George Russell claimed Sprint Qualifying pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix, as Kimi Antonelli ensured Mercedes locked out the front row in Shanghai.
Russell and Mercedes dominated proceedings on Friday, the Briton having topped the sole practice session earlier in the day before setting the fastest time in all three segments of Sprint Qualifying.
The Briton’s 1m 31.520s in SQ3 with the soft tyre left him nearly three-tenths clear of Antonelli, with the young Italian under investigation post-session for impeding Lando Norris earlier in proceedings.
Reigning World Champion Lando Norris was best of the rest but more than six-tenths behind Russell, as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton split the McLarens in fourth, just in front of Oscar Piastri.
Charles Leclerc was sixth, but a second away from the top time, as the Ferrari driver was followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen only eighth as the top 10 was completed by Ollie Bearman (Haas) and the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.
Nico Hulkenberg just missed out on reaching the final part of Sprint Qualifying – the Audi driver will start Saturday’s 19-lap Sprint from 11th – with the Haas of Esteban Ocon following him up in 12th. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), the second Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto, Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) and Franco Colapinto for Alpine made up 13th to 16th.
The Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon failed to progress beyond the first part of Sprint Qualifying, and were joined by the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in exiting at the first hurdle.
Cadillac completed the final row of the grid, Valtteri Bottas ahead of Sergio Perez, with the Mexican unable to set a lap time due to a fuel system issue.
AS IT HAPPENED
SQ1 – Russell sets the pace as Williams miss out
With just a single, one-hour session of practice under their belts to fine-tune set-ups, drivers headed out into the relative unknown for the opening 12-minute segment of Sprint Qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The Red Bulls set the early benchmark, Hadjar posting a lap time just fractionally quicker than team mate Verstappen, but as had been the case in the earlier practice session, Russell soon occupied top spot.
The Briton posted a 1m 33.030s, leaving him four-tenths clear of team mate Antonelli following their sole runs, the Mercedes duo returning to the garage for the remainder of the session after a statement of intent.
Leclerc and then Hamilton soon split the pair with their second runs, Ferrari deciding not to run its radical ‘flip-flop’ rear wing which had made an appearance on both cars during practice.
Behind the leading quartet at the chequered flag, Norris got the better of McLaren team mate Piastri as Gasly, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Lawson completed the top 10.
Verstappen could only finish 11th, more than one second behind Russell and complaining of the drivability of his RB22, just in front of Bearman as the Haas driver dipped a wheel into the gravel on his final effort at the last corner.
They were joined in SQ2 by Bortoleto, who had a high-speed moment at the final corner after running wide into the run-off area, with Hadjar, Lindblad and Colapinto progressing.
Sainz missed out on making the cut by less than two-tenths ahead of Albon, who suffered a big lock-up into Turn 11, as the Williams duo were followed by the Aston Martin pairing of Alonso and Stroll.
The final row of the grid was completed by Cadillac, Bottas 4.3 seconds adrift of Russell as Perez failed to set a lap time due to a fuel systems issue.
Knocked out: Sainz, Albon, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas and Perez
SQ2 – Antonelli under investigation as Hulkenberg misses out
With all drivers on a set of medium tyres once again, Leclerc set a new benchmark for the weekend with a 1m 32.602s on his opening lap, leaving him well clear of the McLarens and team mate Hamilton after their opening runs.
The Ferrari driver’s margin was soon overturned, Antonelli posting a 1m 32.570s before Russell lowered the benchmark further to a 1m 32.241s.
However, Antonelli had earlier exited the pit lane into the path of Norris with the McLaren driver complaining over the radio about being impeded – the incident is set to be investigated post-session.
Hamilton fractionally improved with his second effort but was still behind Leclerc, as Piastri jumped back ahead of the seven-time World Champion, with Norris fifth and Gasly sixth, the Frenchman also placed under investigation for impeding as well.
Bearman jumped up to eighth with his second lap, the Briton having dipped a wheel in the gravel at the final corner on his opening effort.
Behind Bearman, the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Hadjar only just progressed to the final part of Sprint Qualifying, the Dutchman running through the gravel at the final corner with his last effort. Hadjar, meanwhile, had to be pushed down the pit lane by his mechanics at the end of the session after stopping at the weigh bridge.
Hulkenberg just missed the cut by only 0.015s, as he was joined by Ocon, Lawson, Bortoleto, Lindblad and Colapinto in dropping out.
Knocked out: Hulkenberg, Ocon, Lawson, Bortoleto, Lindblad and Colapinto
SQ3 – Russell and Mercedes complete clean-sweep
In the final eight-minute segment, all drivers were able to use the soft Pirelli compound and lap times tumbled as a result.
Antonelli’s 1m 31.880s was quickly beaten by Russell’s 1m 31.520s, and although both Mercedes drivers went for a second run, neither improved as Russell claimed pole position for Saturday’s Sprint.
Behind the leading duo, Norris was best of the rest having gone out for just a single lap that left him six-tenths behind Russell, as Hamilton split the McLaren pair with Piastri fifth.
Leclerc was a second adrift in sixth, followed by Gasly and an unhappy Verstappen, the Red Bull driver complaining of a lack of grip post-session.
Bearman finished ninth as Hadjar was able to complete a run at the very end of the session to round out the top 10.
Key Quote
“The car’s been feeling amazing – we knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine’s performing really well, and today was a real joy to drive, so [I’m] happy,” said Russell. “I’m intrigued to know what the lap times are compared to last year, because it felt really quick and that was pretty cool, very different to Melbourne.”
What’s Next
With the grid decided, the drivers will line up for the Sprint at 1100 local time on Saturday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action.
