Lewis Hamilton revelled in his Ferrari Formula 1 car “coming alive” as he bagged his maiden pole position with the team in Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton, the record pole and win holder at the Shanghai International Circuit, pipped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to secure first position on the grid for the Sprint race.
The Briton had endured an arduous debut with Ferrari in Australia, but he had appeared much more at one with his SF-25 during the single practice hour this weekend.
Having held an upper hand over team-mate Charles Leclerc throughout the three segments, Hamilton’s sole run in SQ3 also saw him usurp the pacesetting McLarens.
The McLarens were unable to improve on their second attempts, while Verstappen came up short in a last-ditch bid to beat Hamilton’s track-record-setting benchmark.
“I didn’t expect that result, but so, so happy and so proud,” Hamilton, who edged out Verstappen by 0.018 seconds, beamed.
“The last race was a disaster for us, and clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car but we weren’t able to extract it.
“To come here to a track that I love: Shanghai, a beautiful place and the weather has been amazing.
“The car really came alive from lap one. We made some great changes, the team did a fantastic job through the break to get the car ready.
“I’m a bit in shock, I can’t believe we got a pole in the Sprint.
“Obviously it’s not the main race so we’ve got work to do tomorrow, but this puts us in good stead for the race.”
How Hamilton earned maiden Ferrari pole
Hamilton believes nailing the opening sector on his one-timed run in the SQ3 shootout was pivotal to claiming his first pole in red, a landmark he described as surreal.
“My first sector was really, really strong,” he recalled. “I think that’s where I made most of my improvement on that lap.
“But just little increments through the whole place.
“There’s still time to find for sure which I’ll try and make sure I apply to the next qualifying session we go out in.
“It’s amazing to see the number one as you stop and be in the red car, it’s pretty incredible.”
Hamilton in the dark on Ferrari race prospects
Hamilton has conceded that he goes into tomorrow’s 19-lap Sprint encounter in the dark over how the Ferrari SF-25 handles over a race distance in drier conditions.
“I didn’t get to do a race run in Bahrain. We did the race last weekend in the wet,” he highlighted.
“But tomorrow will be my first real race run and Sunday will be my first proper race run in the dry with this car.
“I’m hoping that we can hold onto it, but I think the McLaren is very, very fast, as is Max.
“We’re in a good position, we’ll stay positive and we’ll keep our heads high and keep pushing forward.”
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton grabs Chinese GP Sprint Race pole
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