Fernando Alonso is enjoying his return to the Shanghai circuit having qualified in third for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix. The Spaniard was sitting in P3 during the opening laps of the Sprint but became swamped following contact with Carlos Sainz, which resulted in Alonso having to retire his car.

The stewards later deemed Fernando to have transgressed during the Sprint handing him a ten second time penalty (applied to the Sprint) together with three penalty points. 

 

 

 

Alonso penalised

“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 14 (Fernando Alonso), the driver of Car 55 (Carlos Sainz), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 14 caused a collision with Car 55 at Turn 9. The result of the collision was that Car 55 was damaged and that Car 14 had a puncture and retired before the end of the sprint session,” said the statement from the stewards.

Now Aston Martin have protested the Ferrari qualifying result in Shanghai in a matter unrelated to the Sprint collision with Sainz. With the grip levels having dropped from five years ago, the F1 cars have been some 3-4 seconds a lap slower than when last time here.

Lewis Hamilton made a glaring error during qualifying as he approached the hairpin on his last Q1 push lap. He locked up, ran wide and dropped almost three quarters of a second to his team mate in the same sector 3. Hamilton missed out on Q2 by almost 3/10 tenths of a second clearly created by his own mistake.

In qualifying session two, Carlos Sainz ran wide at the final corner and keeping his foot in spun across the track having hit the gravel, lightly catching the crash barrier on the inside of the track. The red flag was immediately produced by race control, but Carlo managed to restart his stranded Ferrari and trailed back to the garage for a new front wing and a paint job touch up.

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Aston protest Ferrari qualifying

When the session was green flagged, Sainz’s car had been given the all clear by his chief mechanic and the Spaniard returned to the fray. He had just one lap to set a time quick enough for the top ten shootout, which Carlos duly delivered.

Now Aston Martin have invoked article 39.6 of the F1 sporting regulations which states: “Any driver whose car stops on the track during the qualifying session or the sprint qualifying session shootout will not be permitted to take any further part in that session.”

The rule is intended to prevent drivers from receiving outside help from either marshals or a tow truck so they can rejoin the session which has been red flagged. George Russell found himself in a similar position when at the 2023 British Grand Prix he exited his Mercedes car to check on Zhou Guanyu after a first corner crash in his Alfa Romeo, only to be told he would not be allowed to participate when the race resumed.

Yet the wording of the rule does not cover one way or the other a driver managing to remain in his car and restart it without outside interference.

McLaren ready to “battle” with F1 stewards

 

 

 

Sainz explains his mistake

Representatives from both Aston Martin and Ferrari were called to the Shanghai stewards but as yet no decision has been announced. Should Sainz be stripped of his P7 qualifying slot he will drop down to eleventh place with Lance Stroll promoted to P10 for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

“I just did a simple mistake, hit the inside kerb a bit too hard, that threw me a bit off line, touched the gravel on the exit, clipped the gravel and spun,” said Sainz as he explained his crash.

“Then right in the last moment before hitting the wall I managed to turn the wheel a bit and crash in a better angle than what I was. In the direction that I was going, probably this saved the day, because it was looking bad at one point.

“From there on, did a very strong lap in Q2 to recover from that moment for the confidence more or less back, if you can call it like that, and put together some decent laps.”

Wolff/Hamilton tensions rise

 

 

 

Leclerc qualifying form returns

Ferrari came into the Shanghai weekend expecting their cars to suit the front end limited circuit design, yet both drivers failed to beat times set by Red Bull, McLaren and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. However, paddock sources are suggesting the Scuderia has set their cars up for the best race pace, rather than the one lap shootouts.

Both Ferrari cars looked to be gaining in strength as the Sprint entered its closing laps, which suggests they have less tyre degradation than those around them which will be critical in the full length Grand Prix.

Provisionally listed to start P6 one place ahead of Sainz, Charles Leclerc was philosophical. “We struggled a lot in the first sector, which I can have an idea of, and I don’t think it comes from tyre preparation this time,” he explained.

“But we set the car up on my side mostly for the race tomorrow. I think it’s going to pay off tomorrow.

“However, we did not expect McLaren and Fernando to be able to jump us, so I was happy to sacrifice being P3 behind the Red Bulls with a good car for the race,” revealed Leclerc.

Marko on Carlos Sainz rumours

 

 

 

F1 CEO casts doubt on future of Chinese GP

Formula One has returned to China for the first time in five years and on the twentieth anniversary of the circuits inaugural race, the debate over the future of the event has begun. The Chinese promoters have another year to run on their current contract but F1 boss Stefano Domenicali revealed after the Sprint its not certain Shanghai will remain on the calendar.

When asked whether there was a mutual agreement to extend the deal with the Shanghai International Circuit, Domenicali was candid.“For sure the appetite is there and the good news is that its not only Shanghai that would like of course for us to stay, but there are other options that that really want to present their candidacy to have a race in China.”    READ MORE.