Formula 1: George Russell puts Mercedes on pole for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race
Briton secures first sprint pole of career as teammate Kimi Antonelli completes front-row lockout for Mercedes; Lando Norris happy with third
Formula 1 championship leader George Russell put Mercedes on pole position for the first sprint race of the season in China on Friday in a front-row lockout with teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Russell led every phase of the session at the Shanghai circuit to take his first career sprint pole in a time of one minute, 31.520 seconds. Antonelli was 0.289 slower.
McLaren’s Lando Norris will start third after the reigning champion told stewards he had not been on a proper “push” lap when Antonelli, who had risked a grid drop, impeded him during the second phase.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who started the 100km race on pole in China last year, was fourth fastest ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The race on Saturday brings eight points to the winner with the top eight scoring. The main grand prix is on Sunday.
“The car has been feeling amazing,” Russell, winner of the Australian season-opener last weekend, said. “We knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine is performing really well, and today it was a real joy to drive.