Lando Norris arrived in Shanghai on top of the drivers’ standings for the first time following his win at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last Sunday, but it was his qualifying pace for McLaren – and not just holding off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – that had his rivals on edge ahead of practice.
Mercedes driver George Russell went so far as to say McLaren could win every race this season, describing its raw pace advantage as “bigger than Red Bull has ever had”.
But, while Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri strongly refuted the claim — stating the form would change between rounds – the rest of the paddock wasn’t so sure.
“They’re definitely ahead,” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said.
“The gap in qualifying, the gap that there was in Australia is more or less what there is.”
“I think we are around Mercedes and Red Bull in terms of lap times if we put everything together,” Leclerc said, “so there’s still a big chunk to get McLaren then.”
For seven-time world champion Hamilton, meanwhile, China is a chance for a reset after a difficult Ferrari debut at Melbourne’s Albert Park last weekend, where he qualified eighth, briefly took the lead, but couldn’t hold onto it because of the team’s tire strategy.
But the 40-year-old, who is F1’s most successful driver with a record 105 GP wins and 104 pole positions, says he still needs more time to bring the full force of his experience to his new team.
“As I get more comfortable and more knowledgeable about the car, I can start making more decisions,” Hamilton said of his preferred set up. “I’m having those discussions, and I’m going to lean a little bit more with adding my experience hopefully a bit more in it.”
Hamilton is hopeful that the Australian GP was an outlier for him and for Ferrari.
“I hope so,” he said.
“I think our car looked pretty decent in Australia and even on Saturday morning. So, I think it’s a bit of a one-off.” (AP)
