SHANGHAI: Lewis Hamilton has astonished the crowd and himself by securing his maiden Sprint pole position for Ferrari in the final moments of qualifying at the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix.
Hamilton arrived in China after a disappointing season-opening race last weekend in Australia, where he finished 10th. He only managed fourth fastest in opening practice Friday for a modest improvement in Shanghai.
He topped the first section of sprint qualifying, before the dominant McLaren of Lando Norris took over in SQ2. An aborted lap from the McLaren driver, following a mistake on his final lap, handed Hamilton his chance – and the seven-time world champion took it in stunning style with less than a minute remaining.
Hamilton’s time was just 18 one-thousandths of a second ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri third. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth, with Mercedes’ George Russell closing out the top-five.
“I didn’t expect that result, but so, so happy and so proud,” Hamilton said. “I think obviously the last race was a disaster. Clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car but we just weren’t able to extract it,” in Melbourne.
“So to come here to a track that I love — and the car really came alive. The team did a fantastic job to get the car ready and yeah, I’m a bit in shock.”
Lewis Hamilton wins pole position in the sprint for Ferrari at the Chinese F1 Grand Prix
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Lewis Hamilton wins pole position in the sprint for Ferrari at the Chinese F1 Grand Prix
- Hamilton arrived in China after a disappointing season-opening race last weekend in Australia, where he finished 10th
- He only managed fourth fastest in opening practice Friday for a modest improvement in Shanghai
McIlory calls for Australian Open rescheduling in bid to lure stronger field
- The Northern Irishman, who completed a career grand slam this year when he won the US Masters, was one of the main draws at Royal Melbourne this week
Rory McIlroy, the world’s second-ranked golfer, has called on organizers of the Australian Open to reschedule the event in an effort to attract a stronger international field to the tournament in the future.
The Northern Irishman, who completed a career grand slam this year when he won the US Masters, was one of the main draws at Royal Melbourne this week and finished in a tie for 14th, eight shots behind winner Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
“I’ve been excited to come back down here for a while, it’s been over 10 years since I played in the Australian Open,” McIlroy said after his final round.
“This is a golf tournament that has got so much potential and I think it showed a little bit of that this week. There’s still a ways to go.
“I would love to have a few more players come down and play. But it’s hard. There’s three tournaments going on in the schedule this week.
“There needs to be conversations had with people much more important than me that set the schedules and do all that sort of stuff.
“Hopefully the Australian Open can find a date that accommodates everyone and everyone can at least have the option to come down and play.”
The tournament marked the end of a stellar season for the 36-year-old.
In addition to his long-awaited Masters success, McIlroy won a seventh Race to Dubai title plus the Irish Open and was a member of the European team that successfully defended the Ryder Cup in the US in September.
“I’m looking forward to a little break,” he said. “I played a pretty heavy schedule post the summer, with the Irish Open, then the Ryder Cup and then I’ve been globetrotting all over the last couple of months.”
“I’m excited to have little bit of downtime, finally reflect on everything, maybe watch a few of the tournaments back. I’ve not really let myself do that too much.”
“Looking forward to the Christmas break and put the feet up, a few glasses of wine and think back on about what an unbelievable year it’s been.”
