Lewis Hamilton claimed a surprise pole position in the sprint qualification in China. Not only this, he also broke the lap record at the Shanghai International Circuit held by Sebastian Vettel. After the lap, Lewis was quite surprised that he finished 1st through his interactions on the team radio and post-session interview.

However, he will be sharing the front row with his arc nemesis Max Verstappen. The start of the sprint shootout promises to be quite thrilling, with both of them tussling to take the lead. Let’s look into how the session went.

Liam Lawson Eliminated in SQ1

The curse of the second Red Bull seat continued as Liam Lawson finished plum last. Last year, Lawson was making fun of Sergio Perez after passing him in races, and now, he’s in a worse predicament.

Oliver Bearman surprisingly made it out of SQ1, while Gabriel Bortoleto out-qualified his teammate for the second week in a row.

At the front of the field, Lewis Hamilton led the session, closely followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris. This was a well-needed boost for the 7-time world champion as he adjusts to life at Ferrari.

The starting position for the 5 drivers eliminated in SQ1 goes like this:

16. Jack Doohan

17. Pierre Gasly

18. Esteban Ocon

19. Nico Hulkenberg

20. Liam Lawson

5 More Eliminated Chinese Grand Prix SQ2 Session

The second part of sprint qualifying saw the return of the normal pecking order, with McLaren leading the session. It wasn’t that exciting of a session, but there were some key upsets. Carlos Sainz was out-qualified again by his new teammate, which is slightly concerning for the smooth operator. Everyone may just have just missed out on Carlos struggling with his new team.

The starting position for the 5 drivers eliminated in SQ2 goes like this:

11. Fernando Alonso

12. Oliver Bearman

13. Carlos Sainz

14. Gabriel Bortoleto

15. Isac Hadjar

Lewis Hamilton Takes Suprise Pole in Sprint Qualification in The Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap record and claimed pole in the Chinese Grand Prix. Before the final session began, everybody expected McLaren to be the top runner for this session. However, every prediction was wrong, and as the track ramped up, Lewis claimed his first pole for Ferrari. He was closely followed by Max Verstappen on the front row of the grid.

Last weekend’s race winner, Lando Norris, had a horror show in the final session, finishing 6th in the sprint qualifying session. His teammate finished 3rd on the track and will share the second row with Charles Leclerc. Mercedes had an ordinary session, with George Russell finishing 5th and Kimi Antonelli taking the 7th position.

The top 10 for the sprint qualification tomorrow are:

1. Lewis Hamilton

2. Max Verstappen

3. Oscar Piastri

4. Charles Leclerc

5. George Russell

6. Lando Norris

7. Kimi Antonelli

8. Yuki Tsunoda

9. Alex Albon

10. Lance Stroll