George Russell Secures Sprint Pole at Chinese Grand Prix
George Russell secured Sprint pole for the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, continuing his strong start to the season. The Mercedes driver clocked 1:31.520, 0.289 seconds ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli, with Lando Norris third for McLaren.
Sprint Qualifying consisted of three segments: SQ1 (12 minutes), SQ2 (10 minutes) and SQ3 (8 minutes). Medium tyres were mandatory in the first two segments, with softs required for SQ3.
Mercedes dominated, with Russell and Antonelli topping times throughout, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc took fourth and sixth. Oscar Piastri completed the top five for McLaren, and Max Verstappen struggled to fifth, finishing eighth.
Several drivers were eliminated early: Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez failed to reach SQ2. Nico Hulkenberg narrowly missed SQ3 by just 0.015 seconds.
Incidents during the session included turn 1 clashes involving Antonelli and Norris, and turn 14 traffic issues with Gasly and Verstappen, both under investigation by the stewards.
Top 10 – Sprint Qualifying
- George Russell – Mercedes – 1:31.520
- Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes +0.289
- Lando Norris – McLaren +0.621
- Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.641
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren +0.704
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +1.008
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine +1.368
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing +1.734
- Oliver Bearman – Haas F1 Team +1.889
- Isack Hadjar – Red Bull Racing +2.203
The Sprint race tomorrow will see Russell start from the front, aiming to replicate his victory in Melbourne and extend Mercedes’ early season momentum.
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