SHANGHAI — George Russell continued to show the pace that made him a winner in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as the Chinese Grand Prix kicked off Friday with Sprint Qualifying.
Russell drove his Mercedes to an impressive one minute and 31.520-second lap to earn the pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Russell’s lap was three-tenths of a second quicker than his teammate Kimi Antonelli, who will start second.
“Firstly, hello to all the fans in China,” said Russell. “There’s been amazing support for everybody here, it’s special to be back.
“The car’s been feeling amazing – we knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine’s performing really well, and today was a real joy to drive, so [I’m] happy. I’m intrigued to know what the lap times are compared to last year, because it felt really quick and that was pretty cool, very different to Melbourne.”
Reigning World Champion Lando Norris was best of the rest but more than six-tenths behind Russell, as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton split the McLarens in fourth, just in front of Oscar Piastri.
Charles Leclerc was sixth, but a second away from the top time, as the Ferrari driver was followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen only eighth as the top 10 was completed by Ollie Bearman (Haas) and the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.
