The Briton set the fastest time during a rainy Q3, clocking in at 1:57:940 on the slippery track at the Shanghai International Circuit. However, his time was invalidated due to a track limits violation caused by going off-track in the gravel on the final corner of his previous lap. Following the events of Friday’s sessions, it has been disclosed why Norris’ pole-setting lap was eventually cleared. The initial deletion by the FIA was due to him going off track at the last corner, which usually implies gaining an advantage for the next lap.
Given the adverse conditions and the fact that Norris ended up in the gravel pit, the stewards realized that he did not benefit from going off-track, resulting in the reinstatement of the lap time. Norris will start from the front row for the sprint race, alongside Hamilton, with Alonso and Verstappen behind them. Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen will make up the second row. Meanwhile, Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri qualified in P8, and George Russell in the other Mercedes starts in P11 after missing out on Q3.
