Ferrari Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has spoken about a “masterplan” that he plans to work on tonight after the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying round, where he secured a P5 start position for Sunday’s race. This comes as a stark contrast to his Chinese GP sprint race victory earlier today, where he built a near-seven-second lead over runner-up Oscar Piastri.
The seven-time world champion set off to a great weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit, securing the pole position for the sprint race on Friday, followed by his first Ferrari victory. However, hours later, Hamilton seemed much slower during qualifying for the main race, leading Oscar Piastri, George Russell, and Lando Norris to secure the top three spots in the same order.
Hamilton admitted that Ferrari made changes to his SF-25 F1 car ahead of the qualifying session, but was unsure if it was that or the wind that made the car “quite snappy.” He also spoke about working on the plan that could get him his first Grand Prix victory with his new team. He said:
“We made a couple of changes to the car to rectify some of the problems we had, and I don’t know if it is the wind, but the car became quite snappy.
“The changes were to improve race performance, but it was definitely harder on the single lap, so it is going to be interesting.
“How you use the tyres is going to be key, but I feel optimistic for tomorrow, I’ll try to get a good start and jump at least one car and slowly make my way up.
“Tonight, I am just going to make a masterplan of how to win and I’m going to try and execute it, that’s the mindset I have.”
The Briton acknowledged that he didn’t expect Ferrari to finish in P5 and P6 but admitted that the intense competition could make results like this a recurring theme for the remainder of the 2025 season. He said:
“There are going to be swings and roundabouts, right, there are going to be ups and downs and we didn’t expect to be fifth and sixth, or I didn’t expect to be where I am, but its what we are going to be faced with through the season.
“So we’ve just got to try and stay calm.”
2025 Chinese Grand Prix Starting Grid
1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
3. Lando Norris (McLaren)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
8. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
9. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)
10. Alex Albon (Williams)
11. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
13. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
16. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
17. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
18. Jack Doohan (Alpine)
19. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
20. Liam Lawson (Red Bull)
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