Lewis Hamilton achieved an impressive first pole position with Ferrari during the qualifying session for the Sprint at the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. He narrowly outperformed Max Verstappen from Red Bull Racing and Oscar Piastri from McLaren, while early championship leader Lando Norris secured sixth place. Hamilton’s pole time of 1:30.849 also established a new lap record for the Shanghai International Circuit, surpassing Sebastian Vettel’s 2018 Q3 time by nearly a quarter of a second.
Verstappen established an early benchmark in SQ1 with a time of 1:32.329, leading by half a second over Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls. Lewis Hamilton subsequently took the lead, finishing one-tenth of a second ahead of Verstappen, while Leclerc positioned himself in second place, just a hundredth of a second behind his teammate.
“The weather is beautiful here in Shanghai. And we have this amazing crowd. But yeah, the first race was difficult and obviously I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatized within the team — understanding and communication, all sorts of things — and the amount of critics and people I’ve heard yapping along the way just clearly not understanding,” Hamilton said. “Maybe because they never had the experience or just unaware. And so it felt great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car because in Melbourne I really didn’t feel comfortable. From lap one here this weekend I was really feeling on it. We’ve done a great job — the engineers have done a great job, mechanics have done a great job — to really fine-tune the car. And it felt great. Today I got a good start, and then it’s such — it’s so much grip on this new tarmac, it’s really hard to look after these tires. But I think everyone was struggling the same.”
Oscar Piastri from McLaren demonstrated significantly faster performance, securing the top position with a time of 1:31.723, which is half a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Lando Norris, who was the fastest during the free practice session, had a challenging initial lap, resulting in a time of 1:32.248, placing him in fifth position. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin achieved the second-fastest time, just under four-tenths of a second behind Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton is set to leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season
In the concluding laps of the segment, Norris rectified his previous mistakes, propelling the championship leader to the top of the standings with a lap time of 1:31.396. However, Hamilton demonstrated increased performance, ultimately securing the top position in the session with a time of 1:31.212. Leclerc finished in third place in the second Ferrari, followed by Piastri, while the defending champion, Max Verstappen, completed the session in fifth position.
“I tried to give it a go because I also had Oscar behind me pushing, so I was trying to keep in that DRS,” Verstappen said. “You know, that helps a lot on the back straight. But unfortunately, yeah, I think the last 8–10 laps I would say we just didn’t have the pace to the others, so I was just trying to survive out there. So I definitely take that P3. Even the cars behind were catching up quite a lot, so it was tough out there to manage your tyres somehow, but it’s OK. We’ll try to do better.”
Liam Lawson, Verstappen’s new teammate at Red Bull, experienced disappointment as his final lap was disqualified due to a track limits violation at Turn 9, resulting in his exit from the session in last position.
During the middle segment, Norris took the lead, recording a best time of 1:31.174. He was 0.188 seconds faster than his teammate Piastri and nearly four tenths ahead of Verstappen.
The leading three competitors opted not to participate in the final minutes of the session, which enabled Mercedes’ George Russell to surpass Piastri, finishing 0.172 seconds behind Norris. Hamilton also made progress, securing fourth position ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who moved Verstappen down to sixth place, followed by Williams’ Alex Albon and Leclerc.
“Finishing second is always a great result. And yeah, I really learned a lot in that one,” Piastri said. “And I think, you know, as much as the result is a nice thing, the way I got the result, like you said, is an encouraging thing. So yeah, we didn’t quite have enough pace for Lewis out front, but I think we’ve got some good ideas for this afternoon and tomorrow and see if we can go one spot better.”
The final two participants in the top 10 shootout were Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and Yuki Tsunoda from Racing Bulls, which resulted in Fernando Alonso being eliminated from SQ3, finishing in P11, just two hundredths of a second behind Tsunoda. Oliver Bearman of Haas placed P12, followed by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, and Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls, who also exited the competition.
Following Norris’ strong performance in the middle segment, Piastri secured provisional pole during their initial runs in SQ3, placing ahead of Russell. Meanwhile, Norris experienced a momentary loss of control as he entered the back straight, resulting in a time loss that ultimately positioned him in third place.
Although the McLaren team performed well, it was Lewis Hamilton who excelled at the Shanghai track, securing his first Sprint pole position for Ferrari with a time of 1:30.849.
Verstappen nearly surpassed the Ferrari driver but lost slight time in the final sector, ultimately finishing in second place just 0.018 seconds behind. Piastri secured third with a time of 1:30.929, while Leclerc claimed fourth place, followed closely by Russell. Norris concluded the session in sixth after experiencing a lock-up at Turn 14 during his final lap. Antonelli achieved a commendable seventh place in his second qualifying session with Mercedes, finishing ahead of Tsunoda, Albon, and Stroll.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.849 – –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:30.867 0.018
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.929 0.080
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.057 0.208
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.169 0.320
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.393 0.544
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.738 0.889
8 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:31.773 0.924
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:31.852 1.003
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.982 1.133
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.815 0.966
12 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.978 1.129
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:32.325 1.476
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.564 1.715
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT – – –
16 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:32.575 1.726
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:32.640 1.791
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:32.651 1.802
19 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.675 1.826
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:32.729 1.880
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