by F1 correspondent Michael Butterworth

SHANGHAI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- McLaren's Oscar Piastri took pole position for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, edging Mercedes' George Russell by 0.082s to top Saturday's Qualifying session.

A fresh layer of tarmac and warm and dry conditions contributed to a grippy surface at the Shanghai International Circuit, and Piastri's pole time of 1:30.641 was over three seconds quicker than Max Verstappen's benchmark from 2024.

Piastri had finished second in the F1 Sprint earlier in the day, and the Australian was in confident mood after notching his first ever Grand Prix pole position.

"I found a lot of pace in Q3. Q1 and Q2 I was genuinely struggling [but] the car came alive, I came alive in Q3," said Piastri.

"The laps were a little bit scruffy but I'm just pumped to be on pole."

"I want to make sure I keep the clean air [in the race]. I was pretty happy after the Sprint. We did the most we could. I would have been happier with one spot higher, but with how the race turned out I couldn't have asked for much more.

"I feel like we learned a lot and I'm looking forward to putting that into use tomorrow," said Piastri.

Behind Piastri, Russell was equally impressive in qualifying second ahead of Piastri's teammate Lando Norris, who had finished a disappointing eighth in the Sprint, and aborted his final qualifying run after a couple of small mistakes.

Red Bull's Verstappen will line up fourth, ahead of Sprint winner Lewis Hamilton in the first of the Ferraris. Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc qualified sixth, ahead of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar in an excellent seventh place.

Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli was eighth, with Hadjar's teammate Yuki Tsunoda ninth after a good session for Racing Bulls, and Alex Albon 10th, with the Williams driver punching the air in delight at having progressed to the top 10 shootout.

A solid session from Haas' Esteban Ocon sees the Frenchman start 11th, with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg sharing row six with him.

The two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll qualified 13th and 14th, ahead of a disappointing Carlos Sainz, who does not yet appear fully confident in his Williams.

Onto the drivers knocked out in Q1, Pierre Gasly lines up 16th for Alpine, with Ocon's teammate Oliver Bearman 17th.

Gasly's teammate Jack Doohan will start 18th, ahead of the second Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto, with Verstappen's under-fire teammate Liam Lawson starting 20th and last, just as he had in Sprint Qualifying.

The New Zealander is the latest driver to struggle in the second Red Bull alongside Verstappen, and has appeared to lack confidence in his RB21 so far this season. Enditem

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