2025 Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying Results: Full Starting Grid for the Sprint Race 

The sprint qualifying for the 2025 Chinese GP has concluded and Lewis Hamilton came out as the surprise package. The British driver claimed his first sprint pole for Ferrari, that too in his second race for the Prancing Horse. Max Verstappen qualified in P2, ahead of Oscar Piastri.

As Hamilton qualified for the pole, he broke Michael Schumacher's long-standing pole record of 1:32.238 with a new record of 1:30.849. Verstappen finished very closely with 1:30.867 on the timesheet. McLaren's Piastri was the better driver this time around with P3 alongside Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

George Russell of Mercedes, who has been performing consistently of late, qualified in P5 in the sprint shootout, ahead of Lando Norris. The race winner of last week's Australian Grand Prix admitted that he made mistakes during SQ3 and, as a result, saw himself in P6.

Rookie Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes qualified in P7, ahead of Racing Bulls veteran Yuki Tsunoda. Alex Albon of Williams and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin wrapped up the Top 10.

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Full grid line-up for the 2025 Chinese GP Sprint:

#1 Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari

#2 Max Verstappen - Red Bull

#3 Oscar Piastri - McLaren

#4 Charles Leclerc - Ferrari

#5 George Russell - Mercedes

#6 Lando Norris - McLaren

#7 Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes

#8 Yuki Tsunoda - Racing Bulls

#9 Alex Albon - Williams

#10 Lance Stroll - Aston Martin

#11 Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin

#12 Oliver Bearman - Haas

#13 Carlos Sainz - Ferrari

#14 Gabriel Bortoleto - Kick Sauber

#15 Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls

#16 Jack Doohan - Alpine

#17 Pierre Gasly - Alpine

#18 Esteban Ocon - Alpine

#19 Nico Hulkenberg - Kick Sauber

#20 Liam Lawson - Red Bull

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Chinese GP pole sitter Lewis Hamilton let his feelings known after mega sprint qualifying

Following the conclusion of the sprint qualifying for the Chinese GP on Friday, Lewis Hamilton shared his thoughts as he spoke to the media. In the interview, the British driver stated that he was shocked by the outcome.

Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari - Source: Getty

However, he immediately gathered himself up and wanted to do better for the main qualifying on Saturday.

"I'm a bit in shock. I can't believe we got a pole in the sprint. It's not the main race so we have some work to do for tomorrow," Hamilton said.

"I didn't expect that result but so happy and so proud. The last race was a disaster for us. We knew there was more performance in the car. It came alive from lap one."

Following the Sprint tomorrow, the main race qualifying for the Chinese GP will take place, and then the main race on Sunday. F1 will move to Japan in the first week of April for the third race weekend of the season.