Hamilton takes first pole for Ferrari in China sprint race
The seven times world champion produced a best time of one minute 30.849 seconds with last year's winner Verstappen a mere 0.018 slower in the first sprint race qualifying of the Formula One season.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri qualified third with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth, Mercedes' George Russell fifth and McLaren's championship leader Lando Norris sixth.
The sprint pole was Hamilton's first of any sort since joining Ferrari from Mercedes and marked a remarkable turnaround from finishing 10th in a disappointing season-opener in Australia last weekend.
"I didn't expect that result but I'm so happy and so proud," said the 40-year-old.
"The last race was a disaster for us and we knew there was more performance in the car but weren't able to extract it. I'm a bit in shock."
Verstappen said second was a morale boost for the team but expected it would be hard to keep the McLarens behind even over a reduced distance.
"I'm very happy. In practice, we were quite a bit off so I'm very happy to be on the front row," he added.
Norris had looked set for a fast time but made a mistake and ran wide, forcing the Briton to abort his lap.
"I locked up in the last corner. We just struggled a bit more now, just not quick enough, simply. Struggled a lot with the car," he said.
"When the wind's blowing then we struggle a lot more....I think the car is still good and in a good window. Maybe not good enough for pole, but we can definitely go forward."
Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start seventh, ahead of Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda, Williams' Alex Albon and Lance Stroll for Aston Martin.
British rookie Oliver Bearman made a strong return for Haas after an error-strewn opener in Melbourne and will line up 12th on Saturday's grid and ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz in 13th.
The same could not be said for Red Bull's Liam Lawson, whose difficult start as Verstappen's new teammate continued with last on the sprint grid and complaining he could not get the tyres working.
Neither of the Alpines made it through the first phase of qualifying, with Frenchman Pierre Gasly lining up 17th and Australian rookie Jack Doohan 16th.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Red Bull confirm another major F1 leadership change after Christian Horner exit
Laurent Mekies is the new Red Bull F1 team principal and chief executive after Christian Horner was removed from those roles, and Helmut Marko has broken his silence on the change Red Bull have confirmed that new team principal Laurent Mekies will have "significantly reduced" responsibilities compared to predecessor Christian Horner. The Frenchman is the new man in charge at the Formula 1 team after the main Red Bull company announced Horner's exit last week. Neither the team nor its parent company have offered any reasons for the sudden management change publicly. But long-serving adviser Helmut Marko has now confirmed that "various factors" were behind the decision, most notably the team's decline in performance. "The decision was made by [chief executive of Red Bull corporate projects] Oliver Mintzlaff", the Austrian said of Horner's demise. "We informed Christian Horner of this on Tuesday in London after the Silverstone race. "At the same time, we officially thanked him for these 20 years and for these eight World Championship titles. This was the result of various factors, but above all, the performance wasn't quite as good as it could have been." Horner's position had long been under scrutiny, having lost the trust of Red Bull chiefs in Austria some time ago. He was protected by majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya who gave the Brit his backing, until recently, which was the major change behind the scenes that facilitated the change of leadership. Horner had served not only as team principal but also chief executive. Austrian Red Bull officials were understood to have been uncomfortable with the amount of power wielded by Horner after 20 years in charge. Marko went on to confirm that, although Mekies also holds both TP and CEO titles, he will not be as omnipotent as Horner once was. "Fortunately, we were able to bring Laurent Mekies into the family. His responsibilities will be significantly reduced, with the main focus being on racing," he added. Mekies has admitted that his main priority in his new role is to ensure that the team keeps hold of its star asset. Max Verstappen has been strongly linked with a move to rivals Mercedes – speculation which has only intensified since Horner's exit. And the new chief is focused on making Red Bull as competitive and attractive as possible to give them the best chance of convincing the Dutchman to stay. Mekies said: "I'm sure Max wants a fast car and if we get him a fast car, I'm sure it's cancelling out all the other considerations. "So really the focus is very much to try to get to know the team as quickly as possible in order to see how we can support, how we can build the next step of competitiveness in order to get a fast car and hence to make it an easy call for Max."
Rhyl Journal
21 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Lando Norris braced for rain-hit Belgian Grand Prix after clinching pole
Norris edged out McLaren team-mate Piastri by just 0.085 seconds at Spa-Francorchamps, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third. In the other scarlet car, Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 and was set to line up from a lowly 16th – a performance the seven-time world champion described as 'unacceptable'. Our top three in qualifying 😀🤩😀#F1 #BelgianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) July 26, 2025 Norris secured his fourth pole of the season and his second in three races in dry conditions, but rain is forecast to hit Sunday's 44-lap race in the Ardennes. However, Norris has won both of the two races staged in the wet this year – the curtain raiser in Melbourne and the last round in Silverstone three weeks ago – and said: 'It's probably going to rain and at Spa, there is a high chance it could just hit half of the track and not the other half, so we could be in for a chaotic race like Australia or Silverstone. 'Hopefully I can take advantage from being at the front, but I don't expect it to be dry. I expect it to be raining and for there to be more chaos.' Norris qualified six tenths behind Piastri for Saturday's sprint race. He started third and finished in the same position with Piastri one place above him – allowing the Australian to extend his championship lead from eight points to nine. Max Verstappen won the first Formula One race staged following Christian Horner's dismissal as Red Bull team principal and the defending champion will start from fourth for Sunday's main event. Yet in qualifying on Saturday, Norris delivered with his first lap in Q3 to hold a near two-tenth advantage over Piastri heading into the concluding runs and although he failed to improve and Piastri did, it was enough to take the 13th pole of his career as he bids for a hat-trick of consecutive wins. 'Everyone was pretty worried after yesterday but I wasn't even that far off,' said Norris. 'There was nothing to worry about, but people like to make a lot of things up. It was just a couple of little issues that I had. 'I was confident coming into today so it was nice to get back on top.' At the other end of the grid, Hamilton will have just four drivers behind him when the lights go out on Sunday. His lap was chalked off by the stewards after he ran all four wheels of his Ferrari off the circuit at Raidillon. Hamilton, who spun in qualifying for the sprint race and then improved only three places from his grid slot of 18th, is without a podium for Ferrari – the deepest he has ever gone into a season without a top-three finish. 'I don't agree (with the stewards' decision), but I'm out,' said the 40-year-old. 'It was another mistake from my side and I have to look internally. 'I have to apologise to my team because it is just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s this weekend. A very, very poor performance.'
North Wales Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Lando Norris braced for rain-hit Belgian Grand Prix after clinching pole
Norris edged out McLaren team-mate Piastri by just 0.085 seconds at Spa-Francorchamps, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third. In the other scarlet car, Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 and was set to line up from a lowly 16th – a performance the seven-time world champion described as 'unacceptable'. Our top three in qualifying 😀🤩😀#F1 #BelgianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) July 26, 2025 Norris secured his fourth pole of the season and his second in three races in dry conditions, but rain is forecast to hit Sunday's 44-lap race in the Ardennes. However, Norris has won both of the two races staged in the wet this year – the curtain raiser in Melbourne and the last round in Silverstone three weeks ago – and said: 'It's probably going to rain and at Spa, there is a high chance it could just hit half of the track and not the other half, so we could be in for a chaotic race like Australia or Silverstone. 'Hopefully I can take advantage from being at the front, but I don't expect it to be dry. I expect it to be raining and for there to be more chaos.' Norris qualified six tenths behind Piastri for Saturday's sprint race. He started third and finished in the same position with Piastri one place above him – allowing the Australian to extend his championship lead from eight points to nine. Max Verstappen won the first Formula One race staged following Christian Horner's dismissal as Red Bull team principal and the defending champion will start from fourth for Sunday's main event. Yet in qualifying on Saturday, Norris delivered with his first lap in Q3 to hold a near two-tenth advantage over Piastri heading into the concluding runs and although he failed to improve and Piastri did, it was enough to take the 13th pole of his career as he bids for a hat-trick of consecutive wins. 'Everyone was pretty worried after yesterday but I wasn't even that far off,' said Norris. 'There was nothing to worry about, but people like to make a lot of things up. It was just a couple of little issues that I had. 'I was confident coming into today so it was nice to get back on top.' At the other end of the grid, Hamilton will have just four drivers behind him when the lights go out on Sunday. His lap was chalked off by the stewards after he ran all four wheels of his Ferrari off the circuit at Raidillon. Hamilton, who spun in qualifying for the sprint race and then improved only three places from his grid slot of 18th, is without a podium for Ferrari – the deepest he has ever gone into a season without a top-three finish. 'I don't agree (with the stewards' decision), but I'm out,' said the 40-year-old. 'It was another mistake from my side and I have to look internally. 'I have to apologise to my team because it is just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s this weekend. A very, very poor performance.'
