Data analysis: How Hamilton outfoxed Verstappen to sprint pole

After the first free practice session in China, it seemed McLaren was the team to beat in sprint qualifying following a dazzling lap from Lando Norris.

It perched the Australian Grand Prix winner four-tenths of a second clear of the competition, with Ferrari sitting behind and Red Bull lingering at the bottom of the timesheet.

Although the Dutchman opted to abort his qualifying simulation run on the soft tyre, the car was sliding throughout the lap and he was not on course to challenge at the front of the field.

Verstappen declared after the session that not many changes were made to the car after the practice session and offered no insight into the alterations made. Team advisor Helmut Marko, however, declared Red Bull opted to shave off downforce for sprint qualifying.

It no doubt worked in Verstappen's favour as the car was kinder to him as he drove to second place in the session, narrowly missing out on the top spot to Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari.

But where in the lap does the Dutchman lose the battle to his rival? Hamilton was faster for most of the lap, except for the exits of several corners as well as the long straight.

Crucially, Hamilton held an advantage out of the final corner and the exit of Turn 13, which both lead onto straights.

The DRS zones worked heavily in Red Bull's favour, which was on par with Ferrari for top speed. Red Bull's DRS delta was a 32 km/h gain, as its speed with and without DRS was 337 km/h and 305 km/h respectively. In comparison, Ferrari gained only 23 km/h through the zone.

Verstappen's strong corner exits may also play into his advantage in the sprint race, as rear tyre temperatures can rise quickly through the long, sweeping corners around the track.

Red Bull appears to have that area taken care of, looking at the data from sprint qualifying. Verstappen can get on the accelerator quickly, but keeps the tyres in a good window throughout the lap and picks considerable time that way. It just wasn't enough for first place on the grid.

View the comparisons between Hamilton and Verstappen below. The article continues after that.

McLaren disappoints but race threat remains

One of the biggest surprises from the session was the fact that McLaren failed to gain a front-row slot. 

The Woking-based squad easily had the fastest car after free practice but was forced to settle for third and sixth with Piastri and Norris respectively. 

Piastri and Norris were the only drivers to complete two laps on the same set of softs, to no avail. Norris made a mistake in his final run, while Piastri could not improve his time, failing by 0.080s.

After holding the advantage through pre-season testing and the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, sprint qualifying was a step back. 

Although Norris made a mistake on what was looking to be a strong lap, the rest of the competition can take positives that McLaren can be challenged.

However, the team is still a real threat on the long runs and should not be counted out of the sprint race and qualifying.

View all the sector times below!