It was another mixed qualifying result for Red Bull Racing as Max Verstappen claims P2 in the Chinese Sprint Race, with Liam Lawson out in SQ1.
The four-time World Champion once again showed his quality, despite a difficult run in the only Free Practice session of the weekend, putting his RB21 on the front row and just 0.018 seconds behind Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
The result puts Verstappen in a strong position for a potential Sprint Race podium and to maintain his position near the top of the Drivers' standings, with both McLarens, Lando Norris (P6) and Oscar Piastri (P3) both behind him on the grid.
With seven points separating Verstappen and Norris in the standings, gaining ground on his McLaren rival early in the season will give Red Bull hope that a fifth consecutive title for the Dutchman could still be a possibility despite so many writing off his chances in pre-season.
Speaking after Sprint Qualifying, Verstappen commented: "I'm very happy. I do think in the first practice we were quite a bit off, so I'm very happy to be on the front row honestly."
"It's always very tough when you go from a medium [tyre] to a soft, to nail the lap with no references. Of course when you look at it, it was 18 thousandths off pole, but I don't think we should've even been on the front row anyway."
He concluded: "I'm very happy to be second."
It was another disappointing session for Lawson, however, who found himself knocked out in SQ1 after struggling to keep his tyre temperatures down and showing hesitations when attacking corners.
Finishing 1.517 seconds off the lead, Lawson will start from the back of the grid in P20, sitting behind the likes of Sauber's Nico Hülkenberg and Haas' Esteban Ocon.
Speaking on his own qualifying, Lawson commented: "The second lap I went off, so it's obviously a shame. From a starting point, I wasn't too bad, the first lap was alright, and we were just looking to on build on there."
"We stayed out, to try to cool the tyres down on track and, to be honest, I really struggled to get the temps down starting the second lap."
He concluded: "Basically, we started too hot and through the lap I struggled and it's frustrating."
