2024 Chinese Grand Prix sprint race grid

25 comments on “2024 Chinese Grand Prix sprint race grid”

1. 

   Nick T.
   19th April 2024, 9:26

   So, yeah, I thought that was just a bit more interesting than a practice session.
   1. 

      Craig
      19th April 2024, 9:37

      Which is hardly praise and if you’re relying on changeable weather to make a session good compared to practice then it’s even worse.
      1. 

         Nick T.
         19th April 2024, 9:50

         I was being sarcastic in my faint praise. I thought it was great. Not sure why you act like somehow it being wet undermines the legitimacy of its fun factor. Rain enhances a regular quali or race the same amount. And quali has been by far the most entertaining aspect of the season. So, having a second is all good to me.

         To me, the most appealing aspect of the Sprint format is that lesser drivers don’t have forever to work their way up to their teammate’s speed with practice and using their data to see exactly how they’re doing it.
      2. 

         S
         19th April 2024, 10:41

         It serves to highlight how much better it was being a competitive session than a practice session.
         A wet practice means no cars on the track. At all.
         1. 

            Esploratore (@esploratore1)
            19th April 2024, 18:04

            Not necessarily, maybe that’s in virtue of the new rules, or an exception, but if you check some of the wet practice sessions last year, if I recall also at spa, you will see that they actually used full wet tyres in practice, whereas in sprint quali, sprint and quali they waited till the track was ready for inters, in fact they waited too long even for that.
            1. 

               S
               20th April 2024, 8:16

               They usually only spend more than a couple of laps out on track in a wet practice if they are convinced that a following competitive session will also be wet.
               Teams don’t waste engine mileage anymore, and they don’t waste tyres that they might need later either. And with some teams, they don’t unnecessarily risk aero parts either.
2. 

   Bertie
   19th April 2024, 9:27

   What a riot of an SQ this was.
3. 

   ben
   19th April 2024, 9:28

   That was epic. Bernie was really onto something with those sprinklers.

   Only poor note was the stewards again. Great to see Lando on pole, but Hamilton could have backed out of his final lap thinking he had pole.
   1. 

      SteveP
      19th April 2024, 9:40

      That was epic. Bernie was really onto something with those sprinklers

      If Bernie was a horse, he’d have been shot by now.
      Simple statement: Rain = lottery results
      1. 

         Nick T.
         19th April 2024, 9:53

         Not a lottery at all, unless some drivers ran their best lap in drier conditions than others. That’s not what happened here.
      2. 

         S
         19th April 2024, 10:43

         Even if it were a lottery and not skill-based – who doesn’t like winning the lottery?
         More people play the lotteries than watch F1….
   2. 

      Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
      19th April 2024, 13:06

      Would have put that grass fire out earlier, too.
4. 

   Pjotr (@pietkoster)
   19th April 2024, 9:29

   Now that was fun. Great driving from all in these condition at Q3. Lando great, Hamilton great. Now let us wait how this works out.
5. 

   kuvemar
   19th April 2024, 9:35

   Sprint weekend delivers again!
6. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   19th April 2024, 9:39

   Left tyres were still on the white line, so reinstating was justified, but what a mixed-up top 10 order caused by wet-weather conditions.
   Ricciardo finally managed to out-qualify Tsunoda, monocoque change or not, & as did Gasly & Magnussen for a change.
   Hopefully, no more fire incidents over the remaining weekend, though.
   1. 

      SteveP
      19th April 2024, 9:42

      Left tyres were still on the white line, so reinstating was justified,

      I thought it counted as “in” if the bulge of the tyres was overhanging the white line, or is that just a special clause for Ferrari cars at Monza?
      1. 

         MattDS (@mattds)
         19th April 2024, 10:05

         The Sporting Regulations define “leaving the track” as no part of the car being in contact with the track, whereby the white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track.

         “In contact” does mean that at least one of the tyres must physically touch the white line at all times for a car to be considered on track.
   2. 

      Alesici
      19th April 2024, 9:46

      No Jere, his left tyres were clearly not on the white line. Not saying reinstating wasn’t justified, just saying you’re wrong again.
   3. 

      Nick T.
      19th April 2024, 9:56

      With the moisture, whatever cheap spray paint they used to make the grass look green is unlikely to spontaneously catch fire again.
7. 

   Nick T.
   19th April 2024, 9:54

   Just a note for folks: you can hate the Sprint format and still find one of the sessions entertaining now and then. It’s not mutually exclusive.
   1. 

      MichaelN
      19th April 2024, 11:33

      Yeah, this looked fun on the highlights. A bit more time in Q3 might have made it a bit more competitive, but that was still a good little qualifying.
      1. 

         Nick T.
         19th April 2024, 13:38

         All the drivers got at least 4-5 laps, which is more than they ever get in the dry. So, it was definitely competitive and not just a kind of last or first lap wins. It was funny cause Norris was clearly going all or nothing. His sector times were faster, but he kept going off. He had to just get one lap where he didn’t go off and he’d be on pole and that he did.
8. 

   Yes (@come-on-kubica)
   19th April 2024, 10:40

   Lando Norris actually delivered for once. He’s got to back himself from the start.
   1. 

      MichaelN
      19th April 2024, 11:19

      He was quite willing to fight the Mercedes in Japan, so there’s some hope.

      If Verstappen had lined up alongside him, not so much. Norris never fights Verstappen.
      1. 

         Nick T.
         19th April 2024, 13:41

         Once upon a time they’d fight Max, but DRS makes it pretty much impossible if they’re not within a few tenths on race pace, but yeah Lando has been overly submissive vs Max. Maybe a small part of it has been that whenever he was in a position to race with Max McLaren really needed the points.

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