Lando Norris secured pole position for tomorrow mornings sprint race in an “all or nothing” lap at the end of the session in difficult conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit.
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The Brit, who had his lap deleted, then reinstated after he was found not to have gained an advantage running wide at the last corner heading into his final run, said he was nervous going into the session given the challenge the rain through up.
“It was tricky,” Norris said. “You’re always nervous going into a session like this, especially before quali when you almost know it’s going to rain. I know I was quite happy in the dry.
“I think we’ve had good pace all weekend so far, so I got a bit nervous. But the conditions where you just have to risk a lot, you have to push, build the tyre temperature and so forth.
“But I was quick, I just kept catching the Ferrari, so I had to keep backing off. I didn’t do the first two laps well at all and I got a good final one, so I’m happy, sad it is not for proper qualifying but good enough.
“The first two I aborted on both, so I was like the last lap was all or nothing. But it’s getting wetter and wetter, so actually the conditions for the final two laps were a lot worse than the second lap at least.”
Why the McLaren was so fast?
Coming into the Chinese GP weekend many expected McLaren to be on the backfoot given the cars inherent struggles in longer radius corners that require more steering angle – and the circuits demand on aero efficiency.
But Norris was able to beat Hamilton to sprint pole by 1.2s and, if it wasn’t for his teammate’s car selecting neutral as he exited the hairpin – due to excessive wheelspin given the lack of grip – it could have been a McLaren 1-2. Instead Piastri starts back in eighth.
As everyone arrived at the circuit on Wednesday, it was realised that the track surface had been treated with a bitumen paint to reduce the degradation of the circuit asphalt.
This has altered the overall track roughness by 15% and has led to reduced overall grip levels. And while the paint has been mostly worn away on the racing line, it made qualifying in the wet treacherous and put an even bigger premium on how well the cars can develop tyre temperature.
This is something that Ferrari and Red Bull struggled with, as they ran with less rear wing than the McLaren. In normal dry running they had the advantage, but, as the rain came down and the grip went away, the MCL38 was able to get its tyres into a much better working window because of the extra downforce it was running.
That’s why that Norris feels if rain was to emerge once again for the sprint race tomorrow, he will be in a good position.
“We did some of our homework this morning,” the 24-year-old said. “We did some consecutive laps to try and understand but it depends on what the weather is. There’s still a chance of rain tomorrow.
“If it’s like this then I think the chances are relatively decent, but the race is still very different to qualifying.
“I’m sure everyone’s going to catch up a bit tomorrow. But the pace is good whether it’s wet or dry and I think we’re in a good position.
“It’s a bit of a surprise, but I’m very happy the team have done a good job, the car is feeling good, and so am I, and it’s paying off.”
Lando Norris secured pole