The first free practice session continued with the sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, where, to a big surprise, Lewis Hamilton achieved pole position!
SQ1 started in a similar way to what we have seen in recent times. McLaren, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli in the lead. Then, moments before the end, the situation changed and Scuderia Ferrari took the lead: Lewis Hamilton finished this segment in first place, ahead of Norris and Charles Leclerc, while those eliminated included the two Alpines, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg and, to a slight surprise, Liam Lawson in last place.
SQ2 started again with McLaren dominating, with the difference that this time they did not give up the lead to the orange cars. Behind them, Lewis Hamilton again appeared with a strong lap, but before he could claim third place, George Russell got between the two McLarens - thus Hamilton only finished fourth. Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoletto and Isack Hadjar had no such problems and were able to go to the wash.
After these events, it was the turn of the last round, where, strangely enough, Scuderia Ferrari and especially Hamilton felt the rhythm and took the lead. Piastri was close to the Briton, while Norris did not try to catch his compatriot. Not so with Verstappen, who had a serious chance to win the sprint qualifying until the last moments. He did not succeed, missing by a few tenths, so Lewis Hamilton has already achieved a "historic" success in front of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. It will be worth waking up for tomorrow's sprint!
Photo: IMAGO
