Franco Colapinto drops 2-word reaction to Lewis Hamilton securing pole position for the F1 Chinese GP sprint

Franco Colapinto praised Lewis Hamilton's efforts after the Briton managed to claim the pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint on Friday. This is scheduled as the first Sprint weekend of the 2025 season and the shortened race will take place on Saturday.

Colapinto raced alongside Hamilton for the first time in his career last year, when the Argentine replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams with nine races remaining in the season. After being unable to find a place on the grid for 2025, Colapinto has had to settle for the reserve driver role at Alpine this season.

Hamilton, on the other hand, has made his move to Ferrari after spending 11 years with Mercedes, and got off to a difficult start at the first race of the season in Melbourne, finishing P10. However, the 7x F1 champion has turned his fate around quite quickly and secured the sprint pole in China.

Hamilton shared his feelings about securing his first pole position of any kind, via his Instagram.

"POLE 💥 MEGA result. From lap one the car just came alive !! The team has done a great job since the last race and hard work pays off. Still work to do, and I can’t wait to go again, especially in front of this crowd. The energy is always incredible. The real test is tomorrow ANDIAMO ~"

Colapinto replied to this post, praising the 40-year-old and his efforts on Friday with a simple two-word message.

"Mega mega 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼"

Screen grab of Franco Colapinto's comment on Lewis Hamilton's instagram post [via Instagram/lewishamilton]

In his first outing with Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton had a disappointing qualifying as he only managed to qualify in 8th position. The race was even worse as the Briton could only finish in the last point-scoring spot in 10th, amid a wet race.

It still remains to be seen what Hamilton can achieve in the qualifying on Saturday, which will be for the main race, but the veteran has started his second race week with Ferrari in the best possible way.

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Lewis Hamilton reflects on the quick turnaround by Ferrari from Australia to China

Lewis Hamilton after the Sprint Qualifying, Chinese Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Lewis Hamilton shared his feelings about the turnaround Ferrari has made in less than a week and praised his team's hard work. The Briton claimed the sprint pole after finishing 0.018 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, who was second.

Hamilton claimed that the team knew they could do better after the result in Australia, and shared his feelings about the SF-25 around the Shanghai International Circuit.

"Really happy with the result. We knew there was more in the car after Australia, and here, it just came alive from lap one. The team’s done a great job since Melbourne," said Hamilton.

Hamilton will hope to maintain his position in Saturday's Sprint pole, which could prove difficult with Verstappen alongside him on the grid. McLaren had looked like the fastest car in China by far up, until the final runs in SQ3, and Oscar Piastri could also pose a challenge from P3.