Lewis Hamilton took a stunning first pole position with Ferrari in qualifying for the Sprint at the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, narrowly beating Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, as early championship leader Lando Norris qualified in sixth place. Hamilton’s pole of 1:30.849 also sets a new lap record for the Shanghai International Circuit, beating Sebastian Vette’s 2018 Q3 time by almost a quarter of a second. 

Verstappen set the early benchmark in SQ1 with a 1:32.329 that put him in half a second clear of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. Lewis Hamilton then took over at the top, exactly a tenth clear of Verstappen as Leclerc moved to second a hundredth off his team-mate. 

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was going much quicker, however, and the Australian took over in P1 with a time of 1:31.723, half a second clear of Hamilton. The free practice session’s quickest man Lando Norris put in a scruffy opening flyer, however and his 1:32.248 left him in fifth as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso went second, just under four tenths off Piastri. 

In the final runs of the segment, Norris corrected his earlier errors, and the championship leader vaulted to the top of the order with a lap of 1:31.396, but Hamilton was finding more pace, and the Ferrari drive topped the session with a time of 1:31.212. Leclerc took third in the other Ferrari ahead of Piastri, while defending champion Max Verstappen eased through in fifth. 

There was disappointment for Verstappen’s new Red Bull team-mate Liam Lawson, however. The New Zealander had his final lap deleted for a track limits infringement at Turn 9 and he exited the session in last place. 

Also ruled out at the end of SQ1 were Alpine’s Jack Doohan who had his final time deleted and dropped out in P16 ahead of team-mate Pierre Gasly, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg and the unfortunate Lawson.

In the middle segment it was Norris who led the way, with the Briton setting the pace at 1:31.174, 0.188s ahead of team-mate Piastri and a little under four tenths ahead of Verstappen. 

The top three sat out the final minutes of the session and that allowed Mercedes’s George Russell to sneak ahead of Piastri 0.172 off Norris. Hamilton also improved, taking fourth ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli who relegated Verstappen to sixth ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Leclerc. 

The last two through to top 10 shootout were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Racing Bulls’ Yiuki Tsunoda, which meant there was no place in SQ3 for Alonso who slipped out in P11, two hundredths of a second off Tsunoda. Haas’ Oliver Bearman went out in P12, and the Briton was followed to the exit by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. 

After Norris’ pacesetting efforts in the middle segment, it was Piastri who grabbed provisional pole in their first runs of SQ3, ahead of Russell, while Norris had a snap heading onto the back straight and lost time all the way down the straight to slip to third. 

But while the McLarens would go again, it was Hamilton who found the most time on the Shanghai track and the seven-time champion took his first Sprint pole for Ferrari with a time of 1:30.849. 

Verstappen almost pipped the Ferrari driver but lost fractions of time in the final sector to cross the line in P2 just 0.018s behind. Piastri was left with third on 1:30.929 and Leclerc took fourth place ahead of Russell. Norris, meanwhile, finished sixth after locking up into Turn 14 on his final flyer. Antonelli took a solid seventh in his second qualifying session with Mercedes ahead of Tsunoda, Albon and Stroll. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying 
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.849 - -
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:30.867 0.018 
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.929 0.080 
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.057 0.208 
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.169 0.320 
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.393 0.544 
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.738 0.889 
8 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:31.773 0.924 
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:31.852 1.003 
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.982 1.133 
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.815 0.966 
12 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.978 1.129 
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:32.325 1.476 
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.564 1.715 
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT - - -
16 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:32.575 1.726 
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:32.640 1.791 
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:32.651 1.802 
19 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.675 1.826 
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:32.729 1.880