Lewis Hamilton swept to Sprint pole with a new track record on just his second weekend as a Ferrari driver at the Chinese Grand Prix.
McLaren had started Sprint qualifying as the comfortable favorite after Lando Norris topped the sole practice session by almost half a second, but the team’s challenge collapsed at the final hurdle.
Oscar Piastri took provisional pole with his first lap but couldn’t improve with his second, leaving him third, while Norris made mistakes on both his flying laps to end up sixth in the order. They left the door wide open to Hamilton, who pieced together a purple middle sector to set a new track record of 1m30.849s and take sprint pole.
“I didn’t expect that result, but I’m so, so happy and so proud,” he said. “Obviously the last race was a disaster for us, and clearly we knew there as more performance in the car, we just weren’t able to extract it.
“The car really came alive from lap 1. 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’ve actually got a pole in the Sprint.”
But Hamilton, a six-time pole-getter and race winner at the Chinese Grand Prix, cautioned that he still expected McLaren to be the team to beat over the balance of the weekend, noting that he’s still adjusting to his new team.
McLaren’s underperformance also allowed Max Verstappen to sneak onto the front row with a lap after the checkered flag, the Dutchman falling short by just 0.018s.
Piastri clung to third, the Australian missing out on pole by only 0.08s courtesy of his first flying lap. Charles Leclerc was 0.208s slower than his pole-winning teammate.
Fifth was the best Mercedes could manage, with George Russell 0.32s off the pace but still faster than Australian Grand Prix winner Norris in sixth.
Norris made two critical mistakes in SQ3 that cost him a shot at pole, both in the final sector. His first lap was ruined by a big slide through Turn 13 leading onto the back straight, costing him almost 0.4s.
His second lap was looking good enough to put him in the mix until he locked up into the Turn 14 hairpin, forcing him to abandon the lap. It left him an unrepresentative 0.544s off pole.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was seventh for Mercedes ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Lance Stroll.
Fernando Alonso was knocked out of SQ2 by 0.021, setting himself up in 11th ahead of Haas rookie Oliver Bearman, the Englishman enjoying a markedly better second weekend as a full-time grand prix driver.
Carlos Sainz was a disappointed 13th, the Spaniard complaining of poor balance on his way to 13th ahead of Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.
Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar will line up 15th after scotching his final lap with a washout at Turn 1-2. He was subsequently dispatched to give teammate Yuki Tsunoda a big slipstream down the back straight, helping the Japanese ace squeak into SQ3 by just 0.021s.
Alpine teammates Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly qualified 16th and 17th after embarking on their final flying laps earlier than most of the field. On an evolving circuit, Doohan missed out on a Q2 berth by just 0.036s. Gasly was bested by 0.065s.
Esteban Ocon was knocked out in 18th for Haas ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, both drivers beaten by their younger teammates into SQ2.
Liam Lawson put his Red Bull Racing car last on the grid after lapping 0.813s slower than SQ3-bound teammate Verstappen.
“I honestly could not get the tires down,” the Kiwi said apologetically over team radio after a lap illustrative of a driver lacking confidence in the car.
