F1 Chinese Grand Prix LIVE: Qualifying updates in Shanghai as Max Verstappen claims Red Bull’s 100th pole

Post qualifying session reaction from George Russell, speaking to Sky Sports: “It was not easy at all. We tried sending it as early as we could in SQ2 but stuck behind the cars in the pit lane and lost the tyre temperature.

“It was close, one more tenth and you’re four or five positions higher. It’s just a shame to be on the bottom end of that. We have a chance to recover in the sprint race. And then have a chance in race qualifying tomorrow.

“The grip is really low here compared to what we expected for everybody . There’s no junior series here to help rubber the track in. For everyone you’re slipping and sliding around. It is quite challenging to judge but we have another chance tomorrow and maybe make some tweaks overnight.”

Reaction from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff: “I haven’t seen the detail [of Lando Norris’ reinstatement] but honestly that was even slower and he would have probably gone faste so I’m okay with that.

“I think, obviously, the driving is the most important in the wet. It shows it’s about tyre preparation, we did the right thing on the final run, the tyres were in the sweet spot combined with a great drive [from Lewis Hamilton], that made the time.

“We changed a little bit the specs of the tyres but the point is that both cars were not competitive in SQ2 because the tyres never gripped. I think in our car, generating grip is not an easy task. We failed in SQ1 and SQ2 but got it right in SQ3.

“I think we should have the pace in the dry, I don’t think we have the pace against the Red Bulls but we are against the McLarens. But also, we don’t know. We have no data from FP1, it could be that they are much quicker too or the other way around.”

Just take a look at these photos for how wet that qualifying session was. Max Verstappen went off a couple of times and couldn’t figure out a way to get onto pole with just eight minutes in the session.

What is the starting grid for the sprint race?

1) Lando Norris (McLaren)

2) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

3) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

4) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

5) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

6) Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

7) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

8) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

9) Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)

10) Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)

11) George Russell (Mercedes)

12) Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

13) Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

14) Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

15) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

16) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

17) Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

18) Alex Albon (Williams)

19) Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

20) Logan Sargeant (Williams)

Full result for SQ3:

1) Lando Norris

2) Lewis Hamilton

3) Fernando Alonso

4) Max Verstappen

5) Carlos Sainz

6) Sergio Perez

7) Charles Leclerc

8) Oscar Piastri

9) Valtteri Bottas

10) Zhou Guanyu

Lando Norris takes pole position!

He’s quicker than Lewis Hamilton by one and a half seconds and things are set up nicely for tomorrow’s sprint. Norris has pole, Hamilton is on the front row with him.

Just behind them are Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen.

Wow, that is going to be exciting.

Lando Norris goes faster than Hamilton but exceeds track limits and his time is deleted! Fernando Alonso crosses in second place as Hamilton finishes the session with a calmer lap.

Wait, wait, wait... Norris’ lap time has been reinstated! He comes in at 1:57.940 and moves back above Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton goes top!

He crosses the line in 1:59.321 but the rest of the field are coming through for their last lap times. Who’s going to finish in first place?

Max Verstappen goes fourth fastest but goes off track at the final turn and his lap time won’t count! He’s back down to to seventh place with less than a minute to go.

Fernando Alonso takes top spot as Charles Leclerc comes in with third place at the minute.

Lewis Hamilton will get on final lap to go before the chequered flag...

Oscar Piastri sets a time of 2:02.598 to take top of the leaderboard before Serigo Perez storms in with a time of 2:00.455 - two seconds quicker than Piastri!

Valterri Bottas takes second place for Kick Sauber. At the minute he’s on the front row for the sprint race. There’s less than two minutes to go in the session...