Though McLaren arguably entered the day as the favourites for the front row, Ferrari and Red Bull were able to get the better of them in the final part of the session.
Hamilton’s lap of 1:30.849s pipped Verstappen’s by just 0.018s, with Oscar Piastri just 0.062s away from Verstappen – meaning just eight hundredths separates the top three – but also that the lap record in Shanghai has been broken.
In 2018, Sebastian Vettel posted a lap of 1:31.095 in the final part of qualifying which has stood as the record at the Shanghai International Circuit until today.
After a more difficult debut weekend last time out, Hamilton said he was “taken aback” by how quickly he’s recovered his performance.
“I didn’t know when we would get into this position.”
“After last weekend, it was a difficult start to the week and I came here with aggression and just wanted to go into the weekend and get the car into a really great place.”
Despite this quick turnaround, Lewis said there was “still time to find” in the SF-25, but nevertheless praised his “really, really strong” first sector in setting up the lap attempt ideally.
Even so, Lando Norris’ final lap was looking to challenge Hamilton’s for the top spot until he made an error in turn 13 before abandoning the lap and pitting. Norris’ first sector was the fastest of the session at 24.009s with Hamilton’s just over two tenths back at 24.261s. Hamilton was able to keep this momentum and consistency going in sector two, setting the quickest time of anyone through this part of the lap.
Credit: Mercedes AMG Media.
Tomorrow will be only the second time Hamilton has started a Sprint from Pole position, with the first time being in 2021 at the inaugural Sprint event in Silverstone. But there’s an additional challenge facing Hamilton this time in that he hasn’t completed any full, dry weather race runs in his new Ferrari, having missed out in Bahrain testing and with last weekend’s running being in mixed conditions.
“Tomorrow will be kind of my first real long-ish run and Sunday will be my first proper race run in the dry with this car, so I’ll be learning.”
Asked if he can hold onto the top spot by the chequered flag, Hamilton said he’s hopeful but that the McLarens will be a threat coming through from P3 and P6, as will Verstappen starting alongside him on the front row.
“I’m hoping that we can hold onto it but I think the McLarens are very, very fast, as is Max. But we’re in a good position, we’ll stay positive, we’ll keep our heads high and keep pushing forwards.”
