Russell takes sprint pole in China from Antonelli and Norris
- Meghana Sree
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
George Russell took a dominant sprint pole for the season's first sprint round in China, followed by teammate Kimi Antonelli on the front row and Lando Norris to complete the top three.
After one crucial hour of practice topped by George Russell ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, the first sprint qualifying session of the year got underway at the Shanghai International Circuit that afternoon.
Russell took a dominant sprint pole with a lap time of 1:31.520, two tenths ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli in second. Defending world champion Lando Norris completed the top three, in a dusty session that saw plenty of drivers skirt the gravel traps in the final sector.
SQ1 — Mercedes vs Ferrari at the top
A long queue immediately formed down the pitlane, all the drivers on the mandated medium tyres for the first part of the session. As the 12 minutes began on the clock, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas was the first to head out on track, while his teammate Sergio Pérez remained held in the pits. It was soon confirmed that the Mexican driver would not be able to partake in the session due to a fuel systems issue.
Isack Hadjar from Red Bull set the first benchmark lap, a 1:34.447, soon pipped by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in quick succession.
Meanwhile, both Mercedes cars were yet to set their laps with six minutes to go, choosing to wait till the track’s grip ramped up.
Nico Hülkenberg in the Audi then jumped up the timesheets, two tenths behind Hamilton in first, his position soon snatched by Oscar Piastri then Lando Norris.
The Mercedes pair finally showed some of their pace and locked out the top two spots, Russell ahead of Kimi Antonelli.
With a minute to go, Gabriel Bortoleto had a dusty moment through the gravel trap at Turn 16, while the drivers in the danger zone were Alex Albon, Franco Colapinto, the two Aston Martins, Bottas and Pérez, the latter already out.
Carlos Sainz was at risk of elimination too in 16th, and was quickly knocked out by former Williams driver Colapinto who pumped in a lap in the nick of time to take him to the next session. Sainz, who had missed out on much of FP1, joined Albon in 18th, completing a bleak sprint qualifying session for the Grove-based outfit.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen had a snappy moment through the final corner but finished the session in 11th, complaining over the radio that the driveability was “horrendous”.
Russell finished the session on top, followed by the two Ferraris led by last year’s sprint polesitter Hamilton.
SQ1 Eliminations
Carlos Sainz
Alex Albon
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
Valtteri Bottas
Sergio Pérez
SQ2 — Scuffles between sister teams and more trips through the gravel
As SQ2’s 10 minutes began on the clock, Oliver Bearman, Pierre Gasly, and Hadjar traded the top spot amongst themselves, before Leclerc took the benchmark even further by nine tenths ahead of Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Norris appealed over the radio that Antonelli had blocked him at Turn 1 while he was on a build-lap, as elsewhere, several drivers continued going off through the final corner.
With four minutes to go, the Mercedes pair once again occupied the front row while the bottom five saw Esteban Ocon, Bortoleto, Liam Lawson, Bearman, Arvid Lindblad and Colapinto.
Meanwhile, the drivers at risk were Hadjar in ninth and Hülkenberg in 10th. With seconds left on the clock, Red Bull’s Hadjar was at risk of being knocked out by the junior team’s Lawson, but the Kiwi driver was unable to make the cut in the fight between two sister outfits.
Another trip through Turn 16’s gravel trap was taken by Verstappen this time, as he and his new teammate narrowly made it through to SQ3.
SQ2 Eliminations
Nico Hülkenberg
Esteban Ocon
Liam Lawson
Gabriel Bortoleto
Arvid Lindblad
Franco Colapinto
SQ3 — Mercedes dominate once again
The final part of sprint qualifying began with the Mercedes pair out on track first, with all the drivers switching to the mandated softs for SQ3.
Antonelli soon attacked the circuit, chasing a second career sprint pole, as behind him, Russell and Verstappen also began their push laps. The more experienced Mercedes driver set the quickest lap, with a 1:31.520 on his first SQ3 attempt ahead of Antonelli.
Hamilton, the Ferrari driver looking more comfortable throughout the weekend so far compared to Leclerc, slotted in six tenths behind Antonelli while Leclerc and Verstappen completed the provisional top five.
Meanwhile, the McLaren pair, Gasly, Bearman and Hadjar were set for a one-lap shootout, as the Mercedes pair chose to go again with a minute and a half to go.
Both Russell and Antonelli were unable to improve, while Leclerc too remained stuck in fourth. In a momentous effort, Gasly took his Alpine to fifth, which then became seventh as Norris took third from Hamilton and Piastri stole fifth.
With no other driver, including the Red Bull pair, improving, Russell was locked in for sprint pole ahead of Antonelli; Norris completing the top three.
Sprint Race Starting Grid
George Russell
Kimi Antonelli
Lando Norris
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri
Charles Leclerc
Pierre Gasly
Max Verstappen
Oliver Bearman
Isack Hadjar
Nico Hülkenberg
Esteban Ocon
Liam Lawson
Gabriel Bortoleto
Arvid Lindblad
Franco Colapinto
Carlos Sainz
Alex Albon
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
Valtteri Bottas
Sergio Pérez
Looking Ahead
Mercedes once again seem untouchable, with Russell and Antonelli miles away from the rest, almost making it look easy. Saturday's 19-lap sprint race will be a strong learning opportunity for the rest of the grid ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, especially for teams like Aston Martin, Cadillac and Williams.
Meanwhile, Ferrari's "macarena" rear wing did not make an appearance this session, but can be expected to be tested out during the sprint. The Ferrari pair looked unbalanced throughout the session, Hamilton the only one who looked moderately comfortable as opposed to Leclerc who struggled to find pace with the SF-26.
The sprint will be another opportunity for them to try and mount a challenge to Mercedes, who for now, continue to be in a league of their own.
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