Lift-off for Lewis! Hamilton claims first pole position as a Ferrari driver for the Sprint; Max Verstappen to share front row, but error leaves title leader Lando Norris sixth; watch the Chinese GP Sprint on Saturday at 3am before Qualifying at 7am, live on Sky Sports F1
Lewis Hamilton claimed a stunning pole for Saturday’s Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix in just his second race weekend with Ferrari.
Bouncing back in sensational style from a difficult debut with the team in Melbourne last weekend, when he finished 10th, Hamilton was in the mix at the front throughout Sprint Qualifying at a venue where he has won the grand prix a record six times.
McLaren were still favourites to head the grid, but Hamilton had other ideas as – not only did the seven-time champion outperform new team-mate Charles Leclerc for the first time – he had more pace than all his main rivals too to claim a first pole position in motorsport’s iconic red at just the second attempt.
It is the 40-year-old Hamilton’s first pole position in either of F1’s qualifying formats since July 2023.
McLaren could only finish third with Oscar Piastri and sixth, after a last-lap mistake, with early title leader Lando Norris.
Max Verstappen will share the Sprint front row with old rival Hamilton after another strong showing in his Red Bull, with Leclerc fourth after lapping 0.2s slower than the quicker Ferrari.
George Russell was fifth in the lead Mercedes and will share the third row with Norris for Saturday morning’s 3am Sprint start.
Kimi Antonelli took seventh in the second Silver Arrow in a much-improved single-lap result compared to his Melbourne debut, where he dropped out in Q1 before staging a fine recovery drive to finish fourth in the race. However, the 18-year-old did trail Russell by half a second in SQ3.
Three months after being overlooked for the Red Bull seat that went to Lawson, Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda qualified in the top 10 again in eighth. Alex Albon was ninth for Williams with Lance Stroll narrowly outpacing Fernando Alonso to put one Aston Martin in SQ3 in 10th.
Lift-off for Lewis! How Hamilton upstaged rivals
Shanghai is hosting the first of six Sprint events in the 2025 season, weekends which see an additional qualifying session and short-form race take place ahead of the main event of the Grand Prix.
After Ferrari’s difficulties in Melbourne when the SF-25 proved surprisingly off the leading pace despite a more promising showing in pre-season testing, Hamilton had said on Thursday he was going to try a different set-up on the car this weekend.
Whether as a result of those changes, or the car simply suiting the Shanghai International Circuit to a greater degree than Albert Park, Ferrari appeared more competitive from the get-go with Leclerc finishing second and Hamilton fourth in the sole one-hour practice session before Sprint Qualifying.
And then once into the weekend’s first competitive session in a sun-kissed Shanghai, Ferrari’s challenge only gathered momentum with Hamilton particularly coming to the fore.
The seven-time world champion was fastest by a tenth from Norris in SQ1, but fourth quickest in the Norris-topped SQ2 before then finishing fastest of all again in the decisive SQ3 phase as McLaren’s challenge unexpectedly wilted.
But it was a close-run thing in the end with Hamilton’s 1:30.849 pole-winning time proving just 0.018s quicker than Verstappen’s and 0.080s faster than Piastri’s final respective efforts.
“I’m hoping we can hold onto it [on Saturday] but I think the McLarens are very fast, as is Max,” added Hamilton ahead of the 19-lap Sprint race.
“But we are in a good position, we will stay positive and keep our heads high, and keep pushing forwards.”
Credit: https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13332512/chinese-gp-lewis-hamilton-takes-shock-first-sprint-qualifying-pole-for-ferrari-with-lando-norris-only-sixth