Max Verstappen could only qualify in fourth position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race as two surprise names found themselves at the top of the leaderboard.
As rain descended down on the Shanghai International Circuit, it was McLaren's Lando Norris who would come out on top by more than a second.
Norris will be joined on the front row by seven-time world champion and British compatriot Lewis Hamilton in what is a boost for the Mercedes man.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso - almost two seconds adrift of Norris - completes the top three, with Verstappen having to settle for fourth.
The remainder of the top 10 continued to be spread out, with the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz Jr and Charles Leclerc either side of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull.
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In sharp contrast to his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri had to be content with eighth, as far back as 3.050 seconds slower than Norris.
The Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu completed the list of drivers from Q1, with Mercedes' George Russell only in 11th place.
Tomorrow's sprint race will be held in the early hours of the morning (BST) with qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix being staged at 8am (BST).
Darren Plant
