F1 | Data: a brushstroke in the second sector puts Norris on pole

Formula 1 arrived in Shanghai with many unknowns. The top open-wheel competition hadn't been to China for five seasons now, making this week's event also the first time with the new generation of ground-effect cars. Furthermore, there was doubt as to what the conditions of the asphalt might be, on which a light layer of bitumen was poured which made the grip conditions during the lap rather inconsistent.

Added to this was another element, that of the weather, with the rain that fell at the end of SQ2 and which then continued throughout the entire last heat, changing the order of the values ​​on the starting grid potentially expected in the dry. Taking advantage of the wet track were Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who occupied the top 3 positions on the grid valid for tomorrow morning's sprint race.

However, the fight for pole was really in doubt until the last second, because the Federation's indecision on what turned out to be the pole lap created a bit of confusion: initially Norris' best time was was canceled as it followed one canceled for exceeding runway limits.

In fact, in some world championship events, in the event of a track limit at the last corner, the FIA ​​can cancel not only the current lap, but also the following one: however, this regulation must be specified event by event in the race director's notes. However, nothing in this sense was specified in the Event Notes for the Chinese GP, which is why, after an initial indecision, the FIA ​​then decided to “rehabilitate” the Briton's best time, handing pole back to McLaren.

It is interesting to start from this point to analyze the two best laps in SQ3, because it is precisely from that exit on the curb that the first difference between Hamilton and Norris can be seen: by going wide, the McLaren driver did not guarantee himself the best acceleration in exiting the last corner, so much so that at the beginning of the lap he already had a small gap against him.

However, already in the long stretch of turn one the situation is reversed, because Norris manages to bring more speed along the way with a slightly wider trajectory. Even in turn 2 there is a slight difference, also in this case the result of a completely different line: while the British driver from McLaren manages to stay tighter by covering less road in a very slow stretch, on the contrary his compatriot from Mercedes is unable to close the trajectory, widening.

It is precisely in this area of ​​the track that Norris manages to gain those tenths to finish the first sector in the lead, even if not the best overall time: the fundamental aspect in this case was to be able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together , even without partial records, something in which the Englishman was a master in this session.

Telemetry comparison between Norris and Hamilton in the Chinese GP

Photo by: Gianluca D'Alessandro

The situation is reversed again in the second half-time: in turn seven Hamilton manages to be more effective with a lower partialization of the accelerator, with a minimum of 50% compared to 30% for the McLaren driver. Similarly, in turns eight and nine, Norris takes the lead again, bringing about ten km/h more than Hamilton: the real difference on the part of the representative of the Woking team arises precisely in this sector, paradoxically in the slow parts , where in reality the team expected to suffer the most, with a gain of almost eight tenths. Norris was in fact the only one, together with Perez, to go under 36 seconds in this section, with a clear difference over his rivals.

Another point on which it is interesting to focus is the acceleration at the exit of turn 11, the one that enters the long straight: while Hamilton has a slight uncertainty which leads him to lift his foot from the accelerator for a few moments, Norris has a much cleaner exit, being able to launch into the sprint leading to the hairpin. In this case, the advantage is not found in terms of top speed, but rather in acceleration out of the big bend and in the first part of the straight, thus gaining further tenths useful for finishing the last sector in the lead too.

If McLaren takes home a good qualifying, the big unknown remains in tomorrow's sprint. In free practice one, McLaren focused above all on the harder compound, more with a view to Sunday's Grand Prix than the sprint race.