George Russell claimed pole for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, leading a Mercedes 1-2 finish in qualifying. He outpaced teammate Kimi Antonelli by 0.289 seconds and world champion Lando Norris by 0.621 seconds.
Lewis Hamilton was fourth, just 0.02 seconds behind Norris, while Oscar Piastri qualified fifth ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Red Bull struggled, with Max Verstappen only eighth, 1.734 seconds off the pace and behind Pierre Gasly. Oliver Bearman qualified ninth, followed by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar.
This is Russell’s second pole in six days, following his pole and win in Australia. Mercedes once again showed a similar pattern, with Russell around 0.3 seconds faster than Antonelli and Ferraris trailing further behind.
Russell said: “The car has been really great all day. The engine is performing more normally compared to Melbourne when we had big de-rates. Since Melbourne, the focus has been on improving the starts.”
Norris added: “I’m happy with P3. It’s as good as we can do for now and puts me in a strong position for tomorrow.”
Hamilton, who spun in practice earlier, commented: “P1 was tricky with a spin. We are losing time on the straights, so we have work to do. Mercedes have done a fantastic job, and the car feels great in corners. We need to push to close the gap.”
Ferrari’s Leclerc noted that Mercedes gains time in qualifying but races are closer. He lost 0.5 seconds on the back straight in his final run, which explains the gap.
Red Bull drivers, particularly Hadjar, underperformed compared to Australia. Verstappen said: “It’s been a disaster pace-wise—no grip, no balance, losing time in corners and triggering other problems.”
At the rear, Williams and Aston Martin struggled. Carlos Sainz was 17th, 1.7 seconds behind, while teammate Alex Albon ran wide on his second lap. Fernando Alonso qualified 19th, nearly 0.6 seconds faster than Lance Stroll.
Williams faces issues with an overweight car, while Aston Martin continues to battle Honda engine performance and reliability. Alonso said: “We focus on improving the chassis and surviving with reliability. Any engine problems could impact the weekend, so we are learning as much as we can.”
