Lewis Hamilton set a new lap record at the Shanghai International Circuit as he claimed Sprint Race pole position for Ferrari.
Hamilton moved to the front with a time of 1:30.849s during an enthralling SQ3 session in China, beating reigning champion Max Verstappen by just 0.018s.
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McLaren, favourites heading into the session, wound up with Oscar Piastri third and Lando Norris sixth, as neither improved on their first laps.
Norris had errors on both of his push laps in SQ3 as he bid for back-to-back Sprint poles at the venue faltered.
Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, with George Russell in fifth spot, and his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli seventh.
Yuki Tsunoda was eighth for Racing Bulls, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Fernando Alonso missed out on a spot in SQ3 by two-thousandths of a second and will start from 11th, while Oliver Bearman gave Haas reason for encouragement after a difficult start to the campaign by taking 12th place.
Carlos Sainz was unable to match the pace of team-mate Alex Albon and finished 13th, while Gabriel Bortoleto was again the faster Sauber driver across a single lap and took 14th spot.
Isack Hadjar finished 15th after an error through Turn 1 on his SQ2 lap proved terminal to his prospects of advancing.
Alpine suffered a double elimination from SQ1 as neither Jack Doohan nor Pierre Gasly were able to escape the 12-minute session.
Esteban Ocon was 18th for Haas, ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, while Liam Lawson had another dismal outing for Red Bull Racing.
Lawson struggled to get the Medium tyres working and an error through Turn 9 compounded his woes as he finished last of the 20 drivers.
READ MORE – F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying Results
