DRIVERS
 
1 – Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren) 
2 – George RUSSELL (Mercedes) 
3 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
 
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)
 
Q: Well, Lando, you're back in the top three, but I sense you're a little bit disappointed with that one. Not able to hook up the final lap. How was it for you out there?
Lando NORRIS: Yeah. I mean, always disappointed if I'm not on pole, but Oscar deserves it today. He's done a very good job all weekend, so happy for him. His first pole in Formula 1, so it's always cool. Just a couple of mistakes again, kind of been my case this weekend, but the car was feeling a bit better today. I've got a lot more comfortable with the car, so a step in the right direction, especially from yesterday where I was struggling a lot and even this morning I was struggling a lot. A much better direction that we're going in. So yeah, not too disappointed.
 
Q: And we're seeing so much pace from you so far this season, but we are seeing a few laps not completed quite as you would want them. Couple of errors here or there you allude to. Is the car really tricky to drive at the moment? Is it difficult to get it on the knife edge just absolutely spot on?
LN: I mean, yeah, I've said that plenty of times. It's still quick enough. We’ve never doubted it's the quickest car. It can just be a little bit feisty at times, but no, today it's not so much that. Today was just mistakes from my side and that's all.
 
Q: And in terms of the race, yet the Sprint earlier didn't go your way at all, but can you learn from that? Did you change the car much? How are you feeling for tomorrow?
LN: Yeah, we changed quite a lot on the car because we were nowhere and yeah, we worked quite hard to make some improvements into quali and then hopefully for the race tomorrow. So we'll see.
 
Q: Good luck with tomorrow, Lando. George, what a performance, on the front row in 2025. How was that for you?
George RUSSELL: It feels incredible, to be honest. It was one of the hardest quali sessions I've done in a long, long time and I was trying all sorts with my preparation, with the tyres, and nothing seemed to be clicking. Did something totally different on that last lap and it just all came alive and the lap was awesome. Just yeah, so, so happy to be P2.
 
Q: P2. What was the difference? What did you do different?
GR: Oh, I mean I was going fast on the out lap, slow on the out lap, prepping the out lap… it was just—and the last one was a bit of a roll of the dice. Had a big moment at Turn 1, but it just all came together and I was really surprised when I crossed the line. I knew it was a good lap, but to see that I was between the McLarens—yeah, just buzzing and looking forward to tomorrow.
 
Q: And in terms of race pace, we saw earlier on you were honing in on the top three. Didn't quite get there, but degradation looks really tough out there. How are you feeling over the full distance?
GR: Yeah, it's going to be tough. I think the Medium tyre in the Sprint was really difficult. Obviously, I think most drivers will start on that at the front of the field tomorrow, and then the Hard—no one's ran all weekend. So nobody knows right now if it's going to be a one or a two stop. We know that McLaren are going to be quick, but we'll be doing everything to try and stay where we are or try and jump ahead of them. Should be a lot of fun.
Q: Good luck, George. Oscar Piastri: Grand Prix pole position for the first time and what a way to do it. Two laps that would have had it there for you. You just seemed hooked up today.
Oscar PIASTRI: I'm glad it looked like that because it didn't feel like that. I think, yeah, Q3—just found a lot of pace. You know, Q1 and Q2 I was genuinely struggling and yeah, the car just came alive in Q3 and I think I came alive in Q3. So no, happy with what I did at the end. Even still, the laps were a little bit scruffy, but no—very, very—I mean, I'm just pumped to be on pole. So very happy.
 
Q: You've just done the fastest ever lap of this circuit. New asphalt, loads of grip, obviously a car that's working well. How much of a buzz is it to drive at these speeds?
OP: Yeah, it's a lot of fun. I think with the new surface it's extremely grippy, which for us, you know, it's the best feeling in the world. The only thing that comes with that is when you lose grip, it bites at you. I think you've probably seen a lot of snaps, a lot of moments this weekend, and with the surface we've got it's pretty tricky. But when you hook it up, it feels pretty mega. So I'll take the fastest lap of Shanghai.
 
Q: Big smiles from you, but there is still a race to do tomorrow. Still a Grand Prix win to add to this pole position. And yet the dress rehearsal earlier on—car looked good, but Ferrari looked exceptionally strong as well. How are you feeling? Obviously a bit of clear air for you hopefully at the start of the race.
OP: Yeah, I mean, I think that is hopefully going to be a help. Just got to make sure I keep that clean air. But I was pretty happy after the Sprint. I think we did the most that we could have. I was pretty happy. You know, I would have been happier with one spot higher, but how the race turned out I couldn’t have asked for much more. So like, we learned a lot this morning and looking forward to trying to put that into use tomorrow.
 
PRESS CONFERENCE
 
Q: Oscar, huge day for you. Just first up, what does this one mean?
OP: Yeah, I mean it means a lot. Been close a few times now and yeah, nice to finally have my first pole. I've had a couple of Sprint poles, but to have the first Grand Prix pole means a bit more. So yeah, pretty pumped, to be honest. I've worked hard for it and I feel like the start of the season has been strong. Obviously the result in Melbourne was a shame, but I feel like I've been doing a good job otherwise and yeah, just happy to have ended up on pole.
 
Q: Talk us through those laps in Q3. You said over the radio that you'd done the hairpin of your life. Just talk us through that.
OP: Yeah, my first lap was honestly better than my second lap, but just at the hairpin at the end of the straight I lost a bit of time and didn’t do the best hairpin. And then the second lap I was about two-tenths down on myself, so I kind of just went, why not send it into the hairpin, and I gained those two-tenths back and then found a little bit more in the last corner. So yeah, honestly, without that, I was tempted to box before that. So I’m pretty happy now that I didn’t, but it was—I just did a good corner, that’s all.
 
Q: Oscar, it's been a better qualifying today than it was Sprint qualifying yesterday for McLaren. What lessons did you learn overnight that you were able to apply this afternoon?
OP: I think our car was fast yesterday, it was just the run plan we went for in Sprint qualifying I don’t think was the best one in the end. I think today we knew that the session’s obviously a little bit longer so you can do two proper runs. So I think there were just a few things that in hindsight we could have done differently. And yeah, today I think the pace in the car has been more or less the same. We just executed it the way we should have. So yeah, I think it's been a good day overall. I think we learned a lot this morning. I think we learned a lot from Sprint quali yesterday to translate into qualifying this afternoon and yeah, happy that it’s worked out.
 
Q: Let's throw it forward then to the Grand Prix. What do you think is going to be key to securing P1?
OP: I think just making sure your tyres survive is the biggest thing. I think we saw this morning that those that could—or I would say look after their tyres, but that wasn’t even really true—the people that could manage the best one way or another were the quickest. And I think for my own Sprint I felt like I did a reasonable job, it was just difficult trying to get past Max. But I think we saw with Lewis being out in front all morning, it probably helped him in the long run. So yeah, I think it’s going to be a pretty interesting race. It’s the most deg we’ve probably seen and the most graining we’ve seen in a long time. So it’ll be interesting to see if it stays the same tomorrow.
Q: Well done today. Best of luck tomorrow. George, let's come to you now. You ran Oscar very close. You also said it was one of the hardest sessions of your Formula 1 career. So talk us through it. How good was the car?
GR: It was really, really challenging because the weekend has been difficult for everybody to get on top of these tyres and knowing what the best sort of strategy in the session is—if you go hard on your formation lap or do you take it easy? And I was just sort of going all over the place. And on the last lap, I tried something very different, it worked, really strong lap, and the P2 was a real surprise. So really pleased with that one.
 
Q: What did you try differently on the last lap?
GR: I just came out the pits and went dead slow round that warm-up lap ahead of my fast lap. So the first lap in Q3 I was full gas on that lap and it seemed OK—I think I was in P5, but two-and-a-half, three-tenths behind Oscar. And then found four-tenths on my last lap. Just really came together and it feels really rewarding when you do your best lap of the weekend when it matters. And to be in the front row is a really great place to start for tomorrow.
 
Q: Great place to start. Just how much confidence did you have coming into the session that a result like this might have been possible?
GR: I think we've known realistically anywhere from P3 to P7 is where we are on a given day. And you saw, I think it was only two-tenths to P6 between ourselves, Ferrari, Kimi and Max. And just to be between the McLarens, I’m really proud of the job we've all done to secure that. We know how quick they are. So anything more than a P3 is a big result for any team at the moment.
 
Q: And from everything we've learned so far this weekend, do you think you've got the race pace to match these guys?
GR: I think that would be a bit of a stretch. Like Oscar said, it was a really difficult race this morning. I do think they're still a step ahead of everybody. Ferrari were a real surprise in the Sprint, but tomorrow’s a different game. And we've got the Hard tyre—nobody's run that yet. So I expect a slightly different outcome.
 
Q: OK. Very well done to you. And Lando, if we could come to you now. Welcome back. Good to see you back in the top three. It looked like a tricky session for you. How tricky?
LN: I mean, it was tricky for everyone, I think. It's just tight and close, but it was a much better job than we did yesterday—and I did yesterday. So the car was feeling much better and yeah, I was feeling definitely more comfortable. Still too many mistakes from my side. I'm not as comfortable as I was in Australia. Just tricky, but it is for everyone, and I just haven't done the best job—and Oscar has done a very good job. So still a good result. I’m happy with P3, yeah.
 
Q: And Lando, can you talk us through the lessons you learned in Sprint qualifying that you were able to apply to get a better result today?
LN: Just don’t qualify as far back.
 
Q: But in terms of lessons learned, run plans, was it the same as Oscar?
LN: Yeah, I don't think it was so much run plan. I just think we didn't get as much out of the car yesterday. I obviously locked up and went straight. The car’s easily quick enough for pole, so I just did a terrible job yesterday.
 
Q: OK. And let's throw it forward to the race then. How much confidence do you have ahead of tomorrow?
LN: I think Oscar's shown great pace. I definitely haven't—especially from the race pace. And whenever we struggle with front graining, it's something I just struggle with a lot personally. So yeah, difficult for me. It’s been therefore a difficult weekend, just trying to deal with those things. It's something I'm not strong enough in. But yeah, I’ve got a long, long night ahead of me to sit down and go through the data and see what I can improve for tomorrow.
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
 
Q: (Stewart Bell – AP) This is for Oscar. First pole position for an Australian since Daniel Ricciardo at the Mexican Grand Prix in 2018. How does it feel for you as an Australian and with the nation watching on?
OP: I mean, yeah, it’s always nice to go out there and represent my country. I can't say I think about it that much when I'm out on track, but it's always an honour to race for Australia. You know, the reception I had last weekend was incredible. Very lucky to have a race in my home country and my home city. But yeah, nice to be able to do it… I'm a racing driver, so I'm selfish, so it's nice to do it for myself, but it is also nice to do it for Australia as well.
 
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Lando, please. You said earlier that you're not feeling as comfy as in Australia with the feeling with the car. Could you expand on that a little bit? Is it sort of a track-specific thing, corner types—whereabouts on the course do you think you're struggling particularly?
LN: I mean, the layout is very different here to Australia—much more medium-speed, high-speed corners. There's some slow speed too. That and just the car—the car is, I mean, we’ve said it many times, it's definitely the quickest car, but it's still tricky to drive. We can easily do good sectors every now and then, but putting a lap together—even like Oscar said, he was two-tenths down and then he's kind of going for it and it stuck. But it seems just tricky to understand how to do it consistently enough. When you do that kind of good job, then it can easily be the quickest car. So a couple of things, and just more my driving—just that rhythm of knowing exactly what to do where, how much. Also, when you have the tyres and if you push a bit too much, the tyres can bite quite quickly too. So many different things, but also just Oscar's done a good job and I’ve not done a perfect job. It's tight, so I just paid the price for not doing well enough.
 
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Oscar, please. I think Lando said he changed quite a bit on the car after the Sprint race. But you said the pace is pretty similar. What was your work from early running in the day through to this afternoon?
OP: Yeah, I mean we changed a few things. I wasn't perfectly happy with the car I had in Sprint quali and the Sprint this morning, so I was trying to make it a bit better for today—and honestly probably more for tomorrow. But yeah, I’m not sure yet whether it was necessarily better or worse. I think it was maybe a small step better. I think the pace both days has been similar. It’s just been, as Lando said, quite tricky to get lap times out of it. Through Q1 and Q2 I was genuinely struggling and somehow found a lot of time in Q3 that I still don’t fully understand myself yet. So yeah, I mean I think even when you change things, you can’t turn the car upside down. It's kind of got its characteristics that you have to live with, especially on a Sprint weekend. The car was quick yesterday, it was quick this morning, you're not going to risk everything by trying to be half a second faster than everyone. So I think just some small things that were in the direction I wanted before the session and I’m not sure I want that now. But it did what I expected, at least.
 
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question for all three of you, please. The track surface is completely different to how it was here in 2024. It's very sunny where it was rainy and cloudy last year. Just how different has it been for all three of you to drive this course this time around?
OP: It's pretty much a completely different track in my eyes. We're a lot faster than we were last year. I think when you have this much grip… Some of the corners here last year, I kind of left thinking, “If the track had a bit more grip, some of those corners would be pretty incredible to drive.” And this year, with this much grip, they are. They've done a really good job resurfacing it. I said in my interview—the only thing with these kinds of tracks is they're incredibly high grip whilst the tyres are pointing in the direction you want. As soon as you start to slide, it’s pretty difficult out there. I think that's not just been for us, it's been a similar story for everybody. We see it with a lot of the tracks that get resurfaced these days. So yeah, it’s been more fun to drive this year, definitely, but some very different challenges.
GR: Yeah, like Oscar said, new surface—it’s super quick. Like here and like Jeddah, that’s like the gold standard of resurfacing that the drivers want because it's so enjoyable to drive and it's so quick. It's great for people watching. We clearly made a pretty good race this morning with the tyres and I think it’ll be a good race tomorrow. So all in all, yeah, good news.
 
Q: Lando, please.
LN: They said it.
 
Q: George, is it smoother than last year, the bumps gone?
GR: Yeah, I mean the track’s like a bowling alley at the moment—super smooth. Whereas last year it was all quite open and the tyres were degrading quite a lot. So that's always quite nice when you come here for the first year. Obviously, like in Turkey a few years ago, it didn’t go quite as well—I remember that was really nice and smooth. But yeah, much better than last year.

Q: (Yiyi Duan – Titan Sports) Question to Oscar. You once joked that you have 1/16th heritage from China—so it's sort of your home court. You got a good performance today and good results. Do you see that this good momentum will quickly build up, perhaps boost confidence, especially after Melbourne?
OP: The 1/16th heritage wasn’t a joke—that’s real.
GR: What? Wow.
OP: They’re all here for me. They’re not here for Lewis—they’re for me. Yeah, I mean it’s many generations ago and I definitely can’t speak Chinese and I’m not going to embarrass myself. But yeah, I think I’ve definitely enjoyed coming here a lot more this year. I’ve been able to see a little bit more of Shanghai. The weather’s been much nicer than it was last year. Everything is just going a bit better this weekend than it was 12 months ago. And yeah, the pole position is a really good confidence boost—it’s obviously my first one. So it's always nice to tick that box in a sense. But I think it's been a good start to the whole year for both the team and myself, even if the points tally doesn’t look like that at the moment. So no, happy with how things are going, and this is a nice step along the way.
 
ENDS