Oscar Piastri took his first Formula 1 Grand Prix pole position after dominating the qualifying round at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Piastri set it twice fast enough for the pole, with two laps set for the performance of the 1M30.641S Shanghai International Circuit, with Lewis Hamilton covering his previous best set in sprint qualifiers 24 hours ago.
The Australian, who started twice with pole for a sprint but never for the Grand Prix, said “I cried out a bit at my helmet” after sealing the deal at the end of two crude raps in difficult situations.
“I think we found a lot of pace in the third quarter,” he said. “The car was just born in the third quarter, and I think I lived in the third quarter.
“I’m happy with what I did in the end. Still, the rap was a bit sloppy. I’m just excited to be on Paul, so I’m very happy.”
The lead to Q3 strongly suggested that Piastri was set to share the front row with teammate Rand Norris, but the British failed to improve on the final lap and abandoned their attempts.
That opened the door to improve George Russell, who creeps into second place on the grid after a warm build-up to pole shootout.
“To be honest, it feels incredible,” he said. “It was one of the most difficult quarisessions I’ve had in a long time.
“I did something completely different on that last rap, but it was totally lively. I was so happy that the rap was going to be P2.”
Norris was third on the grid, remaining 0.152 seconds away from the pace, but was pleased to improve his qualifications at least sixth in the sprint.
“I’m always disappointed when I’m not at Paul, but Oscar deserves it today,” he said. “He did a very good job all weekend.
“I just made a few mistakes. The car feels a little better today. I feel more comfortable with the car. Especially since yesterday, I took a step in the right direction from when I was struggling.”
Max Verstappen was a front row candidate, but also failed to improve his follow-up lap, dropping to fourth and 0.176 seconds from the pace. It gave him sprint winner Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc 0.286 and 0.38 from poles, respectively.
Isack Hadjar was 7th most impressed, lapsing 0.438 from pole and hit Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda in more than two places for over 30 seconds.
Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli split the Faenza pair in 8th place, while Alex Albon completed Williams’ top 10.
Esteban Ocon placed 11th ahead of Sauber’s Nico Halkenberg, just 0.03 seconds into Haas’s first third quarter appearance in the season.
Fernando Alonso was strolled by Aston Martin teammate Lance on the 13th and 14th, with Carlos Anaims in 15th.
Alpine teammates Pierre Guthrie and Jacques Doohan were knocked out on the 16th and 18th, sandwiching the Hearth Rookie Oliver Bearman despite being split in just 0.1 seconds.
Gabriel Boltreto was 19th in Sauber ahead of Liam Lawson of Red Bull Racing. Kiwi was 0.75s slower than first-team teammate Verstappen, as well as the 0.813S margin from Friday night’s session.
