Piastri grabs first pole as Russell splits McLaren pair

Oscar Piastri took his first-ever pole position for an Formula 1 grand prix as he set the pace in China.

Starting from the front could prove to be vital given how badly the field struggled with tyre degradation throughout the sprint race.

Piastri had previously started on the front row on seven occasions but secured his first grand prix pole with an impressive time of 1m30.641s, with McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in third.

A fantastic lap from George Russell enabled the Mercedes man to split the McLarens, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen fourth for Red Bull.

Piastri had taken second place in the sprint race earlier in the day but now has the chance to convert pole position into grand prix victory on Sunday.

Norris had topped the timesheets in Q1 and Q2 but failed to hook up his final attempt and bailed into the pits instead of taking the flag, admitting once again he had made “a couple of mistakes”.

Lewis Hamilton had won the sprint race from pole but was only quick enough for fifth on the grid for the grand prix, ahead of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in sixth.

After crashing out before the start of his debut race in Australia last weekend, Isack Hadjar was the pick of the rookies with seventh place for Racing Bulls with fellow newcomer Andrea Kimi Antonelli eighth.

Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon rounded out the top 10 with starting position key given the tyre management issues so far in Shanghai.

Haas has looked more on it this weekend and Esteban Ocon will start 11th, ahead of the team’s former driver Nico Hulkenberg, who will be aiming for back-to-back points finishes for Sauber.

The two Aston Martins will start alongside one another on row seven with Fernando Alonso just creeping ahead of Lance Stroll in the closing stages of Q2.

In what was another difficult day at his new team, Carlos Sainz could only manage 15th, having admitted on Friday that he is still yet to feel at home at Williams.

Q1 proved a tough session for four of the rookies, especially Liam Lawson who was again 20th and last, with Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto also knocked out, along with Pierre Gasly.

F1 Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying results