F1 Chinese GP live commentary and updates - sprint qualifying
Follow along from updates from F1's sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix
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We'll hopefully hear about the Antonelli and Gasly impeding moments soon, and whether they'll get any grid penalties.
Otherwise, that's all from us - we'll see you again tomorrow bright and early for the sprint race!
Russell: "The car's been feeling amazing. We knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, so it's been a joy to drive. I'd be interested to know the lap times from last year, it felt really quick."
Top 10 order
1. Russell
2. Antonelli
3. Norris
4. Hamilton
5. Piastri
6. Leclerc
7. Gasly
8. Verstappen
9. Bearman
10. Hadjar
Gasly gets up to fifth and ahead of Verstappen! Norris moves up to third, 0.621s off Russell, and Piastri gets fifth for the time being.
Hadjar only gets 10th, as Bearman was ninth.
Antonelli improves slightly, but remains second. Russell doesn't improve on his second lap.
Leclerc is on a better lap and does a 1m32.5 - still only enough for fourth.
Leclerc is 1.2s off the Mercs, but Hamilton does a 1m32.161s to get to within 0.641s of Russell's lap.
Verstappen is fifth, 1.7s adrift.
It's a 1m31.880s for Antonelli, but Russell does a 1m31.520s!
SQ3 begins
Eight minutes, soft tyres. Who's going to get sprint pole? (Note: probably Russell).
Another incident is being looked at: Gasly is also being looked at for potentially impeding Verstappen. Verstappen complained that the Alpine was on the racing line in the final hairpin.
Eliminated in SQ2
11. Hulkenberg
12. Ocon
13. Lawson
14. Bortoleto
15. Lindblad
16. Colapinto
Antonelli gets within 0.05s of Russell, as Piastri leapfrogs Hamilton.
Bearman moves up to seventh, which drops Hulkenberg into 11th. Gasly then subsequently takes seventh, putting both Red Bulls on the cusp.
But improvements elsewhere mean that the two Red Bulls are safe, as Verstappen went off at the final corner.
I don't think the dream of a perfectly symmetrical grid will happen, since Colapinto is currently 1.2s slower than Gasly.
The Antonelli-Norris issue is being looked at by the stewards.
Russell posts a 1m32.241s to leapfrog Antonelli, who in turn moved ahead of Leclerc.
Norris complains that Antonelli blocked him - "I was going to push that lap" being a message to race control.
Bearman does a 1m33.999s - presumably ending in the number he dialled for assistance after scraping his car on the gravel.
Gasly then gets up to top spot for now, a 1m33.571s, shaded by Hadjar. Verstappen then goes 0.007s faster.
Leclerc sets a 1m32.602s to go fastest by 0.962s over Verstappen, and Hamilton can only manage a time 0.658s slower than his team-mate.
SQ2 open for business
We go again. Fresh mediums for all, and 10 minutes on the clock. Who's going to make it into the top 10 shootout?
China has this tendency to produce "Noah's Ark" grids - and the SQ1 elimination zone has reflected this as the cars have come in pairs.
Can we get a full grid like that? Have we ever had a full grid like that?
Eliminated in SQ1
17. Sainz
18. Albon
19. Alonso
20. Stroll
21. Bottas
22. Perez
Lindblad sat on the cusp of the drop zone - the British racer only did six laps this morning before his car came to a halt in practice, and moves up to 13th.
Gasly moves up to seventh, while Colapinto also launches his way up to 15th. Neither Williams is able to get out of the bottom six, and so that's their sessions over.
Hamilton sets a pair of purple sectors to get within 0.118s of Russell.
Currently it's Albon, Colapinto, Stroll, Alonso, Bottas, and Perez who line the drop zone.
Piastri goes second by 0.083s, until Norris moves just ahead of him.
Antonelli sets a 1m33.455s, before Russell grabs a 1m33.030s to go top. Mercedes at the top, as expected.
Verstappen improved but he's still 1.1s adrift and about 0.2s off Hulkenberg's Audi. Leclerc then goes second to split the Mercedes pair.
Leclerc looks like he's fighting that Ferrari and sets a 1m34.248s. Hamilton gets a 1m33.730s in to go fastest for now, although Colapinto was right in front of him.
Hulkenberg splits the Ferraris, as Bearman goes up to fourth.
Hadjar opens with a 1m34.447s as Bottas aborted. Verstappen follows his team-mate and is...
...slower? Than his team-mate? Sorry, this isn't a sentence I've written in a while.
SQ1 is under way
Bottas is out of the pitlane first. Verstappen and Hadjar follow the Finn out of the blocks.
Perez will not take part with a fuel system issue; the Mexican missed half of practice due to those problems.
No flip wing for Ferrari
Ferrari's flipping wing, or the macarena wing, or the rotisserie wing, or the Chaos 2 wing (remember Chaos 2?) is not going to be used in qualifying.
Back to normal we go!
SQ1 coming up...
The first part of sprint qualifying is coming up - and we'll lose the slowest six runners. Remember, 12 minutes for this session, 10 minutes for SQ2, and eight for SQ3.
Popcorn for Mr. Wheatley?
A funny exchange between Flavio Briatore and Jonathan Wheatley in the press conference, as Briatore was asked about the potential sale of the Otro-owned 24% minority stake in the team to Mercedes.
Briatore: Normally one company, 75 per cent decide and the 25 per cent is a passenger, and this is the reality. I don’t know if Jonathan is happy or not. Tell your opinion.
Wheatley: I’m very happy.
FB: Great. This is fantastic.
JW: Look, the sport has very, very clear governance. I don’t see any conflict of interest or concerns on our side at all. To be honest, I’m just watching it, eating the popcorn and enjoying the show.
FB: Yeah, make sure they have popcorn.
Sprint qualifying coming up...
Hello again! We're now not too far away from sprint qualifying, our first one of the season - in what should be a very interesting session indeed.
Both Mercedes drivers got out of the blocks quickly in practice, but reaching the top 10 could be anyone's game.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
