his own admission. It’s a long way back from P20 as the New Zealander may discover today. Let’s see how things pan out.
The race starts at 7am (GMT). Let’s go.