Lewis Hamilton has spoken of his disbelief at securing pole position for the sprint race at the F1 Chinese GP.
Lewis Hamilton’s sensational bounce back in China after a disastrous Ferrari debut last week seemed something out of a fairy tale.
Hamilton’s Ferrari featured at the top of the timesheets towards the end of the first two sprint qualifying sessions.
Able to extract performance from his SF-25, he timed his runs to perfection, replicating this in the dying seconds of SQ3.
The Shanghai circuit erupted as the seven-time world champion aimed to consign the poor outing in Australia to memory.
Lewis Hamilton calls sprint pole position ‘incredible’
Speaking in Parc-Ferme, Hamilton praised his team for the changes made after practice. He confirmed he did not expect the result.
“I didn’t expect that result, but so, so happy and so proud. Obviously, 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. Coming here, 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 actually got a pole in the sprint. It’s not the main race, so we’ve got work to do for tomorrow, but this puts us in good stead for the race. It’s amazing to see the number one as you stop and be in the red car. It’s pretty incredible.”
Speaking to Sky Sports after the session, he revealed Ferrari’s aggressive approach to the weekend, stating the car felt better than in Albert Park.
“I’m just a bit gobsmacked. I was a bit taken back by it,” said Hamilton.”I didn’t know when we would get to this position and after last weekend it was a difficult start to the week. We came 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 and I just can’t believe that we’re at the front and ahead of McLaren, which has been so fast throughout winter testing and obviously in the last race and even today.
“I’m really grateful just to be up there fighting with these great drivers and to be so close to these other teams.”
Hamilton also confirmed tomorrow will be his first dry run in the SF-25, and stated his aim to claim the fist sprint race in 2025.
“I didn’t get to do a race run in Bahrain. Obviously, we did the race last weekend in the wet, but tomorrow will be kind of my first real race run, and Sunday will be my first proper race run in the dry with this car.
“So, I’ll be learning. I’m hoping that we can hold on to it. But I think the McLarens are very, very, very fast, as is Max, but we’re in a good position. We’ll stay positive.”
Feature Image Credit: Ferrari Media Centre
