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It was yet another masterclass by Red Bull driver Max Verstappen as he claimed his fifth successive pole position of the season in as many races at the 2024 F1 Chinese GP in the qualifying session.
Verstappen never looked in trouble as the RB20 was hooked to the Shanghai International Circuit through the qualifying. He eventually finished over three-tenths ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez.
Fernando Alonso was arguably the happiest driver from the qualifying as he finished P3 just a couple of milliseconds behind Perez in an excellent session.
The two-time world champion looked the most likely driver on Saturday to challenge the Red Bulls for the front row as teams like McLaren and Ferrari never had the one-lap pace to get close to the reigning world champions.
Below is the starting lineup for the 2024 F1 Chinese GP on Sunday:
1) Verstappen
2) Perez
3) Alonso
4) Norris
5) Piastri
6) Leclerc
7) Sainz
8) Russell
9) Hulkenberg
10) Bottas
11) Stroll
12) Ricciardo
13) Ocon
14) Albon
15) Gasly
16) Zhou
17) Magnussen
18) Hamilton
19) Tsunoda
20) Sargeant
Max Verstappen chimes in on his pole position for the Chinese GP
Max Verstappen stated that he was 'very happy 'with his performance in the qualifying session for the Chinese GP main race on Sunday. He also pointed out that he picked up a couple of things to improve on the car in his Sprint race win earlier on Saturday.
In his post-qualification interview, the Red Bull driver said:
"After the Sprint race, it gave us a few more ideas for the car and I think the car worked even better in Qualifying. Definitely very happy with how the whole of Qualifying went.
"The car was really nice to drive and also in Q3, that final lap felt pretty decent. I'm also very happy to drive here in the dry. The conditions were pretty good, so it was a lot of fun."
His teammate Sergio Perez claimed the session was 'intense' as he 'nearly got knocked out in Q1. He said:
"I had traffic with one of the Williams, I had to abort my lap, drove back on hot, used tires, and just made it through in P15. It was just a very messy start to qualifying."
It would be interesting to see if anyone could challenge Max Verstappen from cruising to another race in the 2024 season and win the Chinese GP for the first time in his career.
