SHANGHAI:

Lewis Hamilton said he was “gobsmacked” after a breakthrough sprint pole in China for Ferrari in only his second race weekend with the Italian Formula One team.

The seven-times world champion, who joined from Mercedes with a record 105 wins and 104 poles to his name, also smashed the Shanghai circuit lap record in securing the top slot for Saturday’s 100km sprint race.

Friday’s sprint qualifying was a moment the fans had hoped for, justifying some of the hype that had dimmed after the 40-year-old qualified eighth and finished 10th in the season-opening Australian race.

Asked about laying down a “marker in the sand”, even if sprint poles do not count among the tally of poles, Hamilton said it had been unexpected and he was shocked.

His initial reaction over the team radio was “really?”, followed by laughter.

“I’m just a bit gobsmacked, I’m a bit taken aback by it,” he said after beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just 0.018 of a second.

“I didn’t know when we would get to this position,” added the Briton, who has had to adjust to a new way of working at Ferrari.

“After last weekend, it was a difficult start to the week, to come here with just aggression and wanting to go into the weekend and really get the car into a great place.

“I started out straight away with a better feeling in the car. I can’t believe we are at the front, ahead of a McLaren which has been so fast throughout winter testing, and the last race and even today.”

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri qualified third, with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris sixth.

“Even though it’s not the main pole it gives me real inspiration to go into tomorrow and try to find more performance and see if we can compete again,” said Hamilton. “There’s definitely a little more performance to find, for sure.”

Hamilton, a record six-times winner in China, has not had a pole of any sort since Hungary in 2023 and Friday was also the first time he had out-qualified teammate Charles Leclerc in Ferrari red.

Leclerc, one of the quickest drivers over a single lap, was 0.208 slower.

“I struggled on my side of the garage. From the beginning I felt I was a step back from Lewis and he was just faster,” said the Monegasque.