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Lewis Hamilton smashed the Shanghai circuit lap record on his way to a stunning first sprint race pole for Ferrari in China on Friday, with Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen alongside on the front row.
The seven times Formula One world champion lapped in one minute 30.849 seconds, on only his second race weekend with the Italian team. Last year's winner Verstappen was a mere 0.018 slower in the first sprint qualifying of the season.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri qualified third with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth, Mercedes' George Russell was fifth and McLaren's championship leader Lando Norris sixth.
The performance was a breakthrough for Hamilton, whose arrival at Maranello in January triggered huge excitement but who finished only 10th in the Australian season-opener in Melbourne last weekend.
"I didn't expect that result but I'm so happy and so proud," said the 40-year-old Briton, who has a record 104 regular career poles but none since 2023, after also out-qualifying teammate Leclerc for the first time.
"The last race was a disaster for us and we knew there was more performance in the car but weren't able to extract it. I'm a bit in shock."
His initial reaction over the team radio on being told he had pole was "Really? Hahaha. Mega job."
The previous circuit lap record of 1:31.095 was set by four times world champion Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari in 2018 qualifying.
Verstappen said second on the grid was a morale boost for the team but expected it would be hard to keep the McLarens behind even over a reduced distance.
"I'm very happy. In practice, we were quite a bit off so I'm very happy to be on the front row," he added.
Norris, fastest in the weekend's sole practice session and winner in Australia, had looked set for a fast time but made a mistake and ran wide, forcing the Briton to abort his lap.
"I locked up in the last corner. We just struggled a bit more now, just not quick enough, simply. Struggled a lot with the car," he said.
"When the wind’s blowing then we struggle a lot more....I think the car is still good and in a good window. Maybe not good enough for pole, but we can definitely go forward."
Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start seventh, ahead of Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda, Williams' Alex Albon and Lance Stroll for Aston Martin.
British rookie Oliver Bearman made a strong return for Haas after an error-strewn opener in Melbourne and will line up 12th on Saturday's grid and ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz in 13th.
The same could not be said for Red Bull's Liam Lawson, whose difficult start as Verstappen's new teammate continued with last on the sprint grid and complaining he could not get the tyres working.
Neither of the Alpines made it through the first phase of qualifying, with Frenchman Pierre Gasly lining up 17th and Australian rookie Jack Doohan 16th.
Hamilton has won a record six times in China but Friday's sprint pole applies only to Saturday's points-scoring 100km (62 miles) race, with a separate qualifying for Sunday.
Eight points are available to the sprint winner with the top eight scoring.
