Lewis Hamilton learns final result of stewards’ investigation in Chinese GP Sprint qualifying
Lewis Hamilton was in line to benefit from a stewards’ investigation following the Chinese GP Sprint qualifying
Lewis Hamilton won’t start higher up the grid in the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint race.
Kimi Antonelli has escaped a grid penalty for the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint race. The Italian youngster was under scrutiny following an incident that forced Lando Norris to abandon what had initially looked like a quick lap during Friday’s qualifying session.
The three-place penalty he was potentially facing would have seen Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri each move up one position on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint race.
The incident occurred during SQ2 when there were 16 cars on track, all vying for a spot in the top 10. Norris was just beginning a flying lap when he encountered the slower-moving Mercedes driven by Antonelli, who appeared unaware of the McLaren’s presence.
Norris was forced to take avoiding action which prevented any collision but ruined his lap. Fortunately it didn’t cost him a place in the final qualifying segment, but there was concern at Mercedes that Antonelli might face consequences as the incident was flagged by race control and, following qualifying, was escalated to a full investigation.
“In light of the clear position taken by the driver of Car 1 that he was not impeded by Car 12 as he was not seeking to set a meaningful lap time, we took no further action.”
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But it has now been confirmed that no further action will be taken. The stewards said: “The driver of Car 1 [Norris] told us that he was on a ‘pushing warm up lap’ and not on a push lap. In other words, he was not actively seeking to set a meaningful lap time when Car 12 [Kimi Antonelli] came out of the pit lane and onto the track.
Both Antonelli and Norris were amongst the 10 drivers battling for pole position but were beaten by George Russell, who is hoping to build on his Australian Grand Prix triumph with additional victories in Shanghai this weekend. Antonelli was fastest behind his team-mate whilst Norris discovered the speed in his McLaren to qualify as leading challenger behind the Silver Arrows.
Hamilton, who stood to gain if Antonelli faced punishment, qualified fourth in the Ferrari ahead of Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc could only manage sixth in the other Ferrari as, for the second consecutive year, he was out-qualified by Hamilton for the Sprint race in Shanghai.
Speaking about the incident after Sprint qualifying concluded, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged that Norris might not have been able to complete a full flying lap at that stage regardless.
He said: “In reality, it wasn’t clear whether you would do the warm-up lap or the push lap. In the end, because of the way he was using the energy, I don’t think that was going to be a fast lap. But the stewards will take a look.”
What was immediately apparent following qualifying is that Russell will begin from pole position once more as he and Mercedes maintain their excellent start to the campaign.
Russell said: “The car has been feeling amazing. We knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine is performing really well and the car was a joy to drive.”
The Mercedes driver was overtaken by Leclerc at the beginning of last Sunday’s Grand Prix in Melbourne, with Ferrari possessing a distinct advantage from the grid compared to their competitors.
When questioned about the possibility of being passed before the opening corner again despite his flawless qualifying performance, the Mercedes driver added: “Since Melbourne, we have been working on how to get off the line quicker, so I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”
