It's “just” another normal day on the track… Max Verstappen took pole position this Saturday in the Chinese Grand Prix, Red Bull's 100th place in the Formula 1 World Championship, which on Sunday will be the fifth race of the season. . The Dutchman, three-time world champion, who He has previously won the sprint raceHe achieved the best time in qualifying with a time of 1:33.660 minutes, leaving his Mexican teammate Sergio Perez (Red Bull) in second place, 0.322 seconds behind. Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) finished third with a time of 0.488 seconds, on the day he was punished with a 10-second penalty in the speed race, after being found guilty of a minor collision with his compatriot Carlos Sainz (Ferrari). It even caused Alonso himself to retire, with a puncture in the right front wheel of his Aston Martin. Next on the grid are the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, followed only by the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard still feels fear, in the second of the three stages of the session (second quarter), due to slipping.
However, the team was able to recover the car and Sainz resumed the session, losing out to his teammate by just 0.008 seconds.
Today's surprise was the exclusion of Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) from the first section, leaving him in 18th place, after he had been second in the speed race hours earlier.
Today's pole position was the 36th of Max Verstappen's career, who has now won six in a row, the third-best record in history, alongside Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, Mika Hakkinen, Nico Rosberg and Nigel Mansell. The record of eight consecutive pole positions has been held by Ayrton Senna since 1989.
Max Verstappen leads the championship with 85 points, 15 points ahead of Sergio Perez, who is in second place.
The Chinese Grand Prix takes place tomorrow, starting at 8am Portugal time.
