Lewis Hamilton brought up the first milestone of his Ferrari career at the Chinese Grand Prix by taking pole for the Sprint race. Hamilton edged out Max Verstappen in a surprise result.

McLaren were the overwhelming favourites not just for pole but for a front-row lock-out after Lando Norris blitzed the field in FP1. But the reigning world champions fell away in SQ3.

Australian GP winner Norris was only sixth on the grid, while Oscar Piastri was third. Hamilton took pole position, less than two-hundredths ahead of Max Verstappen.

It won’t officially count towards Hamilton’s record of 104 pole positions. But it offers significant encouragement to both driver and team after a difficult weekend in Melbourne.

Hamilton qualified eighth and finished 10th as Ferrari fluffed their strategy in a wet race. This is his first Sprint pole since Silverstone 2021, the very first use of the format.

Lewis Hamilton’s radio messages after Chinese Grand Prix Sprint pole show bond with Riccardo Adami

Hamilton went fairly early with his pole lap, starting with around two and a half minutes to go. That meant he had to wait for his rivals to cross the line afterwards.

Verstappen was the last man over, and while he got close, he wasn’t able to knock his old rival from his perch. Riccardo Adami, his race engineer, then confirmed the result.

Hamilton came under fire for his blunt radio messages to Adami in Australia. But the two now seem to be developing a rapport.

Both were laughing as Adami said ‘San Diego’, which seems to be a code they’ve established for ‘pole position’. The exchange played out as follows:

Hamilton: “Where we are?”

Adami: “San Diego”

Hamilton: “Really?”

Adami: “Yeah, good job!”

Hamilton: “[Laughing] Mega job!”

Martin Brundle was critical of Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari radio messages on debut

Martin Brundle was among those who was critical of Hamilton for his communication at Albert Park. In a chaotic wet race, the seven-time world champion repeatedly told his engineer to leave him to it as he received information on car settings.

Sky Sports pundit Brundle didn’t understand why Hamilton was ‘angsty’ with Adami. The Italian has previously worked with Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel.

Rene Arnoux claimed Ferrari were in ‘crisis’ after their meagre five-point haul in Australia. Hamilton’s move to Maranello is such a seismic story that it’s bound to generate extreme narratives on both ends of the scale.

The 40-year-old will now look to convert pole on Saturday, and he’ll ultimately be judged on how he performs in Grands Prix. But Ferrari just got their first glimpse of the legend they’ve signed for 2025.