Hamilton "gobsmacked" as Ferrari driver claims Sprint Pole for Chinese Sprint Race

Rhonan Colquhoun 16:10pm 21st March 2025

FERRARI'S Lewis Hamilton claimed a shock Pole Position ahead of Formula One's first Sprint Race weekend of the season.

Hamilton, who has won the Chinese Grand Prix on six occasions, boasts the bragging rights around the Shanghai International Circuit but the Brit was left "gobsmacked" as he took Pole ahead of tomorrow's 19 Lap Sprint Race.

The shorter qualifying sessions made it even more crucial for driver's to nail the perfect lap with the majority of driver's only having time for two fast laps.

While the McLaren drivers of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris continued to be the class of the field, it was Hamilton who dislodged Piastri from Provisional Pole with the Ferrari driver just 0.080s ahead with just under a minute to spare.

AGE MEANS NOTHING: Hamilton became the first 40-year-old driver since Nigel Mansell at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix to hold Pole Position

Piastri couldn't improve and blamed a set-up change in between SQ2 and SQ3 for the down-turn in the performance while Norris bailed-out of his final lap after a lock-up into the Turn 14 hairpin.

For Hamilton, the challengers started to dissipate, with team-mate Charles Leclerc unhappy about his performance and ended just over two tenths behind. The Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli couldn't get close so it was down to the sole Red Bull of Max Verstappen to see if he could snatch Pole.

The Dutchman, who was "very happy" with his only lap in the final session, got within 0.018s of Hamilton's Pole time of a 1:30:849 but had to settle for second place behind his old-title foe.

Piastri remained third ahead of Leclerc while Russell claimed fifth - the position where the Brit reckoned they were in terms of the pecking order as he didn't think he could do much more to improve.

SPRINT WEEKEND: China hosts back-to-back Sprint weekend's after returning to the calendar last year with five more planned at various races this year

Norris fell to sixth and didn't seem as happy as he was last weekend in Melbourne where he took Pole with the car with the Championship leader admitting he "struggled a lot with the car."

Antonelli secured his first top 10 start of the season and won the bragging rights of the "highest placed rookie" with the Italian driver claiming seventh.

Racing Bulls Yuki Tsunoda and Williams' Alexander Albon continued their strong forms to claim positions inside the top 10. Tsunoda was aided by Isack Hadjar with the Japanese drive getting a tow down the long back-straight into Turn 14 off of his rookie team-mate which helped Tsunoda secure a place inside the top 10 during SQ2.

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll claimed tenth place and the final sport inside SQ3 while his team-mate, Fernando Alonso, missed out on a spot inside the final session by 0.021s and will line-up 11th.

It was a surprise result and a change in fortunes for Haas's Oliver Bearman who was the second-highest placed rookie in 12th with the young Brit bouncing back from a challenging weekend in Australia.

Carlos Sainz was a disappointing 13th as the Williams driver blamed a combination of "struggles" to his exit in SQ2.

Kick Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto made another impressive appearance after out-qualifying more experienced team-mate Nico Hulkenberg on his way to 14th.

Hajar was the only driver not to set a competitive lap-time in SQ2 as the Racing Bulls driver made a mistake on his flying lap round the long-sweeping - never-ending - Turn 1 which then led him helping team-mate Tsunoda.

The two Alpine's of Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly were both eliminated in SQ1 with Doohan just missing out by 0.036s to qualify ahead of his French team-mate in 16th. Both rued the issue of traffic as to why they were knocked-out with Gasly particularly unhappy as he thought he had the pace - shown in FP1 - to be a contender for SQ3.

Esteban Ocon claimed 18th and while it was an improvement from Australia - the Frenchman was still disappointed to be where he was - he did however, state that Bearman's performance in the session was "positive" for the team.

Kick Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Red Bull Liam Lawson, who struggled with the balance of his RB21 and keeping his tyre temperatures in check, will line-up in 19th and 20th.

Saturday sees the drivers take on the 19 Lap Sprint Race before returning to the track later on to qualify for Sunday's main Race.