It may be a sprint, but it still counts: Lewis Hamilton has claimed his first pole position as a Ferrari driver, clocking the fastest lap in sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. The British legend couldn’t hide his disbelief over the radio: “We’re on pole? Really?” Yes, really.
Hamilton posted a brilliant 1'30.849, narrowly edging out Max Verstappen by just 0.018 seconds. Despite driving a Red Bull that seemed less dominant than usual, the Dutchman managed to secure P2.
Oscar Piastri took third place for McLaren, trailing by only 0.080s, while Charles Leclerc, who had a few mistakes and was visibly annoyed after being asked to swap track position with Hamilton during Q2, finished fourth, over two-tenths down on his teammate.
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George Russell secured fifth, followed by Lando Norris—winner in Melbourne—who had to settle for sixth, more than half a second off the pace. Completing the top ten were Kimi Antonelli, Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon, and Lance Stroll.
