Oscar Piastri took the first pole position of his career in a tight qualifying session for the Chinese Grand Prix after beating Mercedes’ George Russell to the fastest lap by 0.082 seconds.

Russell’s lap, which appeared to come from nowhere at the end of the session, split the two McLarens, with Lando Norris forced to settle for third place after he aborted his final attempt in Q3.

Piastri admitted to struggling with his car’s balance on his Q3 lap, but still set two times that would have been good enough to secure pole ahead of Russell, with his fastest lap 1:30.641.

Oscar Piastri has two career wins, both from second on the grid. JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images

“In Q3 I just found a lot of pace,” Piastri said. “Q1 and Q2 I was genuinely struggling and the car just came alive in Q3 and I think I came alive in Q3, so I’m happy with what I did at the end. The lap was still a little bit scruffy, but I’m just pumped.”

On the track surface and tyre management, he said: “I think you’ve probably seen a lot of snaps and moments this weekend with the surface we’ve got, it’s pretty tricky but when you hook it up it’s pretty mega so I’ll take the fastest lap of Shanghai.”

Russell said he tried something “completely different” with his tyre preparation ahead of his final Q3 attempt, which was enough to beat Norris’ best lap by 0.070 seconds and snatch second from McLaren.

On Thursday, Russell said McLaren had a bigger performance advantage over the rest of the field than Red Bull ever enjoyed during its period of dominance, but his qualifying lap on Saturday seemed to disprove that theory.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen secured fourth place on the grid for Red Bull ahead of Saturday’s sprint race winner Lewis Hamilton, who was fifth fastest ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton looked dominant in the 19-lap sprint race on Saturday morning, but seemed to lose his edge in the afternoon qualifying session after all ten teams revisited their setups and made changes.

Leclerc was 0.094 seconds off his Ferrari teammate and just snuck into sixth place ahead of a remarkable performance from Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli struggled to hook up a lap when it mattered in Q3 and had to settle for eighth on the grid ahead of Yuki Tsunoda’s Racing Bull in ninth and the Williams of Alex Albon in tenth.

Esteban Ocon was 0.030 seconds shy of a place in Q3 in his best performance in the Haas this year. The French driver will start from 11th on the grid ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in 12th and the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in 13th and 14th. Carlos Sainz will line up 15th on the grid for Williams.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly missed out on a place in Q2 by 0.069 seconds and will start in 16th place ahead of Haas driver Oliver Bearman and the second Alpine of Jack Doohan in 18th.

Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto was 19th fastest ahead of Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, who qualified last and failed to make it out of Q1 for the third time this season.

Lawson was over a second off the fastest time set in Q1 as pressure builds on him in just his second race as Verstappen’s teammate.

The New Zealander was overtaken by Pierre Gasly at the end of his outlap, hampering his final preparation for his flying lap, but the lack of performance once he was up and running was still consistent with his struggles so far as a Red Bull driver.