Hamilton edges Verstappen for Shanghai F1 Sprint pole

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton tore up the formbook to take pole position for the first F1 Sprint event of 2025, with early championship leader Lando Norris only sixth in Friday's Sprint Qualifying session at the Shanghai International Circuit.

McLaren's Norris had looked the man to beat in Shanghai after an impressive showing in the morning's practice session, but the Briton aborted his final flying lap after making a mistake, allowing Hamilton to take pole with a time of 1:30.849, almost three seconds faster than last year's pole position time.

After finishing only 10th on a troubled Ferrari debut last week in Australia, Hamilton looks to have found his form in Shanghai and will line up for Saturday's Sprint alongside his old rival Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman just 0.018s adrift of the Briton's benchmark.

Oscar Piastri was the first McLaren in third, ahead of Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc and Mercedes' George Russell.

Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli lines up behind Norris, with Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda in eighth, ahead of the first Williams of Alex Albon, and Lance Stroll in his Aston Martin, with seven different teams represented across the top 10 places.

Stroll's teammate Fernando Alonso finished the session 11th, ahead of an impressive Oliver Bearman in his Haas, and a disappointing Carlos Sainz, who bemoaned his Williams' lack of balance.

Gabriel Bortoleto was the first Sauber in 14th, ahead of Tsunoda's teammate Isack Hadjar, who appeared to have been caught out by gust of wind on his final flying lap.

Next came the twin Alpines, with Jack Doohan shrugging off a mechanical issue in practice to finish the session ahead of his more experienced teammate Pierre Gasly.

Esteban Ocon finished 18th in the second Haas, ahead of Bortoleto's teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who expressed his surprise to be down in 19th.

Starting last will be Verstappen's teammate Liam Lawson, who aborted his last flying lap after running wide, and apologized to his team afterwards, saying that he "could not get the tyres down".

Saturday's Sprint event in Shanghai comes before the afternoon's main Qualifying session for Sunday's Grand Prix.