Hamilton and the Ferrari twist in Shanghai

Maybe this is the tight competition everyone has been waiting for. Because while McLaren looks dominant, Norris does not.

Lewis Hamilton handed Ferrari an unexpected pole position for Saturday’s sprint race in Shanghai, edging out the ever-present Max Verstappen by just 0.018 seconds, with Oscar Piastri only 0.080 behind. Less than a tenth of a second separated the top three – each in a different car.

Everything was decided in the final moments, when Lando Norris made a costly mistake at the hairpin in his last flying lap. Despite having the fastest car, he ended up sixth. It wasn’t his only error of the session, and instead of fighting for pole, he headed back to the garage.

Hamilton’s early statement, Leclerc caught off guard

From the start, Hamilton was faster than Charles Leclerc, to the point that Ferrari even asked Leclerc to switch track position with him to give the Briton an advantage. The request did not sit well with Leclerc, who found himself dealing with an early blow from the seven-time world champion much sooner than expected.

On Thursday, Leclerc had warned that he would make his own setup decisions, and it seems to have paid off – he finished just two-tenths off pole, and it wasn’t just one magic lap – the gap remained consistent throughout the session.

With Norris splitting the two Mercedes, Yuki Tsunoda secured eighth place ahead of Alex Albon and Lance Stroll.

Alonso and Sainz miss out on top 10

The two Spanish drivers failed to make the top 10. Fernando Alonso missed out by just 21 thousandths of a second. Aston Martin seems to have a different dynamic in Shanghai, and that was evident as Stroll comfortably made it into SQ3. But the tiny margins between cars led to an early elimination for Alonso, even though his car looks competitive for points this weekend.

Carlos Sainz finished 13th. He struggled to find the right balance in SQ2 and even reported that his seat was moving over the bumps inside the cockpit. Despite an encouraging preseason – where he set the fastest time – his start with Williams has been far from ideal.

This weekend still offers a chance to turn things around, but extracting performance from the soft tire remains a challenge – a major handicap in a Formula 1 season where Saturday results dictate everything.

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