Chinese GP Qualifying: Dominant Verstappen takes Red Bull's 100th F1 pole
Triple world champion Max Verstappen won Formula One's first sprint of the season before securing Red Bull's historic 100th pole position in qualifying for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.
The pole was the Dutch driver's fifth in five races this season and sixth in a row, counting last year's Abu Dhabi finale.
Sergio Perez, a Mexican teammate, qualified second fastest in a front row lockout for Red Bull, 15 years after the team won its first race at the Shanghai International Circuit with Sebastian Vettel.
Verstappen, who defeated old rival Lewis Hamilton by 13 seconds in the morning sprint, became the first driver since double world champion Mika Hakkinen in 1999 to begin a season with five consecutive poles.
"I think after the sprint race it gave us a few more ideas for the car and I think the car worked even better in qualifying now... The car was really nice to drive," said the 26-year-old.
"That final lap felt pretty decent and (I'm) also very happy to drive here in the dry. The conditions were pretty good so it was a lot of fun."
Verstappen's pole time of one minute 33.660 seconds was 0.322 seconds faster than Perez, who was nearly eliminated in the first phase when he hit traffic.
Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Lando Norris of McLaren shared the second row, but Mercedes seven-time world champion Hamilton went out in the first phase after making changes to the car and will start 18th.
"I'll give it my best shot," Hamilton, winner a record six times in China, said of his prospects for the race. "18th is pretty bad. When I was making the setup changes I was like 'It can't get any worse, surely?' and it did."
Norris had been on pole for the earlier sprint, but he went wide at the start and finished sixth. Sunday's race provides him with another opportunity to earn valuable points.
"I'm very happy. It was close with Fernando. Not a lot more I could ask for," said the Briton.
"The Red Bull is clearly in a different league this weekend both in qualifying and race pace."
Alonso's third place finish was a strong response to his sprint retirement, which came after the stewards awarded him three penalty points for colliding with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz while battling for third place.
"I had a moment in Turns One and Two and I was thinking about whether to abort or not, but we kept going and I set a good lap time. The car improved since this morning and we made a few changes," said the double champion.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri will start fifth, followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Sainz in sixth and seventh.
Sainz brought out the red flags 6.44 seconds from the end of the second phase of qualifying when he hit the gravel, spun, and crashed at the final turn.
The Spaniard kept the engine running and returned to the pits, where Ferrari was able to change the tyres and front wing before sending him out to set the third-fastest lap and qualify for the top ten shootout.
Hamilton's teammate George Russell qualified eighth, with Haas' Nico Hulkenberg ninth and Sauber's Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top ten.
Daniel Ricciardo of Australia qualified 12th, his best performance of the season, while Japanese RB Yuki Tsunoda finished 19th.
Sunday's race will be the first in China since 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
SportsLigue