Oscar Piastri claims pole position as Lawson stumbles

Oscar Piastri claimed his first GP pole position.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri took his first career pole with a storming lap ahead of George Russell and team-mate Lando Norris.

The Aussie kept his cool on his final run in Q3 as he narrowly went quicker than Russell who surprised many to end up on the front row. Piastri's time of 1:30:641 saw him finish just under a tenth clear of Russell.

Piastri who had been struggling earlier in the session said: "In Q3, I just found a lot of pace. The car just came alive, and I think I came alive. The laps were still a bit scruffy but I'm just pumped to be on pole."

On the other side of the McLaren garage, Lando Norris was only able to manage P3, despite hooking it together in Q2. Just like on Friday, Lando commented on how difficult the McLaren is to drive, despite having the potential to be the quickest. He'll need to have a better start than he did in Sprint if he's going to challenge the front two.

Max was up there once again in P4, ahead of both Ferraris who weren't able to show the same pace they did in the Sprint earlier. Lewis once again was ahead of Charles, showing he has the measure on him around Shanghai.

Elsewhere it was RB who took many of the headlines, specifically Isack Hadjar, who bounced back from his nightmare in Melbourne to out-qualify the in-form Yuki Tsunoda. The French driver will start tomorrow's race from P7, ahead of Yuki in P9.

Yuki will be especially disappointed at being out-qualified due to Liam Lawson once again struggling. The Kiwi was P20 and complained about not being able to get the RB20 in its narrow working window. He also wasn't helped by the start of his lap being compromised by Pierre Gasly who overtook him at the line.

The pressure is starting to mount on Liam, however, Isack's impressive pace could potentially mean there isn't a stand-out replacement for him if they are to make a mid-season switch.

Speaking afterwards, Helmut Marko delivered a cryptic response: "We will analyse the whole weekend, also what happened in Australia, and then we'll see what we will do."

Last season with Perez, it was Yuki's inability to completely dominate either Daniel or Liam which meant Red Bull didn't absolutely have to promote him. He'll hope there isn't a repeat of that with Isack.

Alex Albon rounded out the top ten, once again ahead of Carlos, although in Q2 the two-tenths that separated them was equivalent to five cars. The big question tomorrow for the Williams will be whether or not their setup changes will have helped them with graining, as they both massively struggled in the Sprint.

Esteban Ocon pulled in his best result in a Haas so far with a quietly impressive P11, whilst Bearman wasn't able to carry over the form he showed yesterday, getting knocked out in Q1.

Just like in Sprint Qualifying, the two Alpines were also knocked out in Q1, however, Gasly was able to make good strides in the Sprint earlier which will give the side promise they can keep a handle on their tyres.

So the questions going into tomorrow's race will be:

Who will get a grip on the tyres over a race distance?

How will Oscar deal with starting from pole?

Can the chasing pack compete with McLaren?

Will Isack be able to put Melbourne behind him?

Can Liam finally make an impact?

It all remains to be seen, but follow it all on our X @F1Shef