Chinese Grand Prix: Max Verstappen Wins Qualifying Pole As Lewis Hamilton Loses Front Row Start

 

Max Verstappen reclaimed pole position for Red Bull's 100th, improving from fourth to finish quickest at the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying session in Shanghai. 

Lewis Hamilton, who finished second behind Verstappen had his position overturned and will be starting in P18 for running wide at the hairpin at Turn 14. The Briton, however, drove impressively well, leading the race behind Verstappen from Lap 6. 

Norris poled from the Sprint qualifying on Friday but was quickly overtaken by Hamilton from the start and he led on until Verstappen gained DRS to speed by, leading on to the chequered flag. The race would have been his best performance so far this season which he confessed to being his "best in a long time."

"We made massive changes going into qualifying, just wanted to experiment," Hamilton recalled. 

Another interesting moment was Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz battling to move up to third on Lap 16. Whilst both drivers kept abreast of each other in the corners, Sergio Perez gained DRS on them and sped by to move up to third. 

As Hamilton was dropped to 18th position, Perez moved up to P2 for a one-two finish for Red Bull and Fernando Alonso moved up to P3. Norris in the end made it to fourth while Sainz finished in seventh behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc.