Lewis Hamilton secured P3 in Qualifying for the 2026 F1 Chinese GP after battling challenging wind conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit. The Ferrari driver qualified 0.351 seconds behind pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli. Speaking in the press conference after the session, Hamilton expressed gratitude for the result despite acknowledging mistakes throughout his qualifying runs.
Antonelli became the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history, breaking Sebastian Vettel’s long-standing record. George Russell completed a Mercedes front-row lockout in P2. Hamilton starts Sunday’s race from the second row for Ferrari, looking to challenge the dominant Mercedes duo.
Multiple errors cost potential front-row start at the 2026 F1 Chinese GP
When asked about his performance, Hamilton began by congratulating Antonelli before reflecting on a qualifying session he felt never fully came together.
“Firstly, I have to say a big congratulations to this big lad here, to Kimi. It’s an amazing achievement to come into… Well, he took my seat! And he hit it hard from the get-go, so it’s really great to see him progressing and he really deserves it. And a great record. It’s going to take a while for someone to ever get close to that one.”
Despite securing a strong grid position, Hamilton admitted the session itself had been far from tidy, with changing wind conditions making the car difficult to manage around the Shanghai circuit.
“And then yeah, my session, it was a very tricky session for me. It wasn’t actually as good as Sprint quali, not as smooth, lots of snaps. I think with the wind it was really tricky with the balance that I had, so I need to look into that. So, there was quite a lot of mistakes.”
Those small errors ultimately prevented him from extracting the maximum from the car, with Hamilton estimating there was still time left on the table during the decisive Q3 runs.
“I had a big snap on the first Q3 lap and was quite a bit down, and then the last lap was okay. I think it definitely could have been quite a bit better if I’d been able to get into rhythm. So, I think there’s a couple of tenths missing probably, but I’m just grateful to be up here.”
Ferrari progress still uncertain after Chinese GP Qualifying
Ferrari halved their qualifying deficit to Mercedes compared to the season opener in Melbourne. When asked about the satisfaction this provided during his Chinese GP qualifying performance, he remained skeptical about declaring genuine progress.
“Well, I mean, I don’t know. It’s hard to know what that is. Maybe they didn’t turn the mode they had on, I don’t know, so we’ll take it with a pinch of salt.”
However, he acknowledged Ferrari’s genuine development work had contributed to the progress, with lessons from the break helping reduce the qualifying gap.
“But I do think over the break we progressed with some changes that we made, some things we learned in the Sprint race. So, I’m grateful that we are getting a little bit closer, but whether or not that’s real true pace, we’ll see obviously when we get to the next race in terms of qualifying,” Hamilton stated.
Hamilton emphasized that verification requires consistency across multiple events. One strong qualifying doesn’t confirm Ferrari truly closed the performance gap.
“But yeah, we’re hunting, we’re chasing, and I know everyone is geared up to just do everything they can to close that gap,” he concluded.
Hamilton delivers blunt verdict after F1 Chinese GP Qualifying
When asked directly about beating Mercedes in Sunday’s race, Hamilton offered an unusually frank assessment following the session. Ferrari’s internal data suggests Mercedes holds a dominant race pace advantage that even Hamilton’s P3 may struggle to overcome.
“I think it’s highly unlikely that we will be able to beat them in the race. I mean, in our statistics they’ve got some between four and six tenths race pace. Whether or not we saw that in the first race or not, I think in clear air they’re just above us at the moment.”
Despite the pessimistic outlook, Hamilton said race-day variables could help Ferrari as opportunities could present themselves through strategy or the start.
“So, I don’t know, maybe with strategy, maybe something can happen, maybe with the start, maybe there’s a way. I definitely need to make sure I don’t kill my tyres trying to either keep up with them or keep one behind. I need to drive better tomorrow,” Hamilton stated.
