Oscar Piastri scored his first Formula 1 grand prix pole position after dominating qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Piastri set two times quick enough for pole, with his second lap setting the track record for the Shanghai International Circuit at 1m 30.641s, eclipsing the previous best set by Lewis Hamilton in sprint qualifying 24 hours earlier.
The Australian, who has twice started from pole for sprints but never for a grand prix, said he “had a little scream in my helmet” after sealing the deal at the end of two scrappy laps in difficult conditions.
“I think in Q3 I just found a lot of pace,” he said. “The car just came alive in Q3, and I think I came alive in Q3.
“I’m happy with what I did in the end. Even still, the laps were a little bit scruffy. I’m just pumped to be on pole, so I’m very happy.”
The lead-up to Q3 strongly suggested that Piastri was set to share the front row with teammate Lando Norris, but the Briton failed to improve with his final lap and abandoned the attempt.
It left the door open to the late-improving George Russell to sneak into second on the grid after a lukewarm build-up to the pole shootout, the Briton falling just 0.082s short of top spot.
“It feels incredible, to be honest,” he said. “It was one of the hardest quali session I’ve done in a long, long time.
“I did something totally different on that last lap and it totally came alive. The lap was just awesome so happy to be P2.”
It left Norris third on the grid and 0.152s off the pace, though he was satisfied to at least improve on his sixth-place qualification for the sprint.
“I’m always disappointed when I’m not on pole, but Oscar deserves it today. He’s done a very good job all weekend.
“I just made a couple of mistakes. The car was feeling a bit better today. I’m feeling a lot more comfortable in the car – a step in the right direction, especially from yesterday, when I was struggling a lot.”
Max Verstappen had been a front-row contender but also failed to improve on his follow-up lap, dropping him to fourth and 0.176s off the pace. It put him ahead of sprint winner Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who were 0.286s and 0.38s respectively off pole.
Isack Hadjar impressed in seventh, lapping 0.438s off pole and beating Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda by two places and more than half a second.
Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli split the Faenza pair in eighth, while Alex Albon completed the top 10 for Williams.
Esteban Ocon was just 0.03s short of making Haas’s first Q3 appearance of the season, leaving him 11th ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.
Fernando Alonso narrowly beat Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll in 13th and 14th, while Carlos Sainz was 15th for Williams.
Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan were knocked out 16th and 18th, sandwiching Haas rookie Oliver Bearman despite being split by just 0.1s.
Gabriel Bortoleto was 19th for Sauber ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Liam Lawson, who replicated his sprint qualifying performance by lapping slowest of the field. The Kiwi was 0.75s slower than Q1-bound teammate Verstappen, similar to his 0.813s margin from Friday night’s session.
