Category: Formula 1

The Frenchman was granted Alpine’s new floor upgrade initially pencilled in for Miami, as one undertray construction was fast-tracked in time for the Chinese Grand Prix.

This new floor features changes to the diffuser, heavily revised front fences, and a new floor edge wing that includes a slot towards the rear.

Although these changes should yield an uptick in performance, Ocon stated that the overall set-up of his A524 had missed the mark to break into SQ2 during sprint qualifying – and suggested that a plethora of tweaks needed to be made once parc ferme opens again ahead of qualifying proper.

“I feel like we didn’t maximise the potential of the car today, unfortunately, that’s probably the first time this year that this is the case,” Ocon lamented.

“I think there was probably more in it today. And, with only one [practice] session, unfortunately we didn’t put everything together.

“Some performance left on the side, so it’s a good thing that parc ferme opens again so we can change for next qualifying.

“We’ll try and race tomorrow like this early in the morning and then, after that, try with a different set-up in the car and see what we get.

“We’ll change quite a lot of things – until we try that, we are not going to know exactly that this is the right thing to do, but it might be worth a try.”

Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

His team-mate Pierre Gasly will have to wait until Miami before he gets his hands on the new floor, but he was much more sanguine about his chances without the upgrades.

Gasly’s practice was derailed by an ERS issue that forced a change to his power unit components, but was nonetheless happy with the balance he had and felt he had made the most of it during his run to 16th on Saturday’s sprint grid.

“We had a problem with the ERS this morning, so basically only managed to get only like three laps out of the session,” said Gasly. “And on a sprint weekend we know how important it was to get it right from the start.

“But then the guys managed to solve the issue for this afternoon, change the engine and managed to get the car out for qualifying. So that was good and I’m very pleased with the lap I put in that quali. I think it turned out to be slightly better than we hoped.

“It’s pretty tricky without the upgraded floor; it was a good effort, and it came tight to Q2. But it’s quite positive.

“I know I’ll get these parts in Miami, and that should get us through to Q2 and get a bit further to the points finishes.”

Johnny Herbert won the Le Mans 24 Hours with a Mazda 787B – a firm favourite among sportscar fans – and three Formula 1 races in Benetton and Stewart machinery. But the two cars he selects from his career are machines he failed to win in.

“The best car I drove at Le Mans was the Bentley, very nicely engineered,” says Herbert of the Speed 8 he shared with Mark Blundell and David Brabham to finish second at Le Mans and third at Sebring in 2003.

“Everyone said it was an Audi R8, but it was more than that. The engine and gearbox, yes, but everything forward was completely new. Fundamentally it was a Bentley, it looked beautiful and it was better than the R8.”

Herbert scored one of his favourite victories, at the 2003 Petit Le Mans, in a Champion-run R8, but the car he picks as his number one was nothing like as reliable as the great German endurance racer. In fact, it broke down in nearly half the events Herbert started in it.

The Lotus 107, designed by Peter Wright and Chris Murphy, arrived after the first few rounds of the 1992 F1 season and went on, in one form or another, until the middle of 1994.

Top 10: Ranking the greatest Lotus F1 cars

“The most fun and most adrenaline I got was with the 107 Lotus,” says the veteran of 160 grands prix. “We still had the massive diffusers and big fat slick tyres.

“You could attack every single corner. You could wrestle those cars and that’s how I thought it should be – you should fight these cars and they should fight back. I enjoyed that period.

Herbert took a best finish of fourth with the Lotus 107 on three occasions in 1993

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“As time went on, with the narrower tyres – I hated grooved tyres – the sensitivity went up and my sensitivity couldn’t go up with it [because of his foot injuries from his 1988 Formula 3000 crash at Brands Hatch].”

Herbert also liked the 107’s predecessor, the 102, but the 107 had more potential: “The 102 was actually a bloody good car – you could chuck it everywhere – but my it was slow! It was good in the wet, very forgiving, but the 107 was a car you could attack.”

Interestingly, despite (or because of) developments, such as the active suspension pushed to the forefront by Williams, it’s the earliest version of the car that Herbert liked most. That’s despite the fact that he scored three fourth places in the 1993 B-spec version on his way to ninth in the drivers’ standings, a position that could have been higher with better reliability.

“You could wrestle those cars and that’s how I thought it should be – you should fight these cars and they should fight back” Johnny Herbert

“The 107 lasted about 25 years – that’s what it felt like!” he says. “It got worse. It went active in 1993 and we had a good race in Brazil, but it just wasn’t there.”

Herbert continued to race the car, now in C-spec, for the first four rounds of 1994 after Lotus traded Cosworth for Mugen V8s that were hardly an improvement.

A pair of seventh places at Interlagos and Aida, that didn’t net any points due to the scoring system of the time, were the underwhelming highlights before Lotus introduced the 109 in Barcelona. But his fortunes didn’t improve and he scored no more points for the moribund team that collapsed at season’s end, by which point he had switched to Benetton.

Herbert bowed out with the 107 after a gearbox failure at Monaco in 1994

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images

Red Bull already has Max Verstappen under contract for 2025, while Perez has impressed in the opening part of the 2024 season to ensure he is likely to retain his seat at the team.

Perez stated on Thursday that, given the dynamic nature of the 2025 driver market, he expected “to know my future in the coming weeks, because everything is moving quite fast. So I think it’s important not to wait for too long.”

In response to a question asking if Red Bull was close to firming up its plans for next season, team principal Horner replied in the negative.

“Not very [close], I’m afraid,” he said. “It’s incredible that we’re at race five and there’s so much talk already about drivers for next year.

“We’re in a situation where we’re very happy with our two drivers. 

“But we don’t need to make a final decision about the line-up until much later in the year.

“Obviously Max is on a long-term contract anyway, Checo out of contract this year, but he’s been driving exceptionally well so far this season.”

Horner understood Perez’s desire for a swift resolution to contract talks for 2025, particularly as the Mexican endured much of 2023 under pressure through a string of poor performances during the middle period of the season.

However, Horner explained that he wished to determine whether Perez was able to maintain his form before the two parties could start to put pen to paper.

“Of course, he would like to make an announcement tomorrow, undoubtedly, when we as a team aren’t in a particular rush,” said Horner.

“We’re in a fortunate position where many drivers would obviously like to drive for the team, but we’re happy with the pairing that we have.

“We just want to make sure that the level of consistency that Checo started with this season maintains. And in due course, we’ll evaluate those options.

“But, at this point in time, we’re very happy with the line-up that we have.”

Touching on the prospect of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, who had been earmarked as a possible Perez replacement should the Australian regather his momentum in F1, Horner noted there was still time to turn things around.

Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

He also remarked that reserve driver Liam Lawson, who impressed while covering for an injured Ricciardo last season, was “champing at the bit” to get a race seat – but that priority was with the current race drivers.

“I think that it’s very much in Daniel’s hands. He needs to show the kind of head-turning form to make not only ourselves, but potentially others, take notice,” Horner added.

“We’re only at race five. This is a track that’s gone well for him previously, he’s got a sprint race as well, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can really kick his season off here. 

“Liam Lawson is champing at the bit to get an opportunity, but there’s nothing preordained as to when, and even if, that would take place.

“The priority is for sure for the drivers that are in the race seats at the moment and we’ll see how that pans out.”

With F1 teams having done a lot of pre-event work in the simulator based on information from both Pirelli and the FIA, they were caught out when they arrived at the circuit on Wednesday by the visibly different track surface.

While drivers said it looked like the track had been “painted”, it emerged that it was actually a liquid bitumen surface treatment that had been applied last year to help reduce the degradation of the old asphalt.

With the circuit having been used since, elements of this treatment had been worn away on the racing line – which has given the surface a two-tone appearance.

But beyond it looking different, the treatment has impacted grip levels – especially with there being a contrast between areas where the bitumen remains in place and where it has been worn away.

While the FIA normally informs teams ahead of race weekends of any material changes to the circuit, no notification about this treatment was included in documents that were sent to teams and Pirelli.

Furthermore, Pirelli normally sends engineers in advance of an F1 meeting to deliver up-to-date data on the track conditions, but this was not done this time because the Italian company had none of its F1 personnel free to do it.

It was only when it arrived at the circuit on Wednesday with its engineers that the issue emerged – triggering some surprise.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Asked about how much communication there had been with the FIA about the treatment, F1 chief engineer Simone Berra said: “We didn’t get any indication, so we were surprised as well.

“We noticed it on Wednesday when we were doing the usual track inspection, and it was quite clear that this surface was completely different from the old one.”

Autosport understands that the lack of warning over the surface was discussed in Friday morning’s team managers’ meeting with F1 race director Niels Wittich.

Sources suggest that while Wittich admitted to being aware of the work having been done, he did not consider it necessary to inform the teams because it was not a change that should have materially impacted the track’s performance level, nor require any change of homologation.

While the grip changes were certainly not extreme enough to have a scenario as bad at Turkey 2020, Berra added that in the future it was clear the circuits should make it more obvious, especially with the FIA, of the impact of any works done at F1 venues.

Asked what had gone wrong with communication over the matter, Berra said: “I think you need to ask the FIA, but it’s not a track change that needs rehomologation, or a check by the FIA.

“It was done by Chinese circuit management, and they could have done this without informing anybody.

“But I would say it’s not the end of the world in the end because in FP1, let’s say, the grip level improved after a few laps, and then the drivers were able to complete the session.

“I think that, for the future, the FIA will try to work a little bit closer with the circuit to understand this kind of information in advance.”

The surface treatment issue will disappear for 2025 with Shanghai set to undertake a complete resurfacing this summer prior to next year’s race.

Sainz qualified fifth and team-mate Charles Leclerc seventh as the Ferraris struggled to get their tyres warmed up in a rainy end to Friday’s sprint qualifying.

Leclerc went off when it started raining, bending his steering rack, which Sainz admitted could have easily happened to him too.

“With the intermediate tyres we waited a long time at the pitlane exit, they got cold, and then Charles and I struggled a lot on that outlap to warm up the tyres,” Sainz explained. “I’m lucky I didn’t suffer the same [spin].

“We couldn’t do a good SQ3, but I think I saved the day with fifth. This is a very difficult track to get to and almost go straight into qualifying.”

But with practice time limited on F1’s return to Shanghai, Sainz said he couldn’t get his SF24 set up to his liking in dry conditions either.

It has dampened his expectations for Saturday morning’s sprint, which is expected to be dry, but on the positive side the new parc ferme rules allow teams to work on their cars again ahead of grand prix qualifying later on.

“The sprint race is in the morning, then parc ferme opens and we can change the car,” he added. “I would like to be able to make a couple of adjustments to the car after the sprint race, because I don’t feel comfortable.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“I have a couple of ideas to improve the car for qualifying. In the sprint we will have to survive with what we have and fight from fifth place.”

Team principal Fred Vasseur hopes the team’s tyre gambit in free practice will pay off in the sprint race.

“We were the only ones who left one more set of medium and hard tyres this morning,” he explained to Sky Sports Italy.

“We have the advantage of still having a set of new medium tyres for tomorrow, while our rivals will have to use a set of used mediums. This means that we will have a wider choice in terms of tyres for tomorrow.

“But, like everyone else, we’re a bit blind. It’s not an easy choice, we only did a few laps this morning. We will have to choose the compound well tonight, because we have to consider that it can be a starting point for Sunday.”

Explaining his off, Leclerc added: “It was very difficult to switch on the tyres, I tried to be a bit aggressive, but obviously I lost it out of Turn 8.

“That compromised a little bit our qualifying because then the steering was a little bit bent. But all in all, I don’t think there was any miracles. There wasn’t much more we could have done.”

F1 has altered its sprint race schedule once again, with sprint race qualifying shifting to Friday and the sprint race moving to Saturday. The race weekend format then reverts back to a traditional schedule for grand prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon with the grand prix on Sunday. Here’s how the latest sprint race format changes will work. 

In sprint race qualifying, McLaren’s Lando Norris grabbed pole position but only after having his best lap time initially deleted and then reinstated for track limit breaches. 

Q3 of sprint qualifying was hit by rain which made conditions extremely difficult and slippery, triggering multiple offs, including Charles Leclerc’s glance off the Turn 9 barrier.

Lewis Hamilton will join Norris on the front row of the grid for the Chinese GP sprint race, ahead of Fernando Alonso in third and championship leader Max Verstappen in fourth.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start fifth in front of the sister Red Bull of Sergio Perez and Leclerc, while Oscar Piastri dropped to eighth having hit neutral with a gearbox issue during his final Q3 lap.

It was an impressive showing for Sauber with Valtteri Bottas ninth and home hero Zhou Guanyu in 10th as he becomes the first Chinese driver to compete at his home grand prix.

Zhou Guanyu, Kick Sauber C44

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

What time does the sprint race start for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix?

The sprint race for the Chinese GP starts at 11:00am local time (4:00am BST), covering a distance of 19 laps or 60 minutes.

Date: Saturday 20 April 2024
Start time: 11:00am local time – 4:00am BST

What time does qualifying start for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix?

Grand prix qualifying for the Chinese GP starts at 3:00pm local time (8:00am BST), using the traditional Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout session format.

Date: Saturday 20 April 2024
Start time: 3:00pm local time – 8:00am BST

How can I watch Formula 1?

In the United Kingdom Formula 1 is broadcast live on Sky Sports, except for the British GP which is shown live on both Sky Sports and Channel 4, with highlights shown on Channel 4 several hours after the race has finished. Live streaming through NOW is also available in the UK.

Sky Sports F1, which broadcasts the F1 races, can be added as part of the Sky Sports channels which costs £18 a month for new customers. Sky Sports can also be accessed through NOW with a one-off day payment of £11.99p or a month membership of £34.99p per month.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

How can I watch F1 Chinese GP sprint race and grand prix qualifying?

In the United Kingdom every F1 practice, qualifying and race is broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with Chinese GP sprint race coverage starting at 3:25am BST on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports F1, and grand prix qualifying coverage starting at 7:00am BST on Sky Sports Main Event Sky Sports F1.

Channel: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports F1
Start time – Sprint Race: 3:25am BST Saturday 20 April 2024
Start time – Qualifying: 7:00am BST Saturday 20 April 2024

Autosport will be running a live text coverage of the sprint race and grand prix qualifying here. 

When can I watch the highlights of F1 Chinese GP sprint race and grand prix qualifying?

In the United Kingdom Channel 4 is broadcasting highlights of the sprint race and grand prix qualifying for the Chinese GP at 12:15pm BST on Saturday afternoon. The full programme will run for 90 minutes, covering both sprint race and grand prix qualifying and wrapping up the major talking points of the race weekend so far.

For the entire 2024 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of every qualifying and race of each event. The highlights will also be available on Channel 4’s on demand catch up services.

Channel: Channel 4
Start time: 12:15pm BST Saturday 20 April 2024

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Will F1 Chinese GP sprint race and grand prix qualifying be on the radio?

Live radio coverage of every practice, qualifying and race for the 2024 F1 season will be available on the BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC 5 Live Sports Extra or via the BBC Sport website.

Coverage of Chinese GP sprint race will start at 3:55am BST on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sounds app.

Coverage of Chinese GP qualifying will start at 7:55am BST on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sounds app.

What’s the weather forecast for the sprint race and grand prix qualifying in Shanghai?

Cloud and dry conditions with a low chance of rain is forecast for all of Saturday in Shanghai. The temperature is set to reach highs of 22 degrees Celsius at the start of the sprint race and 23 degrees Celsius at the start of grand prix qualifying.

First practice on Friday morning had to be red flagged after a fire erupted on the grass on the inside of Turn 7 at the Shanghai International Circuit.

The same section later caught fire at the end of the first session of sprint qualifying, which led to the start of SQ2 being briefly delayed.

Following the first problem on Friday morning, the FIA visited the area before qualifying to try to understand exactly what was the causing the grass to ignite.

Initial analysis conducted from video footage suggested that sparks being thrown up by the cars were being blown onto the grass, which was then catching fire.

However, that has only offered a partial explanation for the phenomenon, because the size of the fires being caused is far bigger than would normally be anticipated from grass, especially after a major downpour on Wednesday will have moistened the ground.

Various theories have emerged about the extra catalyst that is causing the sparks to trigger the larger blazes.

Marshals rush to put out the fire on the grass

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

One theory is that because the Shanghai track is built on a swamp, methane gas could be seeping up through the ground – which is then being ignited and causing the fires.

Another idea is that the grass has been chemically treated to enhance its looks, and it is this that is causing the problem.

However, the FIA’s initial physical inspections on Friday did not shed any great light on the situation, as it is understood there were no unusual smells or evidence of anything unexpected in the area.

With the fire returning in qualifying, however, the FIA plans to conduct a more detailed examination in the evening to try to get a better handle on what is going on and find the true cause.

The FIA will obviously be eager to avoid any fires triggering the need for session stoppage on Saturday, or even of it prompting the need for a safety car or other intervention in the race.

The fire problem is something that has not been encountered at Shanghai before, although this is the first year that the new generation of ground effect cars, which throw up more sparks as they run close to the ground, have driven here.

Hamilton was one of the standout performers of a wet final qualifying segment on Friday afternoon, taking second behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.

The seven-time world champion said his car “came alive” in the wet, but he’s realistic about its potential if Saturday morning’s sprint is held in dry conditions.

“It was pretty tricky conditions. Not a lot of grip for everyone, but so happy,” he told F1 TV.

“As soon as I saw the rain coming, I was so happy because in the dry conditions, we are not quick enough.

“So, when the rain came I thought I would have a bit of a better opportunity and that’s when it all came alive.”

“If it is like that [in the sprint race], then we have a chance of being somewhere up there. If it’s dry then naturally, the Ferraris and Red Bulls will come by. Maybe we can hold off some of the others.”

Team boss Toto Wolff was more optimistic about Mercedes’ chances on Saturday, but cautioned that because of the sprint format’s single practice session, there was limited data available on China’s pecking order.

“We should have the pace in the dry,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I don’t think we have the pace against the Red Bulls, but we do, I think, against the McLarens.
 
“Having said that, it’s also we don’t know. Because we have no data from FP1, it could be that they are much quicker too, or the other way around.”
 
Mercedes struggled for pace both in the dry SQ1 segment and amid a late drizzle in SQ2, which saw George Russell eliminated in 11th.

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“We know our car; in terms of generating grip, it’s not an easy task,” said Wolff. “We failed in Q1, Q2, then got it right in Q3.

“Obviously, the driving is most important in the wet. But I think it shows it’s about tyre preparation.

“We did the right things on the final run; the tyres were in the sweet spot combined with a great drive. That made the time.”

Russell said his final lap was compromised by being at the back of the queue coming out of pitlane, meaning it was tough to bring his tyre up to the right temperature.

“It wasn’t easy at all, that one lap in Q2,” he explained.

“We tried sending it as early as we could, and then obviously got stuck. I think 12 cars were ahead of us, just sat in the pit lane, so we had a loss of tyre temperature.

“And then it was close, one more tenth and you are four or five positions higher. It’s just a shame to be on the bottom end of that, but we’ve got a chance to recover in the sprint race.”

Having claimed every pole position so far in the 2024 F1 season, Verstappen looked strong favourite again after topping Q2 of sprint qualifying in the dry.

But as rain fell at the Shanghai International Circuit it produced a major unknown given no driver had any wet running at a track F1 had not visited for five years.

With multiple drivers slipping off the track in Q3, Verstappen had two lap times deleted for off-track moments triggered by the wet conditions.

The reigning F1 world champion’s best clean lap placed him fourth on the grid for the Chinese GP sprint race, but he was over two seconds slower than polesitter Lando Norris for McLaren.

Verstappen conceded he was unable to get the intermediate tyres in the best operating temperature window in the top 10 shootout and it left him feeling like he was “driving on ice”.

“It was incredibly slippery, I struggled a lot to get the temperature into the tyres so that is why it is very difficult to keep the car on track,” Verstappen said.

“It never really switched on for me so it was like driving on ice. That is why I think we deserve to be where we are after qualifying.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“Because it was not really working for me in the wet, even though in the dry I think we look quite good. So, of course, I am quite happy with that.”

Looking ahead to the first sprint race of the season, Verstappen expects to be at a disadvantage starting on the left-hand side of the grid as it is off the racing line compared to the polesitter and odd-numbered starters on the grid.

Despite starting down in fourth and the unfavoured side of the grid, if the sprint race is dry Verstappen hopes to make progress up the order using Red Bull’s superior tyre life management over the 19-lap sprint race.

“It is not ideal to start on the inside here, it is a lot lower grip on the left compared to the right with this painted stuff on the tarmac,” he explained. “We have to try and have the best start possible.

“Then it is going to be quite a long stint on one set of tyres in the sprint but that makes it quite interesting.”