Ferrari go AWOL in "Shanghai Lottery" Sprint Race Qualifying

Today, Ferrari were found wanting with increasingly error-prone Leclerc going off track and appearing to clout the wall. Leaving soon-to-be jobless Sainz to get the best result for the team on Friday.

Ferrari reported: "The first Sprint Qualifying of the season in China turned into a lottery after the final phase to decide the top ten on the grid at the Shanghai International Circuit was hit by heavy rain. Grip was particularly low.

"For the short 8 minutes of Q3, the Ferrari SF-24s were therefore fuelled to run four laps. However, Charles spun off on his preparation lap, nudging the barriers at turn 8. He pitted to change tyres and the front wing."

Sainz summed up his Shanghai Qualifying: It was a tough mixed session. We made it through SQ1 and SQ2 without major issues, but then in SQ3, with the rain and the Intermediate tyres, we struggled quite a lot with the rear tyres as we weren’t able to get them up to the right temperature.

"If the Sprint Race is also wet it won't be an easy session for us, but as of now it looks like there is a higher chance of dry conditions. In any case, we will try to recover some positions and face qualifying in the afternoon with good momentum," added the Spaniard.

Post Qualy, Leclerc shared his thoughts: "I lost it on the out lap in Turn 8 during SQ3, which compromised our session. I don’t think there was much we could have done differently today.

"We did some good work in terms of tyre preparation in dry conditions, which seems to be paying off. We’ll give it our all in the Sprint Race and then reset for qualifying tomorrow afternoon," added the Monegasque.

Ferrari F1 boss Fred Vasseur had the final say in the team report: "The conditions in SQ3 were extremely difficult and we struggled to get the Intermediates up to temperature, although I think this was the same for everyone.

"We will analyse all the data to see what we can learn from this first wet session, even if I reckon the condition of the track surface made the situation even more tricky.

"The forecast for [Saturday] is better and we expect the rest of the weekend to be dry. We definitely had been hoping for a slightly less complicated first day on track given that we have not raced here for five year and this is our first time here with the new generation of cars."

When the spray had settled, after an enthralling and challenging Qualifying, the timing sheets provided a harsh reality for all except pole winner Lando Norris who was over a full second up on the next best. Best of the Ferrari Charlies, Sainz was a further second slower, suggesting low grip conditions such as today will not suit their car.

"The asphalt is particularly difficult to understand," explained Vasseur. "But I think we are working in the right way and I hope the fact we have saved a set of Mediums will be useful later. We will start off by trying to score points and then switch our focus to Sunday when the big points are given out," he added.

History shows that Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello won the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix in 2004 followed by victories for Michael Schumacher in 2005 and 2006. The final tiume a Red car won in Shanghai was when Fernando Alonso did the business in 2013.

P5 in 2019 is Leclerc's best result at the venue in the two times he raced there, which fell off the calendar from then until this time around. In five starts, Sainz's best result was P7 in 2017 when he raced for McLaren.

Ahead of Round 5 of the 2024 FIA F1 World Championships in China this weekend, Ferrari on 120 points are P2 in the F1 Constructors' World Championship, trailing Red Bull by 21 points.

In the F1 Drievrs' standings, Leclerc and Sainz are P3 and P4 respectively chasing the dominant Red Bulls. Notably Carlos in his last season in Red - is the only driver to win this year other than Max Verstappen. He also missed the season's second race in Saudi.