For the first time in 2025, Sprint Qualifying took place on a Friday to set the Grid for tomorrow’s Sprint!
SQ1
In Sprint Qualifying 1; Jack Doohan, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, and Liam Lawson were the five slowest drivers! Alpine’s lack of pace will definitely concern the team, but Jack Doohan can be proud of his efforts to outqualify teammate Pierre Gasly! A mistake at the final corner cost Esteban Ocon dear as he was someway off of his Haas teammate whilst Nico Hulkenberg was slowest of the two Kick Sauber’s! Liam Lawson’s start to his Red Bull career continues to go poorly too, with Lawson slowest of anyone in Sprint Qualifying! Lewis Hamilton managed to top SQ1 for Ferrari, with McLaren’s Lando Norris around 2 tenths behind!
SQ2
In Sprint Qualifying 2; Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Isack Hadjar all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Fernando Alonso will be disappointed to have missed out on an SQ3 appearance by just 21 thousandths of a second whilst Oliver Bearman pulled out a really good performance to get his Haas up in P12! Carlos Sainz had another tricky outing for Williams as he was miles off his teammate’s pace whilst Gabriel Bortoleto did another solid job for Kick Sauber! A mistake by Isack Hadjar ultimately stopped him from doing a lap, but he did brilliantly to help his Racing Bulls teammate sneak into the Top 10! Lando Norris went one better in this session to top Q2, with George Russell second for Mercedes!
SQ3
In Sprint Qualifying 3, a 1:30.849 was enough for Lewis Hamilton to take a historic Sprint Pole! Given the struggles of last week, for Lewis to secure his first Pole Position in red this week is pretty special! Max Verstappen did a terrific job to get his Red Bull onto the Front Row, just 18 thousandths behind Hamilton whilst Oscar Piastri found himself as the lead McLaren! Charles Leclerc could only manage 4th in his Ferrari, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell whilst a disappointing final session means Lando Norris will only start tomorrow’s Sprint from P6! Andrea Kimi Antonelli ended his first SQ3 session in P7, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda who pulled out another strong showing in the Racing Bulls, whilst Alex Albon and Lance Stroll will start 9th and 10th respectively after strong showings from them both!
Starting Grid for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint and My Sprint Qualifying Grades
Lewis Hamilton: 10
Max Verstappen: 10
Oscar Piastri: 9
Charles Leclerc: 8
George Russell: 8
Lando Norris: 5
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 5
Yuki Tsunoda: 9
Alex Albon: 8
Lance Stroll: 8
Fernando Alonso: 7
Oliver Bearman: 8
Carlos Sainz: 4
Gabriel Bortoleto: 6
Isack Hadjar: 4
Jack Doohan: 3
Pierre Gasly: 2
Esteban Ocon: 2
Nico Hulkenberg: 2
Liam Lawson: 1
Credit: Autosport
My Predictions for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint
Oscar Piastri
Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen
Lando Norris
Charles Leclerc
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