Argentine driver Franco Colapinto (Alpine) had a strong qualifying session and will start from 12th place at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, raising his hopes of scoring his first points of the year. According to the Argentine News Agency, pole position went to Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), while his teammate, British driver George Russell, will start alongside him in the front row. Colapinto had a great start in Q1, advancing without major issues thanks to a lap time of 1:33.634 that put him in 10th place. In Q2, the Argentine also maintained a high level, setting a time of 1:33.357, though it wasn't enough to make it into the final qualifying segment, finishing just five thousandths off the cutoff. Nevertheless, the driver, who is in his third season in Formula 1, will start from 12th place and is optimistic about a very good opportunity to score points again. His teammate at Alpine, French driver Pierre Gasly, also had a standout qualifying performance and will begin Sunday's race from 7th place. Regarding the top positions, Antonelli secured pole position with his impressive time of 1:32.064, while his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, finished second, 222 thousandths behind. The second row will be occupied by Ferrari drivers, British driver Lewis Hamilton and Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who finished third and fourth respectively. The next row will feature the McLaren of Australian Oscar Piastri and British driver Lando Norris, while the top 10 was completed by French driver Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull), French driver Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), and British driver Oliver Bearman (Haas). Earlier in the day, the sprint race took place, in which Russell took the victory, with Leclerc and Hamilton completing the podium. The other five drivers who scored points in this race, which was one-third the length of a normal race, were Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, New Zealander Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), and Bearman. Colapinto, for his part, had climbed from 16th to 12th place after a great start in the sprint, but couldn't maintain the pace and crossed the finish line in 14th place.
