Having dominated Formula 1 in Australia, the expectation was McLaren would at least be as quick on the resurfaced Shanghai International Circuit for round two. With China being a sprint weekend, Friday’s sole practice pace was particularly difficult to read much into, with almost no meaningful long-run comparisons across teams.
McLaren was still fastest on one-lap pace, mind you, with Lando Norris four tenths ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, followed by Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton. But, while Norris was right up there in in the first two qualifying phases, a mistake in the hairpin put paid to his pole chances, rueing that the windy conditions made his MCL39 harder to drive. Piastri almost picked up the slack, but ceded 0.080 seconds to polesitter Hamilton to qualify third, with Max Verstappen surprising himself by grabbing second after a very difficult practice session for Red Bull.
With neither driver enjoying a perfect SQ3, it is clear that McLaren hasn’t been able to show its full potential just yet. So, will the papaya pair make a great leap forward on Saturday, or can Hamilton and Verstappen keep them at bay?
If you had asked Red Bull after FP1, it would have said there is no chance. Verstappen and team-mate Liam Lawson both struggled and the RB21’s tyre wear was “horrendous”, according to team advisor Helmut Marko.
“It was very tricky – we were not in the top six and the tyre wear was horrendous,” Marko told Autosport. “We were really worried to make the first two rows. They changed several things on the car, which obviously helped as well, and then a mega lap from Max. This was a very positive surprise.”
Key to Red Bull’s fortunes will be whether or not the set-up changes the team has made will improve tyre wear over a 19-lap sprint race, which will require some tyre whispering to avoid the worst of the graining that occurs when tyres drop below their ideal temperature window.
“In terms of degradation, absolutely you need to manage the tyres,” Pirelli’s Simone Berra said. “The teams that will be able to better keep graining under control, will then have the best results on the long runs. Probably a gentle introduction – not to overstress the tyres in the first two, three, four laps – is the best strategy to run the sprint, in my opinion.”
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
As an aside, what is surprising is just how quick the lap times are in Shanghai on the new surface, with Hamilton’s new track record over five seconds quicker than last year’s best time in sprint qualifying, and beating Sebastian Vettel’s 2018 benchmark. According to Pirelli, the new asphalt is not only grippier but also a lot smoother, which may have allowed teams to run their cars much lower to the ground.
Having been worried after FP1, Marko said Red Bull is now much more optimistic that it can hang in there, although he knows that, even with a near-perfect set-up choice, it is still lagging behind McLaren on tyre wear. What could help Red Bull is that the brand-new asphalt in Shanghai will start getting bedded in more and more, which could offer a helping hand to avoid graining.
“In the long runs, we were second and more slower, so I hope with the changes that that is cured and that the tyre wear will also dramatically improve,” Marko said. “The more time we spend on this new asphalt, the less graining we hopefully get. That would speak for us. It’s 19 laps, which is quite a lot, but we feel positive.”
Verstappen sounded less optimistic about his chances: “I think the McLarens looked very fast until that last run, so it will be very hard to keep them behind. But hopefully it will be fun and we can at least race them a bit.”
Polesitter Hamilton was even more in the dark about his odds to convert sprint pole into his first Ferrari success. The seven-time world champion didn’t do a proper race simulation in Bahrain testing, and the rain prevented him from getting one in a bruising Australian Grand Prix. He will now lead from the front driving into the unknown.
“I didn’t get to do a race run in Bahrain,” Hamilton said. “Obviously, we did the race last weekend in the wet, but tomorrow will be kind of my first real race run, and Sunday will be my first proper race run in the dry with this car. So, I’ll be learning. I’m hoping that we can hold on to it. But I think the McLarens are very, very, very fast, as is Max, but we’re in a good position. We’ll stay positive.”
Norris’s qualifying mistake has allowed Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli to split him in fifth and seventh. Mercedes is also playing a guessing game over the competitive order because of the unrepresentative picture from practice, although trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin was “pleased with our long run on the medium compound in FP1”.
Hamilton and Russell are both unsure of their true pace
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Russell felt his fifth place on the grid was a “fair” result on balance but remained combative ahead of the sprint. “We’ve definitely got the chance to move forward in the sprint and challenge those ahead, so hopefully that is what we can do,” he said.
At the end of the day, all roads lead back to McLaren, with a 19-lap stint on the same mediums offering a chance for the papaya squad to either play the long game and deploy its tyre wear advantage towards the end of the race, or to be more aggressive from the start.
Whatever the end result may be, the exciting news is that the McLaren drivers will have their work cut out this time, and that most teams still have more questions than answers on how well they will go. That combination is setting the stage for an entertaining Saturday morning contest.
In this article
Filip Cleeren
Formula 1
McLaren
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