The first free practice continued with a sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, where in a huge surprise, Lewis Hamilton secured the pole position!
The SQ1 started similarly to what we have seen in recent times. Leading with McLaren, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli. Then, just before the last moments, the tables turned, and Scuderia Ferrari took the conductor's baton: Lewis Hamilton finished this stage at the top, ahead of Norris and Charles Leclerc, while the two Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, and surprisingly, Liam Lawson, were noted in the dropouts.
The SQ2 once again started with McLaren dominance, with the difference that this time they did not relinquish the lead from their hands. Behind them, Lewis Hamilton appeared again with a strong lap, but before we could write that he finished in third place, George Russell arrived, getting between the two McLarens - Hamilton thus ended up in fourth place. Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoletto, and Isack Hadjar had no such problems, they could go take a shower.
After such a background, the final act could come, where oddly enough, Scuderia Ferrari and mainly Hamilton felt the rhythm and took the lead. Piastri was close to the Brit, while Norris didn’t even try to catch his compatriot. Not so for Verstappen, who had a very serious chance for the sprint qualifying victory until the last moments. It didn’t work out; he fell just short of it, so Lewis Hamilton already achieved a “historic” success ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. It will be worth getting up for tomorrow's sprint!
Photo: IMAGO
