Lewis Hamilton Wins Sprint Pole Position In China Days After A Disappointing F1 Debut For Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton surprised the crowd and himself by securing his first sprint pole position for Ferrari in the final moments of qualifying Friday at the Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Hamilton arrived in Shanghai after his disappointing season-opening race last weekend in Australia, where he finished 10th in his first race for Ferrari. He only managed fourth fastest in opening practice here for a modest improvement on that.

He topped the first section of sprint qualifying for the season, before the dominant McLaren of Lando Norris took over in SQ2. An aborted lap from the McLaren driver, following a mistake on his final lap, handed Hamilton his chance - and the seven-time world champion took it in stunning style with less than a minute remaining.

"I'm just a bit gobsmacked, honestly, I'm a bit taken back by it," Hamilton said. "I didn't know when we would get to this position. Even though it's not the main pole that gives me real inspiration to go into tomorrow to find more performance and see if we can compete again."

Hamilton's time was just 18 thousandths of a second ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with Norris' McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri third. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth, with Mercedes' George Russell closing out the top five.