Lewis Hamilton secured his inaugural pole position with Ferrari during the sprint qualifying session for the Chinese Grand Prix, narrowly surpassing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by a mere 0.018 seconds. This achievement positions Hamilton at the forefront for Saturday’s sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit.
McLaren, which exhibited formidable performance in the season opener in Australia, faced setbacks in Shanghai. Oscar Piastri secured third place, while teammate Lando Norris, who clinched victory in Melbourne, qualified sixth.
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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell secured fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Norris appeared poised to claim the sprint pole with an impressive first sector on his second run but aborted the lap, opting to pit instead.
Hamilton’s Resilience Following Australian Setback
Hamilton’s pole comes on the heels of a challenging debut with Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix, where he finished tenth amid strategic missteps and adverse weather conditions. Reflecting on the Melbourne race, Hamilton described it as a “big crash course” but expressed gratitude for completing it without incident.
The veteran driver also addressed media speculation regarding his in-race communications with Ferrari race engineer Riccardo Adami. Hamilton dismissed notions of discord, emphasizing that their exchanges were part of the acclimatization process with his new team. He highlighted that other drivers have had more contentious interactions with their engineers without similar media attention.
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