Piastri storms to pole position, Norris and Verstappen share second row

Oscar Piastri will start from pole position at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, after topping qualifying with a lap time of 1:30.641. George Russell finished in second place, while Lando Norris rounded off the Top 3 at the Shanghai International Circuit

After the first set of runs, it was Oscar Piastri who was on provisional pole position, ahead of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, and neither of the three could improve on their final lap other than the Australian. George Russell took advantage of that, and finished in second place. Lewis Hamilton will start in P5 ahead of Charles Leclerc in terms of the two Ferrari drivers.

Isack Hadjar put in a great performance to outqualifying both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, while Alexander Albon finished tenth.

The Ferraris and Antonelli could have been in trouble this session, however, nobody behind team managed to considerably improve. Esteban Ocon just missed out on qualifying for Q3, and Nico Hülkenberg got Sauber’s highest start so far of this season with finishing in P12. Together with the two Aston Martins, Carlos Sainz was once again eliminated in the second session, with his lap being two tenths slower than his teammate’s.

Liam Lawson was once again eliminated early on in a qualifying session, and similarly to Sprint Qualifying, he also finished in P20. Doohan slides exiting Turn 9. The two Alpine cars were also out, after Gasly made a mistake in the final corner, while Jack Doohan spun on his first lap exiting Turn 9. Gabriel Bortoleto also did not manage to outqualify Hülkenberg this time.