Lewis Hamilton was left “a bit gobsmacked” by earning pole position for Formula 1's Chinese Grand Prix sprint race in only his second weekend with Ferrari.
Mistakes from McLaren opened the door but Hamilton demonstrated strong pace throughout Friday in Shanghai, topping SQ1 and then setting a new lap record in SQ3 to take pole position.
It was the perfect follow-up to a challenging first weekend in Australia where Hamilton and Ferrari fell short of their own expectations, with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton eighth and 10th at the flag.
“The last race was a disaster for us and clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car but we just weren't able to extract it,” Hamilton explained in parc ferme after taking pole by 0.018 seconds over Max Verstappen.
“So to come here to a track that I love - Shanghai, [it's a] beautiful place and the weather's been amazing - and 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 it's actually...we got a pole in the sprint.”
That shock hadn’t left Hamilton by the time he’d made his way to the media pen for further interviews.
“I'm just a bit gobsmacked honestly, I'm a bit taken back by it, I didn't know when we'd get to this position,” Hamilton said.
“After last weekend it was a difficult start to the week, I came here with aggression and wanted to go into the weekend and get the car into a great place.We started out straight away with a better feeling in the car.
“I can't believe we're at the front and ahead of a McLaren which has been so fast throughout winter testing, the last race and even today.
“I'm really grateful to just be up there fighting with these great drivers and be so close to these other teams.”
It might not be a ‘proper’ grand prix pole position but Hamilton delivering a turn of speed in a competitive session so early into life at Ferrari will give him plenty of confidence.
“Even though it's not the main pole it gives me real inspiration to go into tomorrow and find more performance and see if we can compete again,” he added.
Team boss Fred Vasseur maintained a typically calm reaction, joking with Sky Sports F1 that he “always sees the negative side”.
He cautioned “it’s still difficult to read and understand” the competitive picture and said Ferrari “still has work to do” but did say it was a “good feeling” after the team struggled throughout the Australia weekend.
He believed tyres once again explained the big pecking order swing versus last weekend.
“Shocked is not the right word, but it's true that the day was a bit difficult to read that McLaren was in front this morning, and Q1 we were in front, Q2 they were mega, and Q3 we are right on the pace,” Vasseur said.
“I think it is linked to the tyre management. If you are not in the right window you are struggling a lot, but it is good for us as a team, for Lewis, for everybody.
“I know it is not quali of the race today, I know that we didn't score points today. I know all this at least, but it's a good step.
“It is up and down not just for us, but for everybody - it is exactly the same as the last four races last year when you had four teams able to win by 30 seconds track to track depending on the tyres.”
Where McLaren faltered
McLaren dominated practice and looked well set in SQ2 only to falter during the pole position shootout.
Third place Oscar Piastri said McLaren “was quick at the wrong points” of qualifying.
“In SQ3 we tried something a bit different and went out much earlier and did two laps, which I'm not sure was the best thing in the end,” Piastri said.
“But something we need to look at. The pace in the car is still very strong and I'm still confident to fight from third.”
Lando Norris was kicking himself for the lock-up at the Turn 14 hairpin that forced him to abort his final SQ3 run, leaving him down in sixth place.
“I made a mistake, locked up [at the hairpin] and we struggled a bit more now. Not quick enough simply, struggled a lot with the car,” Norris said.
“Our difficulties that we've been struggling with, we struggled a lot more with today. Nothing more than that. Too many mistakes, too difficult a car to drive.”
Norris said this weekend has been “a lot more aligned with Bahrain” testing, where the McLarens also struggled to deliver strong one-lap speed with a quick car that can easily bite the drivers.
Norris conceded it was down to him to not overdrive the car to get more out of grand prix qualifying on Saturday.
“That's more me rather than the car, I can't make the car perfect, this was me just trying to push a bit too much,” Norris said of avoiding a repeat of his errors later in the weekend.
“So more just need to back off a little bit and not try push so much. I think the car is still in a good window, maybe not good enough for pole but we can definitely go for it.”
