Lewis Hamilton won the first sprint race of the 2025 Formula One season, his first victory with Ferrari since joining the team over the winter, while Oscar Piastri secured his first career pole position for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver nailed his start from pole and dominated the end of the sprint race in what was an impressive drive. But the seven-time world champion was unable to replicate that performance in qualifying as McLaren’s Piastri secured his maiden pole with Hamilton qualifying fifth.
Piastri will line up alongside George Russell on the front row. The Mercedes driver split the McLarens and was only 0.082 seconds behind the Australian driver.
The Ferraris will line up side by side on the third row — Charles Leclerc was sixth — behind Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
Four teams saw both of their drivers advance to Q3, one of which may surprise fans. The Racing Bulls duo of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar were competitive in the top 10 throughout qualifying, the rookie second in Q1 and fourth in Q2. After the first flying laps were done, Hadjar was ahead of Tsunoda, though they were lower in the top 10 (seventh and eighth).
As teams readied for the final flying laps, Kimi Antonelli was the only driver who had not set a time, after his lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. His flying lap landed him eighth, after Hadjar qualified seventh.
How everyone qualified
- Oscar Piastri
- George Russell
- Lando Norris
- Max Verstappen
- Lewis Hamilton
- Charles Leclerc
- Isack Hadjar
- Kimi Antonelli
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Alex Albon
- Esteban Ocon
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Carlos Sainz
- Pierre Gasly
- Ollie Bearman
- Jack Doohan
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Liam Lawson
Q2: Ocon, Hülkenberg, Alonso, Stroll, Sainz fail to make it
Norris’ first flying lap was wickedly fast, quicker than Hamilton’s sprint qualifying pole position time. The McLaren driver had a 0.413-second gap over teammate Piastri, and Verstappen was just behind them. Tsunoda split the Mercedes duo after the first runs, while the Ferraris felt a bit of pressure, with Hamilton sitting seventh and Leclerc ninth after those first flying laps.
Both Ferrari drivers improved after their final Q2 laps; however, they started dropping as others launched their way up the standings, like Hadjar. Hamilton only made it into Q3 by around a tenth of a second.
While Ocon and Hülkenberg were knocked out, qualifying P11 and P12 in a Haas and a Sauber are still impressive finishes considering the caliber of their cars.
Meanwhile, the Williams drivers were split, with Sainz qualifying 15th and Albon advancing to Q3. Williams currently leads the ‘best of the rest’ battle, with a two-point gap to Aston Martin (which saw both of its drivers knocked out in Q2).
Q1: Gasly, Bearman, Doohan, Bortoleto and Lawson knocked out
The final order in Q1 continuously changed as the final laps took the checkered flag one by one.
The biggest standouts were the Racing Bulls duo of Hadjar and Tsunoda, who set the second and third fastest laps, behind Norris. Meanwhile, both Williams drivers were in the top 10, ahead of Antonelli and Hamilton, while both Alpine drivers were knocked out.
Bearman was knocked out but will be investigated after qualifying for potentially impeding Stroll.
Finally, the other notable moment from Q1 was that Liam Lawson qualified P20, which comes after he also qualified last for sprint qualifying. He had qualified P18 in Australia. The Red Bull driver was seven-tenths of a second off Verstappen’s time on Saturday. Last season, Tsunoda out-qualified Lawson when they were teammates, 6-0.
How the sprint race unfolded
Hamilton dominated, the gap over Piastri widening to nearly seven seconds on the final lap, with Piastri and Verstappen finishing second and third at the Shanghai International Circuit.
From pole, Hamilton darted in front of Verstappen and kept him at bay heading into Turn 1. The Ferrari driver maintained the lead on the opening lap and steadily built a gap, trying to break the DRS window to the Red Bull driver on his tail. The gap remained stable, and Piastri, who started P3, hovered further behind Verstappen. As for the other McLaren driver, Norris made a mistake at Turn 6, dropping him from a P6 start to ninth on the first lap.
The grid fell into a rhythm by Lap 6 (though a collision happened between Doohan and Lawson), and Piastri pushed his way into the DRS range of Verstappen. Tire management became key as the 19-lap sprint race wore on and Norris complained about his front tires. By Lap 10, Verstappen was dropping back from Hamilton, the gap sitting at over a second, but the Dutchman reported on Lap 14 that his tires were dead.
Piastri took second on Lap 16, and Hamilton pulled ahead massively, the gap sitting at four seconds on Lap 17. The Briton cruised his way to victory, starkly contrasting Ferrari’s pace in Australia.
Heading into the Chinese GP weekend, McLaren’s pace was the talk of the paddock, but Norris clearly struggled a week after winning the grand prix in Australia. He reported going flat out at one point but was still sitting ninth. The Briton finished in points, eventually passing Stroll for eighth near the end of the sprint race.
Here’s how the grid finished:
- Lewis Hamilton
- Oscar Piastri
- Max Verstappen
- George Russell
- Charles Leclerc
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Kimi Antonelli
- Lando Norris
- Lance Stroll
- Fernando Alonso
- Alex Albon
- Pierre Gasly
- Isack Hadjar
- Liam Lawson
- Ollie Bearman
- Esteban Ocon
- Carlos Sainz
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Jack Doohan
Sprint Analysis: A huge lift for Hamilton and Ferrari
This victory was a classy reminder of just what Lewis Hamilton is capable of in F1.
Hamilton called his debut weekend for Ferrari in Australia a “disaster” after taking sprint pole Thursday. He always felt there was more pace in the car. It was just a matter of unlocking it. And that’s precisely what he has done in Shanghai.
The expectation in the paddock was that Piastri, starting third in the McLaren, would carve his way past Hamilton and Verstappen for the win. Instead, Hamilton managed the early stages well, covering off Verstappen on the opening lap before stabilizing the gap.
By the time Piastri battled his way past Verstappen with four laps to go, he’d used up too much of his tires to make it back to the lead. Hamilton then bolted into the distance at over one second per lap, entirely out of reach.
No, it’s not an official race win for Hamilton, but it’s a huge, huge boost for the start of his Ferrari adventure. Clearly, there is a lot of pace in the car and, importantly, the driver. Now it’s about repeating this when even bigger prizes are on offer in qualifying later and the race Saturday. — Luke Smith
(Photo: Greg Baker / AFP via Getty Images)
