Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen landed the first big blow against the dominant McLaren team in Formula 1 in 2025 to head sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion looked competitive in the intra-Ferrari fight on Friday at Shanghai, but his pole still came as a surprise given McLaren looked to have enjoyed a decisive margin through practice and the first two segments of sprint qualifying on medium tyres.
Yet in the end it was Hamilton and Verstappen who were 0.018s apart in the fight for pole, while the McLarens came up short on softs in the final shootout.
SQ3 drama
Two messy laps from championship leader Lando Norris left the door open for McLaren to be beaten – though it was team-mate Oscar Piastri who led that final segment, SQ3, initially.
But Piastri’s second attempt was short of an improvement despite a strong final sector, and he was usurped by Hamilton – consistently quicker than Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc through all of sprint qualifying.
Mark Hughes: Over-confident McLaren handed Hamilton pole
A last-gasp dash for pole from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came up just short despite a superb final sector, leaving Piastri – eighth hundredths off – to settle for third.
Leclerc and Mercedes driver George Russell completed the top five.
A lock-up into the Turn 14 hairpin meant Norris had to abandon his final attempt and dive into the pits so ended up a disappointing sixth, although well clear of seventh-placed Kimi Antonelli. The rookie was close to Mercedes team-mate Russell through SQ1 and SQ2, but his sole push lap on softs just didn’t come together.
Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda, Williams’ Alex Albon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completed the top 10.
Lawson’s woes exacerbated
Liam Lawson being just four tenths off his decorated team-mate Verstappen after his first SQ1 attempt was cause for optimism – but when his follow-up didn’t come together, it meant not just elimination but the embarrassment of last place on the grid.
“Lawson’s moment had echoes of Verstappen team-mates past. When Verstappen is your benchmark, life is difficult.”
He was already off the pace through the first sector, then got sideways on the kerb coming out of Turn 9, forced to abandon the lap and his hopes of reaching SQ2.
He told race engineer Richard Wood afterwards that he was “really sorry but I just honestly could not get the tyres [presumably temperature] down”.
Disillusion for Alonso and Sainz
Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso was the biggest surprise to drop out in SQ2 – due to having been notably fast in the first segment.
He was 0.021s off advancing into the top 10, and will be joined on the sixth row in the sprint by Ollie Bearman, whose stellar qualifying effort flickered life into what has otherwise been a brutal start to 2025 so far for Haas.
Carlos Sainz was badly adrift of Williams team-mate Albon – some eight tenths in SQ2 – and was only faster than Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto of those to log a lap in that second segment.
Bortoleto’s fellow rookie Isack Hadjar never set a time, having matched up well with Racing Bulls team-mate Tsunoda in SQ1 – but then botching the entry to Turn 1 on his sole attempt in the second segment and thus resigning himself to no laptime at all.
He did then tow Tsunoda, which may well have been crucial to that aforementioned 0.021s margin separating the Japanese and Alonso.
Other SQ1 exits
Alpine – which has acknowledged that it’s had to make modifications due to the rear wing flexibility technical directive coming in from this weekend – had both of its drivers eliminated in the first segment. But rookie Jack Doohan did back up what had looked like strong Melbourne pace by beating team-mate Pierre Gasly – largely on the strength of his first sector relative to Gasly’s.
Esteban Ocon was a hundredths back from his past team-mate Gasly, but will have been more discouraged by the comparison to current team-mate Bearman – who beat him by four tenths.
Part of that will have been in the final corner, where Ocon brushed the gravel trap – but the Frenchman also queried with Haas whether the car was okay was it was “difficult to drive”.
Nico Hulkenberg looked on to progress comfortably after his first SQ1 attempt but ran out of laptime on his final try, and sounded genuinely shocked at being eliminated – but did beat Lawson.
Sprint qualifying result
Pos Name Car Q1 Q2 Q3
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1m31.212s 1m31.384s 1m30.849s
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda RBPT 1m31.916s 1m31.521s 1m30.867s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.723s 1m31.362s 1m30.929s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m31.518s 1m31.561s 1m31.057s
5 George Russell Mercedes 1m31.952s 1m31.346s 1m31.169s
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.396s 1m31.174s 1m31.393s
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1m31.999s 1m31.475s 1m31.738s
8 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 1m32.316s 1m31.794s 1m31.773s
9 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1m32.462s 1m31.539s 1m31.852s
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m32.327s 1m31.742s 1m31.982s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m32.121s 1m31.815s
12 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1m32.269s 1m31.978s
13 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1m32.457s 1m32.325s
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1m32.539s 1m32.564s
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 1m32.171s
16 Jack Doohan Alpine-Renault 1m32.575s
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1m32.640s
18 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1m32.651s
19 Nico Hülkenberg Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1m32.675s
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull-Honda RBPT 1m32.729s
Hamilton ‘a bit gobsmacked’ by early Ferrari F1 pole
Mar 21, 2025
by Josh Suttill
Lewis Hamilton was left “a bit gobsmacked” by earning pole position for Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix sprint race in only his second weekend with Ferrari.
Mistakes from McLaren opened the door but Hamilton demonstrated strong pace throughout Friday in Shanghai, topping SQ1 and then setting a new lap record in SQ3 to take pole position.
It was the perfect follow-up to a challenging first weekend in Australia where Hamilton and Ferrari fell short of their own expectations, with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton eighth and 10th at the flag.
“The last race was a disaster for us and clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car but we just weren’t able to extract it,” Hamilton explained in parc ferme after taking pole by 0.018 seconds over Max Verstappen.
“So to come here to a track that I love – Shanghai, [it’s a] beautiful place and the weather’s been amazing – and the car really came alive from lap one.
“We made some great changes, the team did a fantastic job through the break to get the car ready. I’m a bit in shock. I can’t believe it’s actually…we got a pole in the sprint.”
That shock hadn’t left Hamilton by the time he’d made his way to the media pen for further interviews.
“I’m just a bit gobsmacked honestly, I’m a bit taken back by it, I didn’t know when we’d get to this position,” Hamilton said.
What’s already changing for Hamilton’s second race with Ferrari
“After last weekend it was a difficult start to the week, I came here with aggression and wanted to go into the weekend and get the car into a great place.We started out straight away with a better feeling in the car.
“I can’t believe we’re at the front and ahead of a McLaren which has been so fast throughout winter testing, the last race and even today.
“I’m really grateful to just be up there fighting with these great drivers and be so close to these other teams.”
It might not be a ‘proper’ grand prix pole position but Hamilton delivering a turn of speed in a competitive session so early into life at Ferrari will give him plenty of confidence.
“Even though it’s not the main pole it gives me real inspiration to go into tomorrow and find more performance and see if we can compete again,” he added.
Team boss Fred Vasseur maintained a typically calm reaction, joking with Sky Sports F1 that he “always sees the negative side”.
He cautioned “it’s still difficult to read and understand” the competitive picture and said Ferrari “still has work to do” but did say it was a “good feeling” after the team struggled throughout the Australia weekend.
He believed tyres once again explained the big pecking order swing versus last weekend.
“Shocked is not the right word, but it’s true that the day was a bit difficult to read that McLaren was in front this morning, and Q1 we were in front, Q2 they were mega, and Q3 we are right on the pace,” Vasseur said.
“I think it is linked to the tyre management. If you are not in the right window you are struggling a lot, but it is good for us as a team, for Lewis, for everybody.
“I know it is not quali of the race today, I know that we didn’t score points today. I know all this at least, but it’s a good step.
“It is up and down not just for us, but for everybody – it is exactly the same as the last four races last year when you had four teams able to win by 30 seconds track to track depending on the tyres.”
McLaren dominated practice and looked well set in SQ2 only to falter during the pole position shootout.
Third place Oscar Piastri said McLaren “was quick at the wrong points” of qualifying.
“In SQ3 we tried something a bit different and went out much earlier and did two laps, which I’m not sure was the best thing in the end,” Piastri said.
“But something we need to look at. The pace in the car is still very strong and I’m still confident to fight from third.”
Lando Norris was kicking himself for the lock-up at the Turn 14 hairpin that forced him to abort his final SQ3 run, leaving him down in sixth place.
“I made a mistake, locked up [at the hairpin] and we struggled a bit more now. Not quick enough simply, struggled a lot with the car,” Norris said.
“Our difficulties that we’ve been struggling with, we struggled a lot more with today. Nothing more than that. Too many mistakes, too difficult a car to drive.”
Norris said this weekend has been “a lot more aligned with Bahrain” testing, where the McLarens also struggled to deliver strong one-lap speed with a quick car that can easily bite the drivers.
Norris conceded it was down to him to not overdrive the car to get more out of grand prix qualifying on Saturday.
“That’s more me rather than the car, I can’t make the car perfect, this was me just trying to push a bit too much,” Norris said of avoiding a repeat of his errors later in the weekend.
“So more just need to back off a little bit and not try push so much. I think the car is still in a good window, maybe not good enough for pole but we can definitely go for it.”
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen landed the first big blow against the dominant McLaren team in Formula 1 in 2025 to head sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion looked competitive in the intra-Ferrari fight on Friday at Shanghai, but his pole still came as a surprise given McLaren looked to have enjoyed a decisive margin through practice and the first two segments of sprint qualifying on medium tyres.
Yet in the end it was Hamilton and Verstappen who were 0.018s apart in the fight for pole, while the McLarens came up short on softs in the final shootout.
SQ3 drama
Two messy laps from championship leader Lando Norris left the door open for McLaren to be beaten – though it was team-mate Oscar Piastri who led that final segment, SQ3, initially.
But Piastri’s second attempt was short of an improvement despite a strong final sector, and he was usurped by Hamilton – consistently quicker than Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc through all of sprint qualifying.
Mark Hughes: Over-confident McLaren handed Hamilton pole
A last-gasp dash for pole from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came up just short despite a superb final sector, leaving Piastri – eighth hundredths off – to settle for third.
Leclerc and Mercedes driver George Russell completed the top five.
A lock-up into the Turn 14 hairpin meant Norris had to abandon his final attempt and dive into the pits so ended up a disappointing sixth, although well clear of seventh-placed Kimi Antonelli. The rookie was close to Mercedes team-mate Russell through SQ1 and SQ2, but his sole push lap on softs just didn’t come together.
Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda, Williams’ Alex Albon and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completed the top 10.
Liam Lawson being just four tenths off his decorated team-mate Verstappen after his first SQ1 attempt was cause for optimism – but when his follow-up didn’t come together, it meant not just elimination but the embarrassment of last place on the grid.
“Lawson’s moment had echoes of Verstappen team-mates past. When Verstappen is your benchmark, life is difficult.”
He was already off the pace through the first sector, then got sideways on the kerb coming out of Turn 9, forced to abandon the lap and his hopes of reaching SQ2.
He told race engineer Richard Wood afterwards that he was “really sorry but I just honestly could not get the tyres [presumably temperature] down”.
Disillusion for Alonso and Sainz
Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso was the biggest surprise to drop out in SQ2 – due to having been notably fast in the first segment.
He was 0.021s off advancing into the top 10, and will be joined on the sixth row in the sprint by Ollie Bearman, whose stellar qualifying effort flickered life into what has otherwise been a brutal start to 2025 so far for Haas.
Carlos Sainz was badly adrift of Williams team-mate Albon – some eight tenths in SQ2 – and was only faster than Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto of those to log a lap in that second segment.
Bortoleto’s fellow rookie Isack Hadjar never set a time, having matched up well with Racing Bulls team-mate Tsunoda in SQ1 – but then botching the entry to Turn 1 on his sole attempt in the second segment and thus resigning himself to no laptime at all.
He did then tow Tsunoda, which may well have been crucial to that aforementioned 0.021s margin separating the Japanese and Alonso.
Alpine – which has acknowledged that it’s had to make modifications due to the rear wing flexibility technical directive coming in from this weekend – had both of its drivers eliminated in the first segment. But rookie Jack Doohan did back up what had looked like strong Melbourne pace by beating team-mate Pierre Gasly – largely on the strength of his first sector relative to Gasly’s.
Esteban Ocon was a hundredths back from his past team-mate Gasly, but will have been more discouraged by the comparison to current team-mate Bearman – who beat him by four tenths.
Part of that will have been in the final corner, where Ocon brushed the gravel trap – but the Frenchman also queried with Haas whether the car was okay was it was “difficult to drive”.
Nico Hulkenberg looked on to progress comfortably after his first SQ1 attempt but ran out of laptime on his final try, and sounded genuinely shocked at being eliminated – but did beat Lawson.
Sprint qualifying result
Pos Name Car Q1 Q2 Q3
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1m31.212s 1m31.384s 1m30.849s
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda RBPT 1m31.916s 1m31.521s 1m30.867s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.723s 1m31.362s 1m30.929s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m31.518s 1m31.561s 1m31.057s
5 George Russell Mercedes 1m31.952s 1m31.346s 1m31.169s
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.396s 1m31.174s 1m31.393s
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1m31.999s 1m31.475s 1m31.738s
8 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 1m32.316s 1m31.794s 1m31.773s
9 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1m32.462s 1m31.539s 1m31.852s
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m32.327s 1m31.742s 1m31.982s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m32.121s 1m31.815s
12 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1m32.269s 1m31.978s
13 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1m32.457s 1m32.325s
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1m32.539s 1m32.564s
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 1m32.171s
16 Jack Doohan Alpine-Renault 1m32.575s
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1m32.640s
18 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1m32.651s
19 Nico Hülkenberg Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1m32.675s
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull-Honda RBPT 1m32.729s
Hamilton ‘a bit gobsmacked’ by early Ferrari F1 pole
Mar 21, 2025
by Josh Suttill
Lewis Hamilton was left “a bit gobsmacked” by earning pole position for Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix sprint race in only his second weekend with Ferrari.
Mistakes from McLaren opened the door but Hamilton demonstrated strong pace throughout Friday in Shanghai, topping SQ1 and then setting a new lap record in SQ3 to take pole position.
It was the perfect follow-up to a challenging first weekend in Australia where Hamilton and Ferrari fell short of their own expectations, with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton eighth and 10th at the flag.
“The last race was a disaster for us and clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car but we just weren’t able to extract it,” Hamilton explained in parc ferme after taking pole by 0.018 seconds over Max Verstappen.
“So to come here to a track that I love – Shanghai, [it’s a] beautiful place and the weather’s been amazing – and the car really came alive from lap one.
“We made some great changes, the team did a fantastic job through the break to get the car ready. I’m a bit in shock. I can’t believe it’s actually…we got a pole in the sprint.”
That shock hadn’t left Hamilton by the time he’d made his way to the media pen for further interviews.
“I’m just a bit gobsmacked honestly, I’m a bit taken back by it, I didn’t know when we’d get to this position,” Hamilton said.
What’s already changing for Hamilton’s second race with Ferrari
“After last weekend it was a difficult start to the week, I came here with aggression and wanted to go into the weekend and get the car into a great place.We started out straight away with a better feeling in the car.
“I can’t believe we’re at the front and ahead of a McLaren which has been so fast throughout winter testing, the last race and even today.
“I’m really grateful to just be up there fighting with these great drivers and be so close to these other teams.”
It might not be a ‘proper’ grand prix pole position but Hamilton delivering a turn of speed in a competitive session so early into life at Ferrari will give him plenty of confidence.
“Even though it’s not the main pole it gives me real inspiration to go into tomorrow and find more performance and see if we can compete again,” he added.
Team boss Fred Vasseur maintained a typically calm reaction, joking with Sky Sports F1 that he “always sees the negative side”.
He cautioned “it’s still difficult to read and understand” the competitive picture and said Ferrari “still has work to do” but did say it was a “good feeling” after the team struggled throughout the Australia weekend.
He believed tyres once again explained the big pecking order swing versus last weekend.
“Shocked is not the right word, but it’s true that the day was a bit difficult to read that McLaren was in front this morning, and Q1 we were in front, Q2 they were mega, and Q3 we are right on the pace,” Vasseur said.
“I think it is linked to the tyre management. If you are not in the right window you are struggling a lot, but it is good for us as a team, for Lewis, for everybody.
“I know it is not quali of the race today, I know that we didn’t score points today. I know all this at least, but it’s a good step.
“It is up and down not just for us, but for everybody – it is exactly the same as the last four races last year when you had four teams able to win by 30 seconds track to track depending on the tyres.”
Where McLaren faltered
McLaren dominated practice and looked well set in SQ2 only to falter during the pole position shootout.
Third place Oscar Piastri said McLaren “was quick at the wrong points” of qualifying.
“In SQ3 we tried something a bit different and went out
