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Max Verstappen picked up his fifth consecutive pole position of the season and will start the F1 Chinese GP from the front. The Dutch driver was in a league of his own as he left the chasing pack behind in another session of dominance.
The qualifying session featured a very interesting battle between different protagonists. Unfortunately, that battle was only for P2 as drivers like Sergio Perez, both McLaren and Ferrari drivers, and Fernando Alonso tried as hard as they possibly could to secure a front-row start.
In the end, it was Sergio Perez who came out on top with a lap time that was three-tenths slower than his teammate's. So, with Max Verstappen equalling the record for the most consecutive pole positions at the start of the year, who would be happy with how the F1 Chinese GP qualifying session went, and who would be a bit disappointed? Let's take a look.
2024 F1 Chinese GP Qualifying
Winner
Red Bull
Red Bull did not expect things to be this easy in the F1 Chinese GP. This is a front-limited track with slightly unpredictable tarmac. These were precisely the conditions in which Ferrari thrived in Melbourne and won the race. Looks like whatever issue the team had with such conditions has been sorted out.
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will start the race in the front row, while Ferrari is down in the dumps in P6 and P7. If there were ever any doubts over Max Verstappen cruising to the title, they have been crushed quite emphatically.
Loser
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton once again pointed the finger at the experimental setup, which cost him a stronger qualifying result. Unfortunately, though, this does come down to the driver to find a better result and a setup when it counts.
To add to this, Lewis being kicked out of Q1 was down to him making a mistake more than anything, and he might have to own that one.
Winner
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso is performing miracles in the Aston Martin at the moment because the car is just not capable of producing the results that he's extracted from it for a long time now. A top-3 start is brilliant for the Spaniard, especially at a time when his teammate can't buy a Q2 start.
Loser
Ferrari
Ferrari came to the F1 Chinese GP excited and optimistic. After qualifying, it will be neither, because if the car is this poor in qualifying, you cannot make up the deficit in the race and challenge for a win. The team needs to start bringing in new parts because the opposition is starting to catch up.
Winner
Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas
The old war horses continue to plow away once again and do a sensational job while they're at it. Bottas admitted earlier in the week that he was limited by the car to an extent and Hulkenberg just leveled up in Q1 and pulled off a gap to his teammate that wasn't obvious beforehand.
There is a high likelihood that Hulkenberg will replace Bottas at Sauber, but if the Finnish driver continues to perform he could find himself in the Germany's seat in 2025 as a result of a direct swap.
Loser
Lance Stroll
We've crossed the moment when it was okay to see Lance Stroll qualify outside of the top 10 while his teammate was fighting for the top 5. We've now reached a point where Aston Martin has a question to answer, how long till it persists with its weakest link? The F1 Chinese GP has made the question more glaring.
Surely the team can't continue to be a single driver team because you just can't be successful in F1 in that manner. The F1 Chinese GP is just the latest in the list of many reminders that Aston Martin has been given that the team cannot win with Lance Stroll in one of the seats.
