Lewis Hamilton may have pulled off a surprise pole position for the sprint race, but when it came to qualifying proper the Ferraris slipped back to the third row of the grid.
That’s one row better than they managed in Australia but still a disappointment for their drivers. “We’re just not fast enough,” Charles Leclerc told Viaplay after qualifying, echoing his words of one week ago. “The potential of the car is just not there.”
That may be so, but the gaps between the leading teams is still impressively slim, and the difference between some of the midfielders is almost non-existent.
Teams’ performance
Unlike in Australia, Ferrari at least managed to avoid getting sniped by a couple of midfielders this time, and therefore ranked fourth-quickest once qualifying was done.
Racing Bulls showed great pace around Shanghai, getting within a quarter of a second of the senior Red Bull team. Behind Williams there was almost nothing to separate Haas, Aston Martin and Sauber.
Alpine sank back to the position they found themselves in last year, and by quite a margin, too. It remains to be seen whether, on a weekend where teams have been alarmed by higher than expected tyre degradation, they or anyone else have sacrificed one-lap performance in favour of a set-up which will ease the strain on their rubber.
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Sector times
Esteban Ocon deserves special mention for hauling his VF-25 up to 11th, having come closer than most to stitching his three best sector times together. George Russell grabbed a surprise place on the front row with a tidy lap as well.
| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 23.984 (3) | 27.163 (1) | 39.418 (1) | 1’30.565 (+0.076) |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | 23.954 (2) | 27.257 (7) | 39.435 (3) | 1’30.646 (+0.141) |
| 3 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 23.945 (1) | 27.238 (6) | 39.523 (4) | 1’30.706 (+0.111) |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | 24.068 (5) | 27.221 (5) | 39.434 (2) | 1’30.723 |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 24.070 (6) | 27.175 (2) | 39.604 (6) | 1’30.849 (+0.078) |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 24.094 (8) | 27.320 (9) | 39.572 (5) | 1’30.986 (+0.035) |
| 7 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | 24.127 (9) | 27.213 (4) | 39.660 (8) | 1’31.000 (+0.079) |
| 8 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 24.176 (14) | 27.301 (8) | 39.626 (7) | 1’31.103 |
| 9 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 24.171 (13) | 27.203 (3) | 39.759 (9) | 1’31.133 (+0.105) |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 24.170 (12) | 27.477 (11) | 39.789 (10) | 1’31.436 (+0.067) |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 24.080 (7) | 27.481 (13) | 39.895 (14) | 1’31.456 (+0.176) |
| 12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 24.067 (4) | 27.539 (16) | 39.866 (12) | 1’31.472 (+0.216) |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 24.133 (11) | 27.391 (10) | 40.039 (19) | 1’31.563 (+0.210) |
| 14 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 24.231 (15) | 27.480 (12) | 39.859 (11) | 1’31.570 (+0.058) |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 24.244 (16) | 27.489 (14) | 39.890 (13) | 1’31.623 (+0.002) |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 24.128 (10) | 27.601 (18) | 40.029 (16) | 1’31.758 (+0.234) |
| 17 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 24.318 (17) | 27.517 (15) | 40.071 (20) | 1’31.906 (+0.235) |
| 18 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | 24.427 (19) | 27.599 (17) | 39.992 (15) | 1’32.018 |
| 19 | 7 | Jack Doohan | 24.407 (18) | 27.652 (20) | 40.030 (17) | 1’32.089 (+0.003) |
| 20 | 30 | Liam Lawson | 24.522 (20) | 27.622 (19) | 40.030 (17) | 1’32.174 |
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Teams’ improvement
Racing Bulls made the biggest year-on-year improvement of any team in Shanghai. But Williams look in good shape too, as this is the second week running they’ve posted the second-largest gain of any team, on two very different circuits.
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Field performance
When F1 returned to Shanghai last season, following a five-year absence, the cars lapped slower than they did when the championship first visited the track two decades earlier.
Their performance around the re-laid, ultra-smooth course has been a shock to the system for many. Oscar Piastri’s pole-winning lap was three seconds quicker than the best time seen last year and four tenths of a second under the former record set by Sebastian Vettel in 2018.
“The track’s like a bowling alley at the moment, super smooth,” said Russell after qualifying. “Like here and like Jeddah, that’s like the gold standard of resurfacing that the drivers want because it’s so enjoyable to drive and it’s so quick.”
Saturday’s sprint race was dominated by tyre management and some teams have reworked their set-ups to prepare for that in the grand prix. However as no driver has run the hard tyre compound yet it remains to be seen how hard they’ll be able to push in the grand prix.
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2025 Chinese Grand Prix
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