VERSTAPPEN TAKES DOMINANT AT POLE AT CHINESE GRAND PRIX; PEREZ SECOND AHEAD OF ALONSO

Max Verstappen takes Red Bull's 100th pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix.

 Max Verstappen continued his run of pole positions with a dominant performance at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Verstappen claimed his sixth straight pole position, and his fifth from five this season, going 0.3s quicker than Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso continued his stellar form by beating McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to third, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had to settle for sixth and seventh respectively.

Alonso said after the session: "We didn't give up, we kept pushing all the way through the lap and I set a good lap time, I think the car did improve since this morning. We made a few set-up changes, let's see tomorrow if we can translate that into points."

Red Bull has finished one-two at three of the four races so far this year and will look to do so again on Sunday.

The session was red flagged in Q2 as Sainz hit the gravel at the final corner and spun off the track, damaging his front wing. But he returned to the track for Q3 when the session resumed. 

Verstappen and Red Bull's supreme pace was revealed in the sprint race held several hours before qualifying for the grand prix.

Verstappen started that event fourth but made quick work of his rivals, before cantering away to win by 13 seconds.

The Dutchman will look to do the same in Sunday's main event.

He said: "I think after the sprint race it gave us a few more ideas about the car and I think the car worked even better in qualifying now, so definitely very happy with how qualifying went, the car was really nice to drive.

"That final lap in Q3 felt really decent and also very happy to drive here as well in the dry, the conditions were pretty good and it was a lot of fun."

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton provided the biggest shock of the session, failing to make it past the first qualifying session, Q1.

It marked a huge turnaround in fortunes for Hamilton after qualifying second for the sprint event.

He told Sky Sports after qualifying: "We [George Russell & Hamilton] were trying to experiment still with the car, so I went one way and he went the other way -- that's what we need to do at the moment -- and yeah, it didn't work.

"18th is pretty bad. When I was making the set up changes I thought, 'it can't get any worse, surely' and it did so s--- happens."

- Nate Saunders