Norris takes China sprint race pole from Hamilton

McLaren’s Lando Norris seized pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race on Friday after a wet and chaotic qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Mercedes’ seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton made it an all-British front row, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso lining up third.

Red Bull’s triple world champion Max Verstappen will start only fourth after twice going off in the final top 10 shootout, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz fifth and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez sixth.

Hamilton appeared to have secured the pole for Saturday’s points scoring 100km race but Norris went to the top of the timesheets in the final seconds with a time of one minute, 57.940 seconds.

The younger Briton then had the lap deleted, putting Hamilton back on provisional pole with a lap of 1:59.201, before it was reinstated moments later.

“It was wild,” said Norris of the slippery conditions. “It was good fun, it gets your heart going. A nice surprise and a good position for tomorrow.”