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F1 Chinese GP LIVE: Race start time as Oscar Piastri starts on pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton
Follow updates from the Shanghai International Circuit as Piastri starts at front with Russell alongside him
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
TOP-10 IN QUALIFYING
1. 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?
The race is at 7am (GMT) on Sunday morning.
A simple message from Oscar Piastri after his pole lap:
Ollie Bearman after qualifying only 17th:
“It was a tough Sprint, we’re still missing a bit of pace. We made a good start and held position but after that it was just a case of trying to manage the tyres.
“I expected the fronts to drop off and they did a little bit more than some of the others. In qualifying we had planned three runs today in Q1, and we just didn’t quite make it out there for the last one.
“It’s tight to fit three runs in with all the turnaround and everything – unfortunately I just didn’t cross the line in time. We changed a few things on the car, my first lap was getting used to that, second one was better. I think the changes are more based towards the race so hopefully we can have a good one tomorrow.”
Lewis Hamilton after qualifying P5:
“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:
“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’
Liam 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:
“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:
“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.”
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