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.
McLaren could only finish third with Oscar Piastri and sixth, after a 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.
When relayed the news by race engineer Riccardo Adami that he had qualified on pole, a clearly-surprised Hamilton replied: “Really? Hahaha! Mega job. Woo!”
Lewis Hamilton claims pole position for the first Sprint of the season at the Chinese GP
He then added after getting out of the car: “I didn’t expect that result but so, so happy and so proud.
“Clearly the last race was a disaster for us but we knew there was more pace in the car.
“I’m a bit shocked. I can’t believe we got a pole in the Sprint!”
Charles Leclerc was left confused after being told to concede position to Hamilton on their out laps at the end of SQ2
But while Verstappen was second, Liam Lawson’s troubled start to life at Red Bull’s senior team got worse as he lapped slowest of all in SQ1.
The New Zealander was just above the cut line ahead of the final runs but a costly mistake at Turn Nine saw him drift wide and condemn him to a back-of-the-grid start for the Sprint.
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 was seventh in the second Silver Arrow in a much-improved single-lap showing from the Italian compared to his Melbourne debut, where he dropped out in Q1 before staging a fine recovery drive to finish fourth in the race.
Liam Lawson apologises to his team after being knocked out of SQ1 and qualifying ‘plum last’ for the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix
‘A bit gobsmacked’ – reaction to Hamilton’s first Ferrari pole
Lewis Hamilton: “I’m just a bit gobsmacked, taken back by it. I didn’t know when we would get to this position.
“After last weekend, it was a difficult start to the week. We came here with aggression and wanting to go into the weekend and get the car into a great place.
“I started out straight away with a better feeling in the car. I can’t believe we are at the front, ahead of a McLaren which has been so fast throughout winter testing, Australia and even today.”
Ride onboard with Hamilton as he took a sensational pole for the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle: “You could see straight away in the first four turns, Hamilton had it on point. The car was really stable and he was hustling the throttle and he got the tyres, pressures and temperatures absolutely in the window, so did Max.”
Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok: “What a story! Lewis Hamilton is on pole! We didn’t get a fairytale moment in Melbourne but we only had to wait six days.
“It’s justified his move in some ways. He’s re-energised, re-invigorated, re-motivated but most importantly he’s delivered on the timesheets.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Chinese GP schedule
As the Chinese Grand Prix hosts the first of the six Sprints this season, Simon Lazenby explains why this format is so crucial
Saturday March 22
- 2.25am: Chinese GP Sprint build-up*
- 3am: Chinese GP Sprint*
- 5.45am: F1 Academy Race 1*
- 6.35am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
- 7am: CHINESE GP QUALIFYING*
- 9am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday March 23
- 2.40am: F1 Academy Race 2
- 5.30am: Chinese GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
- 7am: THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
- 9am: Chinese GP reaction: Chequered flag*
- 10am: Ted’s Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Shanghai this week for the first Sprint weekend of the season at the Chinese GP, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
