New Pirelli sprint trophy becomes Lewis Hamilton’s first silverware with Ferrari

Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the Chinese sprint race, which will take place tomorrow morning. 

On top of starting at the front of the grid for Saturday’s sprint, the British driver also received the first trophy of his Ferrari career. In the days running up to the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Pirelli unveiled an all-new trophy design. 

The trophy, featuring an embossed version of the special edition brand logo marking Pirelli’s 500th Grand Prix later this year at the Dutch Grand Prix, will be used for all sprint qualifying sessions throughout the season. The trophy will be personalised with a silver plaque engraved with the pole sitter’s initials.

The former Mercedes driver was taken aback after securing the first grid slot, saying to Sky Sports F1:

“I’m just a bit gobsmacked, taken aback by it. I didn’t know when we would get to this position.

“After last weekend, it was a difficult start to the week. We came here with aggression and wanting to go into the weekend and get the car into a great place.

“I started out straight away with a better feeling in the car. I can’t believe we are at the front, ahead of a McLaren which has been so fast throughout winter testing, Australia and even today.

“I’m really grateful to be up there with these great drivers and be so close to all these other teams.”

Ferrari team chief Fred Vasseur, although positive overall, explained that “it is difficult to read and understand from one session to the other one.”

He added: “Sometimes McLaren had a huge gap, sometimes not so. Let’s analyse it. We have a lot of work to do.

“For sure it’s a good feeling and gives a positive energy to the team and Lewis, but I always see the negative side!

“We can score a lot of points this weekend with the Sprint [format]. The fact Lewis was in front in SQ1 and SQ3, is also a proof of consistency and this is good.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is set to line up alongside Hamilton in second position for the sprint race.