'Shocked' Lewis Hamilton takes maiden Ferrari pole in 30-year F1 first
Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race – his first since joining Ferrari at the start of the year.
In a tight battle in the final part of sprint qualifying, Hamilton edged out four time world champion Max Verstappen by only 0.018 of a second, with Oscar Piastri third less than a tenth behind.
Hamilton will be the oldest driver to start on pole for a Formula 1 race since Nigel Mansell at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.
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Lewis Hamilton has taken pole for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race. Getty
"I'm a bit in shock. I can't believe it, actually," Hamilton said.
"Obviously the last race was a disaster for us, and clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car but we just weren't able to extract it.
"So to come here to a track that I love, Shanghai, beautiful place, and the weather's been amazing, and the car really came alive from lap one.
Hamilton will be the oldest driver to start on pole for an F1 race since 1994. Getty
"It's obviously not the main race, so we've got work to do for (grand prix qualifying), but this puts us in good stead for the race."
Having set the fastest time in the weekend's sole practice session early Friday afternoon, Melbourne winner Lando Norris was hot favourite to take pole.
He was half a second behind teammate Oscar Piastri after the first runs in the final part of qualifying, and then made an error at the tight hairpin on his final lap.
Hamilton said he still believed the McLaren pairs would be favourite for Sunday's grand prix, but would take a moment enjoy the pole.
"There's still time to find for sure, which I'll try and make sure that I apply to the next qualifying session," he said.
"But it's just amazing to see the number one as you stop, and to be in the red car, it's pretty incredible."
Jack Doohan will start the sprint race 16th as both Alpine's failed to make it through the first part of qualifying.
The Shanghai sprint race begins at 2pm Saturday (AEDT).
