McLaren's Piastri Claims Historic First F1 Pole Position in Shanghai
Oscar Piastri scored his first Formula 1 grand prix pole position with a dominant qualifying performance at the Chinese Grand Prix, setting a new track record of 1m30.641s at the Shanghai International Circuit.
McLaren Formula 1 car racing
The Australian McLaren driver set two pole-worthy times in Q3, with his teammate Lando Norris initially looking set to lock out the front row. However, George Russell secured second place for Mercedes, finishing just 0.082s behind Piastri, while Norris settled for third.
"The car just came alive in Q3, and I think I came alive in Q3," said Piastri, who admitted to celebrating with "a little scream in my helmet" after securing his first grand prix pole position.
Max Verstappen qualified fourth, followed by Sprint winner Lewis Hamilton in fifth and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in sixth. Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar impressed with seventh place, while Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured eighth. Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon rounded out the top 10.
Notable performances further down the grid included Esteban Ocon narrowly missing Q3 in 11th for Haas, while Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll qualified 13th and 14th respectively for Aston Martin. Red Bull Racing's Liam Lawson struggled in 20th place, finishing 0.75s behind teammate Verstappen.
F1 race timing results chart