Ferrari can be quite satisfied with how its qualifying for the Formula 1 Chinese GP unfolded. In the session held this Saturday (14), Lewis Hamilton will start third, while Charles Leclerc lines up alongside him in fourth.
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The Maranello squad has been challenging Mercedes throughout the weekend in Shanghai. In the Sprint, they even led the race and crossed the finish line in second with the Monegasque and third with the Briton.
Now, for Sunday’s race, they will once again try to challenge the team to beat in 2026, with the duo closing out the second row – Kimi Antonelli and George Russell start first and second, respectively.
“It’s great to be on the second row for tomorrow’s race. It wasn’t the easiest session and I had to deal with some sliding and limited grip, so we couldn’t extract the best from the car and probably lost a few tenths. Overall, though, we continue to progress well, although it’s clear there is still a considerable gap to the cars in front,” said Hamilton
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“However, we learned more about the positioning of the cars and what to do differently in a battle. There is a lot of work to do before the race, but tomorrow we will give it our all and try to bring home some good points for the team and a great race for the fans. The fans here in China are incredible – I receive a lot of affection when I’m on track,” he added.
Meanwhile, Leclerc stated that “there wasn’t much more for us today. This circuit is one that I normally find more challenging, so I’m pleased with how I managed to put my lap together in Q3. These cars need to be driven a bit differently in qualifying compared to the past, so there is some work to be done to optimize our performance. We weren’t too far off today, so we’ll focus on tomorrow.”
“I enjoyed the Sprint race this morning. The battles were good and it’s quite exciting to see what you can do in the car, how to manage tires and battery and play it well, so I’m looking forward to the race, where anything is possible,” he concluded.
