After Max Verstappen won the sprint race on Saturday morning dominantly, the reigning world champion also set the fastest time in qualifying for the race on Sunday. His fifth pole in a row and the one hundredth pole position for Red Bull Racing. On the 5.451-kilometre-long Shanghai International Circuit, Max’ teammate at Oracle Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, set the second fastest time, with Fernando Alonso in P3. The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri completed the top five.

“The sprint race gave us a few more ideas for the car and the car worked even better in qualifying”, says Max after qualifying. “Very happy with how the whole of qualifying went, the car was really nice to drive and the final lap in Q3 felt really decent.”

Max continues: “I was happy to drive here in the dry, the conditions were pretty good, so it was a lot of fun.”