Oscar Piastri achieved his first Formula 1 career pole position by setting the quickest time in the Chinese Grand Prix for McLaren.
George Russell splits the McLarens by taking a solid P2 ahead of the championship leader Lando Norris, who will start in P3.
Starting from the front is an important step given how badly the field struggled with tyre degradation throughout the sprint race.
Piastri had previously started on the front row on seven occasions but secured his first P1 with an impressive time of one minute 30.641 seconds, with McLaren teammate Lando Norris in third.
A fantastic lap from George Russell split the McLarens with reigning world champion Max Verstappen fourth for Red Bull.
Piastri had taken second place in the sprint race earlier in the day but now has the chance to convert pole position into Grand Prix victory on Sunday.
Norris had topped the timesheets in Q1 and Q2 but was unable to hook up his final attempt and bailed into the pits instead of taking the flag, admitting once again he had made “a couple of mistakes”.
Lewis Hamilton had won the sprint race from pole but was only quick enough for fifth on the grid for the main race, ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in sixth.
After crashing out before the start of his debut race in the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, Isack Hadjar was the pick of the rookies with seventh positions for Racing Bulls with fellow newcomer Andrea Kimi Antonelli in eighth.
Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon rounded out the top ten with starting position key given the tyre management issues so far in Shanghai.
Haas have looked more on it this weekend and Esteban Ocon will start P11, ahead of the team’s former driver Nico Hulkenberg who will be aiming for back to back points finishes for Sauber.
The Aston Martins will start alongside one another on row seven with Fernando Alonso just edging ahead of Lance Stroll in the closing stages of Q2.
In what was another difficult day at his new team, Carlos Sainz could only manage P15, having admitted that he is still yet to feel at home at Williams.
Q1 proved a tough session for four of the rookies, especially Liam Lawson who was again P20 and last, with Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto also knocked out, along with Pierre Gasly.
So congratulations to Oscar Piastri in finally taking his first pole in the sport. After taking a solid second in the sprint earlier and seeing Lewis Hamilton converting pole to win, the McLaren driver is in prime position to win the Chinese Grand Prix.
Chinese Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.641
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.723
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30.793
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.817
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.927
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.021
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:31.079
8 Andrea Kimi Antonelli 1:31.103
9 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 1:31.638
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:31.706
11 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:31.625
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:31.632
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.688
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:31.773
15 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:31.840
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:31.992
17 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:32.018
18 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:32.092
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.141
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull 1:32.174
Oscar Piastri narrowly got the better of Mercedes rival George Russell and McLaren team mate Lando Norris during Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, securing his first-ever Formula 1 pole position in the process.
Piastri delivered a time of 1m 30.703s on the opening runs of the decisive pole shootout and improved to a 1m 30.641s with his second effort, giving him P1 over Russell by just under one tenth of a second.
Russell found a chunk of lap time with his final lap to the chequered flag, brilliantly securing a spot on the front row of the grid alongside Piastri, and leaving championship leader Norris to settle for third position.
Reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen took fourth, with the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc this time winding up in P5 and P6 respectively – the Briton unable to repeat his Sprint heroics.
Racing Bulls starred throughout Qualifying, with Isack Hadjar achieving a fine seventh on the grid and team mate Yuki Tsunoda placing ninth, around the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, as Williams’ Alex Albon completed the top 10 places.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-edges-out-russell-and-norris-for-breakthrough-maiden-f1-pole-during.xR2Ip80vTMdvSqqsqMIXT
The pressure is mounting on Red Bull driver Liam Lawson after a challenging weekend so far in Shanghai.
After starting the Chinese sprint race from 20th, the Kiwi finished the race in 14th, and has now been eliminated in Q1 confirming a P20 start for the Chinese Grand Prix tomorrow.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after his early elimination, Lawson explained:
“It’s just really tough, honestly. I think the window’s really small, I mean that’s known, but honestly, it’s not an excuse.
“I’ve got to get a handle of it. It was a messy session and had we not dealt with traffic and stuff like that, it might have been OK, but to be honest, it’s still not good enough to be having those issues. And that’s the reason that we get knocked out, we should be fast enough on our first lap.
“We should be. It shouldn’t be an issue, so I just need to get on top of it.”
“I think it’s just time. Unfortunately I don’t really have time, but it’s just one of those things. I mean to drive a Formula 1 car, it takes 100% confidence in what you’re doing and it’s not that I don’t feel confident, but the window’s so small that right now I just seem to miss it. It’s that that I just need to get a handle on.
“So yeah, I don’t know how else to put it really, it’s just not good enough.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/liam-lawson-laments-tough-chinese-gp-weekend-ive-got-to-get-a-handle-of-it/10705935/
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri says he is “pumped” to grab his first-ever pole in Formula 1 after finding a burst of pace in the deciding Q3 shootout at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Piastri emerged as the lead McLaren driver over the Shanghai weekend, salvaging second place behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in the Saturday morning’s sprint race while team-mate Lando Norris struggled with tyre wear. Norris looked the stronger of the two papaya cars during Q1 and Q2, but in the final top-10 shootout the Australian found the pace to clinch his first grand prix pole.
The Australian’s first Q3 lap of 1m30.703s would already have been good enough for pole, but he then cemented his position with a second effort of 1m30.641s, 0.081s clear of George Russell and over a tenth ahead of Norris, who aborted his second lap after slipping up.
“I’m just pumped to be on pole,” Piastri said after admitting he was screaming in his helmet on the in-lap. “In Q3 I just found a lot of pace. In Q1 and Q2 I was genuinely struggling and the car just came alive in Q3 – and I think I came alive in Q3 – so I’m happy with what I did at the end, even if the laps were still a little bit scruffy.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/piastri-maiden-f1-pole-china/10705959/
Lando Norris is leading the Formula 1 drivers’ championship for the first time in his career after his victory in Australia – but given he has now made a trio of mistakes at the Chinese Grand Prix, it seems as though this new pressure is something he is yet to come to terms with.
McLaren clearly has the fastest car this season, as proved by Oscar Piastri taking his first-ever grand prix pole for Sunday’s race in Shanghai, where the Australian will be joined on the front row of the grid by the Merecedes of George Russell.
Norris will start third – not bad all things considered, but it was another missed opportunity for the Briton this weekend.
Never make the same mistake twice is sage advice for anyone; Norris, however, has admitted to errors in sprint qualifying, the sprint race itself and now qualifying for the grand prix.
Another opportunity to recover ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix came and went after another fault at the business end of a session.
Norris had topped the timesheets in both Q1 and Q2 but, mirroring his sprint qualifying effort, he aborted his final flying lap and had to settle for a spot on the second row.
“I’m always disappointed if I’m not on pole but Oscar deserves it today, he’s done a very good job all weekend so I’m happy for him – his first pole in Formula 1,” Norris said right after qualifying third.
“Just a couple of mistakes again, kind of been my case this weekend but the car is feeling a bit better today.
“I’ve got a lot more comfortable with the car, so a step in the right direction, especially from yesterday where I was struggling a lot and even this morning I was struggling a lot.
“A much better direction that we’re going in so, yeah, not too disappointed. It’s quick enough, we never doubted that it is the quickest car. It can just be a little bit feisty at times, but it is not so much that: today was just mistakes from my side, and that’s all.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/more-mistakes-norris-chinese-gp-qualifying/10705985/
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is worried his team has slipped to fourth in Formula 1’s 2025 pecking order after enduring a sobering sprint race and qualifying session in China.
Verstappen struggled to keep up with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in the 19-lap sprint on Saturday morning, having started alongside the Briton on the front row, and he was powerless to keep McLaren’s Oscar Piastri behind due to excessive front tyre wear.
The Dutchman appeared to limit the damage in qualifying, but still failed to qualify higher than fourth for Sunday’s grand prix, while team-mate Liam Lawson drowned and will line up last on the starting grid.
Verstappen shipped just 0.176 seconds to polesitter Piastri in a tight qualifying session, with Mercedes’ George Russell and the second McLaren of Lando Norris also ahead.
But he fears Red Bull is now in a worse position than towards the end of last year because the RB21 lacks pace to keep up with McLaren – and the Dutchman believes that Ferrari and Mercedes are ahead too.
When asked if Red Bull is now the fourth-fastest team in F1, he replied: “That’s what it feels like for me at the moment.
“I’ve been feeling really good and relaxed in the car, also in qualifying. I’ve been able to maximise it, but it’s just too slow.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-red-bull-now-slower-than-all-top-teams/10706024/
Lewis Hamilton has revealed that after changes were made to the Ferrari after sprint qualifying, the SF25 became “quite snappy.”
The former Mercedes driver clinched his first victory with the Maranello outfit in the sprint race after starting the race from pole position. However, he was unable to translate that pace into a pole-earning performance in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix later that day.
Commenting on whether the team’s qualifying result was due to other teams making a improvements or Ferrari losing performance somewhere, the British driver explained:
“We made a couple of changes to the car after sprint qualifying to rectify some problems we had. And I don’t know if it’s with the wind, but the car became quite snappy.”
He added: “I think the lap wasn’t the cleanest at the end, and I should have been a couple of tenths further up, or a tenth at least, so we’re not terribly far away, but not ideal.”
When asked if he thinks he can still have the pace from the sprint race, Hamilton said:
“I mean, I hope so. I really do hope so. We made some changes to improve race performance, but it was definitely harder on a single lap, so it’s gonna be interesting tomorrow.
“It’s a great track to race on. It’s not a circuit where you only have one line everywhere, so that’s the positive. But, you can see people still struggling to follow one another this morning. So how you use the tyres, when you use the tyres is going to be key tomorrow.
“I’m in a much different position as well, but I feel optimistic for tomorrow.
“I think I would like to get a good start and jump at least one car and then slowly make up. Tonight I’m just gonna make a master plan of how to win and I’ve got to try and execute it, but that’s where my mindset is at.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lewis-hamilton-reveals-ferrari-changes-have-made-sf25-snappy/10706010/