F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Hamilton STUNS doubters with pole at Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Australia, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying

F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Hamilton STUNS doubters with pole at Chinese Grand Prix

All the times from the Chinese Grand Prix sprint qualifying session

By Chris Deeley.

Friday 21 March 2025 09:30

Lewis Hamilton stunned the doubters at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday, taking a stunning pole position for Saturday's sprint race.

Max Verstappen was beaten into second place by just 0.018 of a second, with Oscar Piastri less than a tenth of a second off Hamilton's all-time lap record at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Liam Lawson was eliminated from the first part of the session - and worse, the New Zealander, in his first full season in the sport, will start dead last on Saturday morning after a disastrous start to his weekend.

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George Russell looked as though could be in a spot of bother after being noted by the stewards for potentially impeding Yuki Tsunoda coming out of the penultimate corner, but stewards decided they would take no further action.

The Williams of Carlos Sainz dropped out in SQ2, a blow for the British team after showing good pace in Bahrain and Australia.

F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Chinese Grand Prix 2025

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:30.849 sec
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.018 sec
3	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.080 sec
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.208 sec
5	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.320 sec
6	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.544 sec
7	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.889 sec
8	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls	+0.924 sec
9	Alex Albon	Williams	+1.003 sec
10	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.133 sec