Lewis Hamilton admitted it was a shock to claim pole position, his first for Ferrari, in qualifying for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. After being off the pace at the season’s opening round in Australia, Hamilton delivered an immense lap for the Scuderia in Shanghai to see off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just two-hundredths of a second.
Hamilton could manage only 10th in Melbourne in changeable conditions and as he adjusted to working with his new team. However in under a week he and Ferrari had unlocked the pace they insisted was still fundamental to the car, with a stunning lap for the first sprint race of the season.
“The last race was a disaster for us and we knew there was more performance in the car but wasn’t able to extract it,” he said. “We made some great changes, the team did a fantastic job in the break to get the car ready. I’m a bit in shock. I can’t believe we get a pole for the sprint race. It puts us in good stead for the race.”
McLaren, who had taken a one-two in Australia with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, had been expected to dominate in China, and Norris was indeed quickest in first practice and both drivers showed strong pace in the first two sessions of qualifying.
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However for the final runs Norris, who had been going quicker, made errors in the final sector on both his hot laps. He was on for pole on his final run before going wide at the hairpin and aborting the lap. He finished in sixth with Piastri in third, eight-hundredths back on Hamilton.
Norris reiterated his contention that while their car is quick it remains a handful to drive when on the limit.
“I made a mistake, locked up in the last corner,” he said. “We struggled a lot with the car. Not quick enough. The difficulties we have been struggling with showed a lot more today. Too many mistakes, too difficult to drive.”
Hamilton had been unable to match his teammate Charles Leclerc in Australia but in Shanghai, a circuit where he has won six times and taken six poles, he was hooked up from the off, demonstrating an ease and familiarity with his car that had been sorely lacking in Melbourne. Leclerc finished fourth, two-tenths behind Hamilton.
Verstappen did well to force his Red Bull onto the front row of the grid given it has yet to match the pace of the McLarens but his new teammate Liam Lawson once more endured a shocking day, qualifying in last place, struggling to bring his tyres up to temperature.
Mercedes too will be buoyed by a competitive performance with George Russell in fifth and Kimi Antonelli in seventh. - Guardian
