George Russell takes China F1 sprint pole in dominant Mercedes 1-2
George Russell leads another Mercedes 1-2 in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.
George Russell took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race ahead of Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Russell once more proved the driver to beat as Mercedes again demonstrated its superiority over one lap, with the Briton 0.289 seconds faster than Antonelli.
Mercedes’ front-row lockout was under threat, with Antonelli facing a stewards’ investigation for impending McLaren’s Lando Norris during the session. However, he has escaped punishment.
Reigning world champion Norris qualified third, 0.621s off the pace, but would be promoted to the front row if Antonelli is penalised.
"The car has been feeling amazing," Russell said after claiming the first sprint pole position of his F1 career.
"We knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine is performing really well, and today it was a real joy to drive.
"I'm intrigued to know what the lap times are compared to last year because it felt very quick, really cool, and very different to Melbourne."
Lewis Hamilton was the fastest Ferrari driver as he took fourth, 0.641s adrift, sandwiched between the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The seven-time world champion claimed both pole and victory in the sprint race last year in China.
Charles Leclerc was sixth and more than a second behind Russell, with Pierre Gasly impressively putting his Alpine seventh.
Gasly outqualified Max Verstappen, who was unhappy with the handling and performance of his Red Bull as he ended up a huge 1.7s off the pace in eighth.
Ollie Bearman and Isack Hadjar completed the rest of the top-10 in SQ3 for Haas and Red Bull.
Nico Hulkenberg could not squeeze his Audi into the top-10 and had to settle with 11th, ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Haas and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto was 14th, ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who reached SQ2 for Racing Bulls after managing only six laps in practice on the F1 rookie’s first visit to Shanghai, and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
Williams suffer early exit
There was disappointment for Williams as Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were eliminated in SQ1, joining the Aston Martins and Cadillacs in the bottom six.
Fernando Alonso qualified 19th, 2.5s off the pace in SQ1, with Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll six tenths further back.
Valtteri Bottas was the slowest driver in sprint qualifying as he ended up 21st, more than four seconds adrift of the quickest time in SQ1.
Cadillac team-mate Sergio Perez will start last after a fuel system issue prevented the Mexican from taking part in sprint qualifying.
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