Ferrari issue caution despite Hamilton sprint pole success

Fred Vasseur has urged caution regarding Ferrari's chances at the Chinese Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton claimed a surprise sprint pole. 

Hamilton defied the odds to beat McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as well as Max Verstappen, to pole position for the sprint, with the Red Bull driver joining him on the front row. 

It marked the seven-time world champion's first sprint pole since the 2021 British Grand Prix and his first pole in any format for Ferrari.

For Hamilton and Ferrari, it is a boost after its poor performance in the season-opener, although Vasseur is wary that one practice session makes the pecking order picture unclear. 

"It’s better than last week but it’s still a bit difficult to read and understand one session to the other," Vasseur told Sky Sports F1. 

"Sometimes McLaren has a huge gap, sometimes it’s quite small. We [still] have a lot of work to do."

The general positive for Ferrari is that it struggled over one lap in Albert Park last weekend, yet Hamilton was very impressive in Shanghai.

Hamilton, who has a remarkable track record in China, set a new lap record to secure sprint pole, with Vasseur outlining the boost it has delivered the seven-time F1 champion.

"If you compare with last week when we struggled a lot in qualifying and the race, for sure it’s much better," added Vasseur. 

"It’s positive energy for Lewis and the team. This is good but I’ll always see the negative side!"

For Hamilton, the target will now be to score significant points in the first sprint of the season.

"You can score a lot of points this weekend in the sprint, this is positive for sure," noted the Ferrari boss. 

"The fact that Lewis was in front in Q1 and Q3 is a point of consistency. This is good."