A “gobsmacked” Lewis Hamilton will start in pole for tomorrow’s 2025 Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, having beaten Max Verstappen to the top spot by less than two hundredths of a second.

Scroll down to see how the full grid will look when it lines up for the first sprint race of the season, which starts at the ungodly hour of 3am in the UK — 11am local time in Shanghai.

If you do commit to waking up early — or staying up late — then your dedication could be well rewarded. Aside from the sight of the two old foes duelling for the first corner from the front row of the grid, there’ll also be the two McLaren drivers, who failed to show their superior pace in the final qualifying session, looking to join the lead battle from third and sixth on the grid.

Once again there’s a Racing Bull and Williams shaking things up in the top ten, as well as a Red Bull at the back: Liam Lawson is set to start dead last after a second successive disastrous qualifying.

Don’t forget that the sprint race is just the prelude to Grand Prix qualifying, which takes place on Saturday afternoon, followed by the race itself on Sunday.

Here’s how the grid will line up on Saturday morning, unless any penalties are imposed between now and the start.

2025 Chinese Grand Prix sprint race starting grid

1	Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1min 30.849sec		2	Max Verstappen Red Bull 1min 30.867sec
3	Oscar Piastri McLaren 1min 30.929sec		4	Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1min 31.057sec
5	George Russell Mercedes 1min 31.169sec		6	Lando Norris McLaren 1min 31.393sec
7	Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1min 31.738sec		8	Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 1min 31.773sec
9	Alex Albon Williams 1min 31.852sec		10	Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1min 31.982sec
11	Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1min 31.815sec		12	Oliver Bearman Haas 1min 31.978sec
13	Carlos Sainz Williams 1min 32.483sec		14	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1min 32.564sec
15	Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1min 32.171sec		16	Jack Doohan Alpine 1min 32.575sec
17	Pierre Gasly Alpine 1min 32.640sec		18	Esteban Ocon Haas 1min 32.651sec
19	Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1min 32.675sec		20	Liam Lawson Red Bull 1min 32.729sec