Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai
5.451kms / 3.387 miles
Weather: Warm and dry
Temperature: Air 19-21°C Track: 30-32°C
Q1
F. Massa 1:34.205 (7th)
L. Stroll 1:33.986 (5th)
Quickest time: L. Hamilton 1:33.078
Q2
F. Massa 1:33.759 (7th)
L. Stroll 1:34.090 (10th)
Quickest time: K. Raikkonen 1:32.341
Q3
F. Massa 1:33.507 (6th)
L.Stroll 1:34.220 (10th)
Quickest time: L. Hamilton 1:31.678
Qualifying Notes
• Felipe Massa will start the Chinese Grand Prix sixth and Lance Stroll 10th after a solid performance in qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit
• Felipe’s quickest time of 1:33.507 in Q3 was enough to secure sixth place, whilst Lance did a brilliant job to claim P10 ahead of his first ever Chinese Grand Prix
• There was a delay to the start of Q2 after Giovinazzi’s crash on the final corner but, once the session resumed, both Lance and Felipe clocked competitive times to make it into Q3
• Both drivers completed all three sessions on the supersoft compound tyres
• It was a strong performance from the team given the lack of running during Friday’s interrupted practice sessions due to poor visibility which grounded the medical helicopter
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: It was a good turnout in the grandstands here in Shanghai, so I’m pleased we were able to put on some exciting entertainment for the fans in the better weather conditions today. It was a solid job from Felipe; we found good speed in the car, which got us a well-deserved P6. It was encouraging to see where we lie pace-wise at this more conventional circuit; a true test of the car. And Lance was rookie of the day for me! I think he did an incredible job to get himself up to P10 so well done to him. His first time to drive in Shanghai and straight into Q3 without any Friday practice! Now we will look towards the race and see what points we can get from these positions. But overall, I’m really pleased with how everyone has worked together as a team this weekend.
Felipe Massa: I think it was a very good qualifying session for us. I’m happy with my performance, with my lap and with the balance of the car. We were able to get ahead of Hulkenberg right at the end, so I think we did the best we could today. We need to be completely open minded for tomorrow because there may be crazy weather and there may be rain. But hopefully we can fight and have a good performance like we did in Australia.
Lance Stroll: The first run in Q1 wasn’t good. I was just getting into it and didn’t deliver the lap I knew I could deliver. On the second set of tyres, I just kind of calmed down and it was an amazing lap; I was really happy with the car. Then moving on to Q2, we had a good session. To get into Q3 the time was a tenth slower than my Q1 lap, but I knew it was good enough. Since I had used two sets in Q1, I only had one for Q3, so I just went for it. It wasn’t a good lap, but my goal was to get into Q3. Tomorrow there is a long race ahead of us, so even though Q3 wasn’t as good as I think it could have been I am still very happy with the overall qualifying.
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