Chinese GP: Hamilton takes first Ferrari pole in sprint race

Lewis Hamilton took his first pole position for Ferrari as he headed sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, reports BBC Sports.

Hamilton beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 0.018 seconds as McLaren's challenge faded around the Shanghai circuit and will start Saturday's sprint race from the front.

Oscar Piastri was third and Lando Norris, winner of the season-opening race in Australia last weekend, sixth behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Mercedes' George Russell.

Norris had appeared to be on target to take sprint pole with a blistering first-sector time on a second run but braked too late for the hairpin at the end of the long back straight and ran wide, forcing him to abort the lap.

Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli was seventh, ahead of Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda, Williams' Alex Albon and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.

Hamilton, who was 0.208secs quicker than Leclerc, had a difficult first race with Ferrari in Melbourne and the seven-time champion said: "I'm a bit in shock. I can't believe we got a pole in the sprint. It's not the main race so we have some work to do for tomorrow.

"I didn't expect that result but so happy and so proud. The last race was a disaster for us. We knew there was more performance in the car. It came alive from lap one."

Ferrari qualified only seventh and eighth in Australia and both drivers struggled in the rain in the grand prix, finishing eighth and 10th.

They felt they had under-performed at Albert Park, losing pace in the final part of qualifying after being quick all weekend up to that point.

The team managed to get the car in a better set-up window in China, where Hamilton has won more races than any other driver, and the car's pace was transformed.

The sprint race, a shorter race about one-third of the distance of a grand prix, is at 03:00 GMT time on Saturday, with qualifying for the main race following at 07:00.