Lando Norris beats Lewis Hamilton to pole for Chinese GP sprint race

Lando Norris beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the first sprint race of the 2024 F1 season during a chaotic, rain-hit qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.

A downpour heading into the final part of sprint qualifying threw the battle for pole wide open, and it was McLaren’s Norris who managed the fastest lap of all on a 1m57.940s.

• 2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Sprint Qualifying Results

Norris’ effort was 1.261 seconds faster than what Hamilton managed, but he initially saw his lap time deleted for track limits, only for it to be dramatically reinstated, securing him pole.

Hamilton claimed Mercedes’ best qualifying result so far this season to make it an all-British front row ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who claimed third.

Max Verstappen was only fourth-quickest after an unusually scrappy session from the reigning world champion, who was seen struggling to keep his Red Bull on track.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz split the Red Bulls in fifth ahead of Sergio Perez and teammate Charles Leclerc, who took seventh despite spinning into the wall during the early stages of SQ3.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was eighth fastest, while the Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu completed the top-10.

Mercedes’ George Russell could only qualify 11th after rain hampered his chances of improving in SQ2.

The Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg will line up from 12th and 13th, ahead of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who will start 14th and 15th respectively.

The struggling Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were knocked out in SQ1 with the 16th and 17th fastest times, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda suffered a surprise elimination in 19th, ahead of Logan Sargeant, who was slowest of all for Williams and will find himself at the rear of the grid for the sprint race. 

The sprint race takes place at 4am on Saturday morning, ahead of regular qualifying for Sunday's grand prix.