Updates from Peter Johnson
8:25: That's it from me, remember to set your alarm for tomorrow's 3am start!
8:22: Hamilton has previously taken six poles and six Grand Prix wins in Shanghai. Now he has a sprint pole under his belt, will a sprint race win follow?
8:21: Hamilton continued: "It's amazing to see the P1 [sign as you park up in the pit lane] and in the red car as well. Hopefully we can hold on to it but the McLarens are very fast, as is Max."
8:20: Hamilton: "I wasn't expecting that result, but I'm so happy. The last race was a disaster. From Lap One the car felt alive. I can't believe we got pole in the sprint."
8:19: Hamilton also becomes the old pole sitter since Nigel Mansell in Adelaide in 1994.
8:18: With that sprint qualifying success, Lewis Hamilton also sets a new all-time lap record round the Shanghai International Circuit, with a 1:30.849.
8:17: Norris locked his brakes at the Turn 14 hairpin and abandoned his lap.
8:17: P1 Hamilton; P2 Verstappen; P3 Piastri; P4 Leclerc; P5 Russell; P6 Norris; P7 Antonelli; P8 Tsunoda; P9 Albon; P10 Stroll
8:16: Verstappen is 18 thousands slower than Hamilton, who takes his first sprint pole since Silverstone 2021, and crucially his first pole for Ferrari!
8:15: Only one man can deny Lewis Hamilton now... Max Verstappen.
8:14 Piastri and Leclerc are good enough for second and third, while Norris pits!
8:13 Hamilotn crosses the line and goes fastest!
8:12: Hamilton is marginally up on teammate Leclerc, but Norris is on a second lap and is looking faster than them both.
8:11: Only four lap times set so far, but here comes Lewis Hamilton.
8:10: Piastri was six tenths quicker than Norris in the final sector.
8:10: George Russell splits the McLarens while Kimi Antonelli goes fourth.
8:09: Piastri enters a 1:30.9, Norris cuts the beam and is four tenths down.
8:08: The two McLarens will be the first to set times. They're neck and neck after two sectors.
8:07: Lando Norris is looking good to take a second successive pole for the sprint race in Shanghai, but never discount Max Verstappen who has qualified first for nine of the 18 sprint races in Formula One history.
8:06: We have a green light for SQ3. All of the cars now emerge on soft tyres.
8:03: Lewis Hamilton looks much more comfortable in his Ferrari so far this weekend. Across Practice and the first two Sprint Qualifying sessions, he is yet to be outside of the top five.
8:02: The five drivers eliminated from SQ2: P11 Alonso; P12 Bearman; P13 Sainz; P14 Bortoleto; P15 Hadjar
8:01: The two Mercedes left it late and were both in real danger of elimination, but both climb into the top four.
8:00: Hadjar fails to set a lap time and is out, as is Carlos Sainz in the Williams.
7:59: Hadjar offers teammate Tsunoda a handy slipstream down the back straight and the Japanese driver jumps to P4, before being usurped by Stroll.
7:56: Norris, Piastri and Verstappen, the current top three, are in the garage. Everybody else is setting a lap time as we speak.
7:55: With three minutes remaining, the McLarens are leading the way with Norris ahead of Piastri. The bottom five are Alonso, Hadjar, Bearman, Tsunoda, Stroll. None of them have set a lap time yet.
7:54: George Russell is nine tenths off the pace for Mercedes, with Antonelli in a similar ball park. The Mercedes doesn't look a great car round here.
7:53: Norris and Verstappen are the early pace setters in SQ2. We are within a tenth of the all-time lap record in Shanghai, a 1:31.0 set by Sebastian Vettel in 2018.
7:50: Lawson aside, the rest of the rookies have had a decent showing so far. Jack Doohan was eliminated in SQ1 for Alpine, yet still outqualified teammate Pierre Gasly. Gabriel Bortoleto also made it through for Sauber while his vastly experienced teammate Nico Hülkenberg was eliminated in SQ1.
7:49: We have a green light for SQ2.
7:48: Watching a replay of Liam Lawson's lap, the car does not look to be fully underneath him. He has four attempts at turning into Turn 2 and does not have the confidence to attack throughout the rest of the lap.
7:46: At the other end of the standings, Lewis Hamilton was quickest for Ferrari, with Norris, Leclerc and Piastri behind.
7:45: Lawson tells his engineer over the radio that he was not able to get his tyre pressures down. Not what he needed after his Q1 elimination in Australia six days ago.
7:45: Your bottom five in SQ1: P16 Doohan; P17 Gasly; P18 Ocon; P19 Hülkenberg; P20 Lawson
7:43: Oliver Bearman sets an impressive lap to progress, unlike his teammate Esteban Ocon. Liam Lawson finishes right at the bottom of the pack.
7:43: The Red Bull of Liam Lawson is OUT.
7:42: Carlos Sainz jumps to ninth but quickly begins to slip down as Isack Hadjar, Yuki Tsunoda and others go quicker.
7:41: Everybody except Oscar Piastri is on a second run. Green sectors are appearing everywhere. The timing tower as it currently is may count for nothing.
7:39: Due to the perilously short sessions in sprint qualifying, there is an added possibility of a surprise elimination. Carlos Sainz, currently 17th in his Williams, would be one such surprise.
7:38: Bottom five with four minutes remaining: Tsunoda, Sainz, Bearman, Bortoleto, Ocon.
7:37: Mighty lap from Oscar Piastri, who is four tenths clear of the field. An impressive lap from Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin sees him in second, ahead of the Ferraris of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris in fifth.
7:36: Still waiting for the McLarens, who we expect to be quickest.
7:35: Lewis Hamilton goes fastest in his Ferrari, one tenth ahead of Verstappen. The Brit has taken pole six times before in Shanghai.
7:34: Gabriel Bortoleto is the early pace setter with a 1:33.6 in his Sauber, but Max Verstappen shoots up to first place with a 1:32.9.
7:32: The two Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell were the first two drivers out on track, but they are doing a second warm-up lap. Max Verstappen will set the first competitive lap time.
7:32: As it's sprint qualifying, there are additional rules regarding tyre selection. Each car must run medium tyres in Sprint Qualifying 1 (SQ1) and SQ2, while softs are mandated in SQ3.
7:30: We have a green light at the end of the pit lane and sprint qualifying is GO in Shanghai! Three sessions of 12, 10 and eight minutes are coming up, with the slowest five eliminated in the first two rounds and the final session setting the top 10 on the grid.
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