F1 Chinese Grand Prix 2025 Qualifying Review: Oscar Piastri secures first-ever career pole at the Chinese Grand Prix 2025

McLaren at the top once again

McLaren made it back-to-back pole to keep their strong start to the Formula One 2025 season going as Oscar Piastri picked up his first-ever career pole position in Formula One at the Chinese Grand Prix 2025 qualifying. McLaren looked like they would be starting with a 1-2 before a stellar final lap from George Russell put his Mercedes on the front row. It was a lap record for the Shanghai circuit by the Australian and a tight session as well as the top eight were covered by only 0.462s!

Here’s a recap of the Chinese Grand Prix 2025 qualifying session.

Q1 – Lawson continues to struggle, double whammy for Alpine

The Sprint race winner Lewis Hamilton was the first front runner on the track to set the first qualifying session underway but it was Lando Norris’ McLaren that set the time to beat with a 1:

32.03s but Hamilton quickly beat Norris but was dislodged from the top by Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri. While the top runners were exchanging times at the top, Red Bull’s new signing Liam Lawson was the one struggling, floating above the drop zone with just over five minutes to go, while Leclerc wasn’t having the cleanest session either.

As the chequered flag fell, both Alpines, of Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan failed to improve enough to get out of the drop zone while Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson all were knocked out with Lawson finishing the slowest in the session, right at the bottom of the table.

Drivers eliminated in Q1

Pierre Gasly
Ollie Bearman
Jack Doohan
Gabriel Bortoleto
Liam Lawson

Q2 – Norris in a different league; both Astons and Sainz struggle

Lando Norris set the early benchmark time in the second session with a 1:30.78s with Verstappen and Norris’ teammate, Piastri behind him. While Norris held on to the fastest time in the session throughout, it was Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz in the drop zone. None of the bottom five managed to get out of the relegation zone, failing to qualify to Q3. 

Drivers eliminated in Q2

Esetban Ocon
Nico Hülkenberg
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
Carlos Sainz

Q3 – Piastri shines, Russell puts in a stunning final lap

Last year’s pole sitter, Max Verstappen’s 1:30.92s saw him go to the top of the table early on before Piastri smashed his away to provisional pole with a 1:30.7s. Piastri held on to provisional pole as his teammate Norris finished 0.090s behind him. 

A poor second and final sector from Verstappen meant that he couldn’t improve on his first lap’s time, and with Norris aborting his final lap, it was Oscar Piastri secured his first-ever pole position, going even faster at 1:30.64s to set a new track record while George Russell’s stunning final lap saw him split the two McLarens as he finished 0.082s behind Norris. 

Starting Grid for the Chinese Grand Prix 2025 (before any penalties)

1. Oscar Piastri
2. George Russell
3. Lando Norris
4. Max Verstappen
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Charles Leclerc
7. Isack Hadjar
8. Kimi Antonelli
9. Yuki Tsunoda
10. Alex Albon
11. Esetban Ocon
12. Nico Hülkenberg
13. Fernando Alonso
14. Lance Stroll
15. Carlos Sainz
16. Pierre Gasly
17. Ollie Bearman
18. Jack Doohan
19. Gabriel Bortoleto
20. Liam Lawson