Hamilton charges to pole over Verstappen and Piastri during Sprint Qualifying thriller in China

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.

Fernando Alonso just missed out on a place in SQ3 in the other Aston Martin, while Ollie Bearman bounced back from a challenging debut F1 weekend in Australia to put his Haas 12th over Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar.

It was another tough session for Red Bull newcomer Liam Lawson, whose struggles at the season opener carried over in a painful SQ1 exit – the New Zealander’s deleted final lap time for exceeding track limits leaving him 20th and last on the Sprint grid.

Alpine also endured a difficult afternoon, losing both cars at the first hurdle – Jack Doohan marginally quicker than team mate Pierre Gasly in P16 and P17 respectively – alongside Lawson and the other Haas and Sauber machines of Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg.

AS IT HAPPENED

SQ1 – Hamilton fastest, Lawson drops out

After a sole Free Practice hour comfortably topped by Australian Grand Prix polesitter and race winner Norris, attention swiftly turned to the first grid-deciding session of the Shanghai weekend – namely Sprint Qualifying.

As per Sprint regulations, medium tyres were mandated for SQ1, meaning all 20 drivers emerged from their garages with the yellow-marked rubber – just 12 minutes on the clock for times to be set and spots in SQ2 to be secured.

Amid sunny, pleasant conditions, Piastri set the early benchmark with a time of 1m 31.712s, putting him half a second clear of the field – a high-flying Alonso holding P2 from Hamilton, Leclerc and Norris, who ran slightly wide at the final hairpin.

At the other end of the order, Doohan was on the bubble in P15 after Alpine’s technical troubles in FP1, with Tsunoda, Sainz, Bearman, Bortoleto (time deleted over track limits) and Ocon the drivers who had work to do on their final runs to the chequered flag.

At this point, the stewards noted a potential impeding incident involving Tsunoda and Russell, as the Japanese racer expressed his frustration over the radio regarding a close call at Turn 14, along with a separate moment between Stroll and Bearman.

As the clock ticked down and the final laps came in, Hamilton surged to the top of the timesheets on a 1m 31.212s, putting him a couple of tenths clear of Norris, with Leclerc finishing third over Piastri, Verstappen, Russell and Antonelli.

A brilliant late effort from Bearman saw the Haas rookie round out the top 10 positions, just behind Antonelli, Alonso and Hadjar, while Tsunoda, Sainz and Bortoleto also got themselves out of danger with cleaner second laps.

There was no such joy for Lawson, though, who finished at the foot of the SQ1 order after losing his time to track limits. “Mate, I’m really sorry,” he said over the radio, referencing tyre struggles, as he joined the Alpines, Ocon and Hulkenberg on the sidelines.

Knocked out: Doohan, Gasly, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson

SQ2 – Norris takes over at the top

After a short break, the remaining drivers filtered back out on track, again with mandated medium tyres and now with a reduced 10-minute window to post their times – news from the stewards confirming that there would be no further action over the aforementioned incidents.

During the first sequence of SQ2 laps, Norris led the way on a 1m 31.174s, from Piastri, Verstappen and Antonelli, with the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton a little further back in P5 and P6. Meanwhile, seventh-placed Russell lamented that his “tyres just aren’t working”.

Bortoleto, Hadjar and Tsunoda held the final SQ3 spots after the first runs, meaning Stroll, Sainz, Albon, Alonso and Bearman were the drop zone drivers – the timesheets subsequently lighting up in a blur of green and purple sector times as they all pushed to improve.

In the end, Albon was the only driver from that pack to get out of danger and secure safe passage to SQ3, going seventh with an impressive final time, while Norris remained fastest thanks to his original lap and Russell improved to second via a smoother run.

Alonso could not quite make the final segment in P11, with Bearman 12th for Haas, Sainz struggling to 13th, Bortoleto winding up 14th and Hadjar classifying 15th via a mistake at the start of his final run. “I don’t know what’s going on,” lamented a particularly frustrated Sainz over the radio.

Knocked out: Alonso, Bearman, Sainz, Bortoleto, Hadjar

SQ3 – Hamilton springs a Shanghai surprise

In the gap after SQ2, intriguing radio messages between the Ferrari pit wall and Leclerc were aired – the Monegasque being asked to “swap positions” with Hamilton as the phase drew to a close.

But before anyone could read further into that situation, the green light had switched on at the end of the pit lane and SQ3 had begun, with this outing eight minutes in duration and mandating the red-marked soft tyres.

Piastri kicked things off with a blistering 1m 30.929s, a couple of tenths up on a happier-looking Russell and team mate Norris, who had made a mistake through Turn 13 and lost out all the way down the back straight.

McLaren had competition, though, with Hamilton pumping in a 1m 30.849s as the session developed to secure provisional pole, which he ultimately kept despite a similarly impressive lap from Verstappen (just 0.018s slower).

Those improvements bumped Piastri to third, Leclerc to fourth and Russell to fifth, while Norris was only sixth after another error on his second lap. Antonelli wound up eighth, with Tsunoda, Albon and Stroll completing the top 10.

Key quote

“Firstly, I want to say a big thank you to this amazing crowd we have here today,” said Hamilton after stepping out of his Ferrari. “I didn’t expect that result but I’m so, so happy and so proud. I think 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.

“To come here to a track that I love, Shanghai, a beautiful place, the weather’s been amazing and 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 it’s actually… we got a pole in the Sprint. Obviously, it’s not the main race so we’ve got work to do for tomorrow, but it puts us in good stead for the race.”

What’s next

With the grid decided, the drivers will take up their positions for the Sprint at 1100 local time on Saturday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action.