Lewis Hamilton achieved his first pole position for Scuderia Ferrari by taking P1 for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. The seven-time champion will start alongside his old title rival Max Verstappen.
McLaren had looked dominant until the third sprint qualifying segment, with Oscar Piastri only third while Lando Norris was down in sixth after making mistakes on both of his attempts.
Hamilton had been hooked up for the whole day and, having taken six Grand Prix poles and six victories in Shanghai, he will once again start from P1 with a lap-record time of one minute 30.849 seconds.
The seven-time world champion struggled on his Ferrari debut in Australia but looked much more comfortable and will be hoping to convert pole to sprint victory on Saturday.
Verstappen, who finished second in Melbourne, starts on the front row following his own fine lap, while Charles Leclerc is fourth for Ferrari.
The Mercedes pair of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli will be disappointed to only be fifth and seventh, respectively, while Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Lance Stroll rounded out the top ten.
It had appeared the McLarens were trying to edge each other to take pole but Piastri’s best effort was ultimately beaten by both Hamilton and Verstappen while two small mistakes cost Norris a shot at being further up the field.
Fernando Alonso will start the sprint race in P11 with Oliver Bearman impressing for Haas by taking P12 ahead of Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar.
While Norris ran wide on his first SQ1 run, Piastri took half a second out of the Ferraris who had been sitting at the top of the timesheets.
However, it was another tricky session for Liam Lawson, who was last and over a second and a half off SQ1 pace-setter Hamilton having had a lap time deleted.
Both Alpines were also eliminated in SQ1, Jack Doohan beating Pierre Gasly for P16, while Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were slower than their respective rookie teammates down in P18 and P19.
So a surprising and yet welcoming news that Lewis Hamilton achieved his first pole position in red. Yes, this is for the sprint but it is still a fantastic result for Lewis. That gives confidence that the seven-time champion still has the speed.
Chinese Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.849
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.867
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.929
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.057
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.169
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:31.393
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.738
8 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 1:31.773
9 Alexander Albon Williams 1:31.852
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:31.982
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.815
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:31.978
13 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:32.325
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.564
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls No time
16 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:32.575
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:32.640
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:32.651
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:32.675
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull 1:32.729
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton delivered a stunning performance to secure pole position during Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, narrowly getting the better of Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Hamilton posted a time of 1m 30.849s during the decisive SQ3 phase to pip Verstappen to the top spot by 0.018s, with Piastri and the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc not much further back in an ultra-close session.
Hamilton’s benchmark was a new lap record around the Shanghai International Circuit and, when informed of his pole over the radio, the seven-time World Champion initially could not believe it. “Really?” Hamilton asked with several laughs.
George Russell led the Mercedes charge in fifth position, taking advantage of a scruffy final segment for Lando Norris, who had looked rapid in his McLaren early on, only to make a mistake on his first SQ3 lap and abandon the second.
Next up was Kimi Antonelli, around half a second down on more experienced team mate Russell, as Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda, the Williams of Alex Albon and the lead Aston Martin of Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10 positions.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hamilton-charges-to-pole-over-verstappen-and-piastri-during-sprint.26Gep1mdcFuf4InlKamFxB
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton says he is “a bit in shock” after taking his first sprint pole of his nascent Ferrari era.
Hamilton came to Shanghai after a difficult weekend for both himself and Ferrari in Australia, only managing 10th in Melbourne through a lack of pace and poor strategy.
But the 40-year-old rebounded strongly in China by taking pole for Saturday’s first sprint race of the season in a new Shanghai track record, fending off reigning world champion Max Verstappen by 0.018s, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri also within a tenth.
“I didn’t expect that result, but so, so happy and so proud,” Hamilton said. “Obviously, the last race was a disaster for us and clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car, but we just weren’t able to extract it. Coming here, the car really came alive from lap one. We made some great changes. The team did a fantastic job through the break to get the car ready.
“I’m a bit in shock. I can’t believe we actually got a pole in the sprint. It’s not the main race, so we’ve got work to do for tomorrow, but this puts us in good stead for the race. It’s amazing to see the number one as you stop and be in the red car. It’s pretty incredible.”
Hamilton explained he is still racing into the unknown for Saturday morning’s sprint as he hasn’t done a proper race run on dry conditions yet in the SF-25.
“I didn’t get to do a race run in Bahrain,” he said. “Obviously, we did the race last weekend in the wet, but tomorrow will be kind of my first real race run, and Sunday will be my first proper race run in the dry with this car.
“So, I’ll be learning. I’m hoping that we can hold on to it. But I think the McLarens are very, very, very fast, as is Max, but we’re in a good position.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamilton-in-shock-as-he-gets-first-ferrari-sprint-pole/10705482/
Lewis Hamilton has now taken his first pole position since arriving at Ferrari. With a strong history at the Chinese Grand Prix, winning at the Shanghai circuit six times over his career, this will be a substantial confidence boost for the seven-time world champion who suffered a difficult weekend in Australia.
After taking pole for Saturday’s sprint race, the former Mercedes driver has drawn praise from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who labelled his strong performance today as “unbelievable.” This is strong praise coming from a man who usually reserves his compliments for personnel within his own team. But over the years, Marko has often shown appreciation for the Briton, even in 2021 when Red Bull and Mercedes formed a strong rivalry.
In just his second race with the Scuderia, Hamilton edged out his own team-mate Charles Leclerc, who will start fourth, and Max Verstappen, who will start alongside him in second. Only 0.018 seconds separates the pole sitter and runner-up, teasing what could be an intense sprint race tomorrow.
“I think they had an unlucky event in Melbourne,” Marko told Motorsport.com. “But here, from the first session on, Ferrari was strong. And I mean, congratulations to Hamilton in his second race to be in pole position. It’s against Leclerc, who is a fantastic qualifier. It means it’s an unbelievable achievement.”
Does Marko see Ferrari as a threat to Verstappen?
“It’s difficult to say. With this new asphalt, I’m sure degradation will be less and less during the next couple of events. And then we’ll see who can go this speed for a race distance.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bulls-helmut-marko-responds-to-lewis-hamilton-pole-unbelievable-achievement/10705554/
Liam Lawson put his Chinese Grand Prix sprint qualifying woes down to an inability to cool his tyres enough for his final flying lap, leading to him propping up the rest of the Formula 1 field.
The New Zealander was up to 10th in the order after the opening runs, having opened with a 1m32.729s time, but his second attempt at a run was aborted – and ultimately deleted – after running wide at Turn 9 and surpassing track limits.
Lawson had visibly struggled with grip over the session and had been unable to get his medium tyre temperatures down enough during his cool-down laps for his final attempt.
This left him to wrestle the car through the opening corners, notably using a lot of steering lock to get the car into the corners, before running aground towards the end of the second sector.
“I went off, so yeah, it’s obviously a shame,” Lawson lamented after the session. “I think from the starting point it wasn’t too bad; the first lap was alright, and then we were just looking to build on there, but we stayed out to try to cool the tyres on track.
“To be honest, I really struggled to get the temps down, starting the second lap, so we started too hot and then through the lap I just struggled. It’s frustrating.
“It’s really a shame because I think honestly we started OK in quali – first lap wasn’t amazing, but it was relatively OK, so it’s just a shame to be out for something so frustrating. Our pace should be a lot further up than where we are.
“Obviously we have tomorrow’s sprint race to try and learn some stuff and then tomorrow’s quali as well, obviously. We want to do a better job on this.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lawson-explains-f1-chinese-gp-sq1-elimination/10705525/
Lando Norris held his hands up as his own mistakes left the early championship leader qualifying down in sixth for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.
After winning in Australia last weekend, Norris had been towing a fine line between admitting McLaren was the team to beat while also attempting to temper expectations of just how quick the car is.
Norris, whose team-mate Oscar Piastri will start the sprint from third, discussed on Thursday how the car does not suit his driving style but in Shanghai it was two small mistakes on both runs that left him off the pace in sprint qualifying.
“I made a mistake. I locked up in the last corner,” he said. “But we’re just struggling a bit more now. Just not quick enough, simply. Struggling a lot with the car.
“It’s more on me rather than the car. I can’t make the car perfect. But, no, this was me just trying to just push a bit too much.
“So [I] just need to back off a little bit and not try to push too much. I think the car’s still good and in a good window, maybe not good enough for pole. But we can definitely go forward.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-mistake-mclaren-not-quick-enough/10705510/