Hamilton wants a faster Ferrari to challenge McLaren at F1’s sprint weekend in China

SHANGHAI: McLaren’s dominance, Lewis Hamilton’s bid to bounce back after a disappointing debut for Ferrari, and the death of Eddie Jordan have generated headlines as Formula 1 prepares for its first Sprint weekend of the season at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Lando Norris arrived in Shanghai atop the drivers’ standings for the first time following his win at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last Sunday, but it was his qualifying pace for McLaren — and not just holding off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — that had his rivals on edge ahead of practice.

McLaren’s pace

Mercedes driver George Russell went so far as to say McLaren could win every race this season, describing its raw pace advantage as “bigger than Red Bull has ever had.” But, while Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri strongly refuted the claim — stating the form would change between rounds — the rest of the paddock wasn’t so sure.

“They’re definitely ahead,” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said. “The gap in qualifying, the gap that there was (in Australia, 0.385sec to the nearest non-McLaren) is more or less what there is.”

“I think we are around Mercedes and Red Bull in terms of lap times if we put everything together,” Leclearc said, “so there’s still a big chunk to get McLaren then.”

It’s unclear if a new technical directive will shuffle the order in China, with FIA, the sport’s governing body, cracking down on rear wing flexing with a tougher static load test.

None of the drivers were forthcoming, as to what triggered the FIA’s new interpretation, or who it was most expected to impact.

“We don’t have to change anything,” Norris said. “Ours is fine. In fact, ours was probably too good, and we probably weren’t pushing the limits enough. If this technical