Oscar Piastri raised the stakes in his championship battle with Lando Norris by securing the first pole position of his career at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Norris won last weekend’s opening round in Australia with Piastri only ninth after he slipped off the road in the rain when narrowly trailing his McLaren team-mate.
But at the second round of the season in Shanghai, Piastri pulled out all the stops to see off George Russell of Mercedes by just 0.082 seconds with Norris having to settle for third, more than a tenth adrift of the Australian.
Max Verstappen took fourth spot, one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who landed his first win as a Ferrari driver in the earlier sprint race. Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc starts in sixth. The race on Sunday, round two of the 2025 season, starts at 7am (GMT).
Follow live updates of the Chinese Grand Prix with The Independent
F1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - LATEST UPDATES
- The Chinese Grand Prix is at 7am (GMT) on Sunday morning
- Oscar Piastri on pole for the Chinese GP; Russell 2nd; Norris 3rd
- Click HERE for the top-10 in qualifying
- Lewis Hamilton won the China GP sprint race earlier on Saturday; Piastri 2nd; Verstappen 3rd
- TRIBUTE: Rock-and-roll Eddie Jordan gave Schumacher his debut – and his flamboyance captivated F1’s paddock
TOP-10 IN QUALIFYING
08:10 , Kieran Jackson1. Oscar Piastri - 1:30:641
2. George Russell +0.082
3. Lando Norris + 0.152
4. Max Verstappen +0.176
5. Lewis Hamilton +0.286
6. Charles Leclerc +0.380
7. Isack Hadjar +0.438
8. Kimi Antonelli +0.462
9. Yuki Tsunoda +0.997
10. Alex Albon +1.065
What time is the Chinese GP?
08:36 , Kieran JacksonThe race is at 7am (GMT) on Sunday morning.
WATCH: Piastri's pole-clinching moment:
11:32OSCAR. PIASTRI.#McLaren | #ChineseGP 🇨🇳pic.twitter.com/LNUoRRmKcU
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 22, 2025
Lewis Hamilton after qualifying P5:
11:05 , Kieran Jackson“We started really optimistic, we made a few changes to the car but it was on a knife-edge.
“You want a car that’s balanced, it has a different balance. We made the change and then high-speed was overbalanced. You want a car that you can rely on, when it’s unpredictable you’ve got no hope.”
Charles Leclerc, who qualified P6:
10:46 , Kieran Jackson“The potential was just not there, the overall grip was just not there.
“I felt I did a good job but that’s the potential of the car. We need to look forward to tomorrow, we had good pace this morning.”
Liam Lawson painfully honest after torrid start to Red Bull F1 career: ‘It’s just not good enough’
10:29 , Kieran JacksonLiam Lawson did not make any excuses as he reflected on a torrid start to his Red Bull F1 career at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The Kiwi driver, promoted to be Max Verstappen’s teammate this year as he replaced Sergio Perez, crashed out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in wet conditions last week
Yet this weekend in Shanghai has been even worse, so far. Lawson qualified dead last for the sprint race on Saturday – though moved up to finish 14th – but did not improve his one-lap pace in grand prix qualifying, finishing last once more.
Full quotes below:
Lawson painfully honest after torrid start to Red Bull F1 career: ‘Not good enough’
Yuki Tsunoda after qualifying P9:
09:55 , Kieran Jackson“Two cars in the mix, teammate did a good job, did a massive mistake in the last lap - P9, I’ll take it.
“Both cars, there’s potential for points.”
Isack Hadjar after qualifying P7:
09:35 , Kieran Jackson“It’s in the ball-park, really happy with what I have underneath.
“The big guys are out of reach on the long run, if I nail the start I’m in a good position to get my first points.
“P8 would be pretty satisfying.”
Kimi Antonelli after qualifying P8:
09:20 , Kieran Jackson“A bit disappointed. I struggled with the tyres. I really struggled on the warm-up... but now we look forward to tomorrow.
“Top-6 is what we can achieve. The pace looks strong, we’ll see what we can do.”
Toto Wolff on Russell's lap:
09:12 , Kieran Jackson“We are struggling left, right and centre getting the tyres in the right window. He got it super right, he’s able to put it together.
“It’s so tight in the times, it’s a discovery mission.”
George Russell on team radio:
08:59 , Kieran JacksonRussell: “Go on! Come on! That was a session!”
Wolff: “That was a good one!”
FULL STARTING GRID FOR CHINESE GP
08:501. Oscar Piastri
2. George Russell
3. Lando Norris
4. Max Verstappen
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Charles Leclerc
7. Isack Hadjar
8. Kimi Antonelli
9. Yuki Tsunoda
10. Alex Albon
11. Esteban Ocon
12. Nico Hulkenberg
13. Fernando Alonso
14. Lance Stroll
15. Carlos Sainz
16. Pierre Gasly
17. Ollie Bearman
18. Jack Doohan
19. Gabriel Bortoleto
20. Liam Lawson
Lando Norris after qualifying P3:
08:20 , Kieran Jackson“Always disappointed if I’m not on pole, Oscar deserves it today - happy for him.
“A couple of mistakes again, been my case again. Car was a bit better today, a step in the right direction. Not too disappointed.
“We changed a lot on the car because we were nowhere. We’ll see.”
Oscar Piastri:
08:03 , Kieran Jackson“That was the hairpin of my life! I had a little scream in my helmet! I won’t break your eardrums!
Oscar Piastri on pole position in China!
08:02 , Kieran JacksonNo-one improves... apart from Oscar Piastri!
He sets a new lap record in Shanghai - while George Russell found some pace to go P2, by 0.082 secs!
3-10: Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Hadjar, Antonelli, Tsunoda, Albon
What a lap from Russell at the end! But it’s Piastri’s first pole position for a grand prix in F1!
Oscar Piastri on provisional pole!
07:55It’s close!
Oscar Piastri P1 after the first laps, ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris in P2 by 0.090 seconds!
3-10: Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, Hadjar, Tsunoda, Antonelli, Albon
Looks like McLaren have finally unlocked the performance in their car... can anyone respond with their second laps?!
5:00 to go in Q3...
Qualifying coming right up!
06:55 , Kieran JacksonSo after Lewis Hamilton’s victory earlier, is he now the favourite for pole this morning?
What about McLaren - can Lando Norris respond after a poor weekend so far?
And you can never count out Max Verstappen,
Qualifying should be a thriller - and it’s coming up at 7am (GMT)!
TOP-8 IN CHINA GP SPRINT RACE
06:43 , Kieran Jackson1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Oscar Piastri
3. Max Verstappen
4. George Russell
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Yuki Tsunoda
7. Kimi Antonelli
8. Lando Norris
Lewis Hamilton after his sprint race win:
06:32 , Kieran Jackson“Straight away, on Monday, I hit Riccardo up and said the things I wanted to start with this weekend, much happier with that, a couple of changes - from the moment I started driving yesterday, I felt more at one with the car.
“The last race in the wet was my first long run, that was my first proper long run. Still working with this car, really happy with how that came out.”
Lewis Hamilton on his win:
04:30 , Kieran Jackson“I woke up feeling great today. We have this amazing crowd... the race was difficult, a lot of people underestimated the steep climb it is to come to a new team.
“The amount of critics, yapping on the way, maybe because they’ve not had the experience. Great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car, really on it. We’ve fine-tuned the car and it felt great today.
“I don’t feel the pressure. I know the tifosi wants to win, know it means everything ot them. I said the other day, Rome wasn’t built in one day, one step at a time. Be diligent and stay calm. It’s a marathon not a sprint right!”
Oscar Piastri, after finishing second:
04:13 , Kieran Jackson“It was a really productive sprint, finishing second is a great result. I learned a lot. We didn’t have enough pace for Lewis out front but we’ve got some ideas for later.”
Max Verstappen after finishing third:
03:59“I tried to give it a go, unfortunately the last eight laps we didn’t have the pace to the others. Trying to survive out there, I take P3.
“We’ll look into the data and see what we ca improve on the car but overall we lack pace.”
TOP-8 IN CHINA GP SPRINT RACE
03:39 , Kieran Jackson1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Oscar Piastri
3. Max Verstappen
4. George Russell
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Yuki Tsunoda
7. Kimi Antonelli
8. Lando Norris
Lewis Hamilton wins for Ferrari!
03:35 , Kieran JacksonHistoric moment for Lewis Hamilton - he wins the sprint race for his first win for Ferrari!
A sturdy performance, retaining the lead at the start, before pulling away from Max Verstappen!
Smiles in the pit-lane from Hamilton’s dad Anthony!
