Mercedes’ George Russell will start the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix from the front of the grid after beating team-mate Kimi Antonelli by just under three tenths of a second. Lando Norris took third in Sprint Qualifying more than six tenths behind the lead Mercedes.
There was a faller before the session had even got underway, with Cadillac’s Sergio Pérez ruled out due to a technical problem on his car.
When the track went green for the start of SQ1 it was Russell who led the way, with the Mercedes driver going quickest on 1:33.030. That put him a tenth clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton with the seven-time champion’s team-mate Charles Leclerc in P3 ahead of Antonelli, Norris and the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri.
Further back, Red Bull Racing were struggling. Max Verstappen was complaining of “horrendous driveability” on his RB22, and the four-time champion progressed in a relatively lowly 11th place, some 1.8s off Russel’s P1 time. It was a similar story for Verstappen’s new team-mate Isack Hadjar woe went through in P14.
Ruled out the end of SQ1 were Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon in P17 and P18, with the Williams pair being followed to the exit by the Aston Martin’s of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll and the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas.
Russell was again in control in SQ2 and this time it was the Australian Grand Prix winner’s opening run that netted him top spot on the timesheet. He put in a 1:32.241 to seize P1 ahead of Antonelli though this time the Italian was just 0.05s off his team-mate. Antonelli was in trouble, however, with the stewards flagging in for post-session investigation for allegedly impeding Norris. The McLaren driver finished SQ2 in P3 ahead of Hamilton and Piastri.
There were again nervous moments at Red Bull Racing. Verstappen went wide in the final corner of his last effort, and he went through in P9. The off might have been explained, however, by a lapse in concentration following a moment at the exit of Turn 14 where he came across the slow Alpine of Pierre Gasly on the racing line. Like Antonelli, the Frenchman was set to be investigated after the session. Behind Verstappen, Hadjar scraped into the top 10 shootout, just 0.015s ahead of 11th-placed Nico Hülkenberg.
The Audie driver was the first out of the session then, followed by Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, the second Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto, the second Racing Bulls car of Arvid Lindblad and the second Alpine of Franco Colapinto.
Russell’s first Q3 run earned him top spot on 1:31.520. That put him clear of Antonelli, Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen. The other five cars, including the McLarens and Hadjar, remained in the garage, targeting a single run with the track at its best.
Antonelli improved by 0.07s on his second attempt, not enough to trouble Russell, while Leclerc shaved two hundredths off his time. However, it was Norris who jumped up the order, with the world champion posting a lap of 1:32.141 to take P3 ahead of Hamilton and Piastri. Leclerc was left with sixth ahead of Gasly, while Verstappen took a disappointing P8 ahead of Bearman and Hadjar.
2026 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 George RUSSELL Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team 1:31.520
2 Kimi ANTONELLI Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team 1:31.809
3 Lando NORRIS McLaren Mastercard F1 Team 1:32.141
4 Lewis HAMILTON Scuderia Ferrari HP 1:32.161
5 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren Mastercard F1 Team 1:32.224
6 Charles LECLERC Scuderia Ferrari HP 1:32.528
7 Pierre GASLY BWT Alpine F1 Team 1:32.888
8 Max VERSTAPPEN Oracle Red Bull Racing 1:33.254
9 Oliver BEARMAN TGR Haas F1 Team 1:33.409
10 Isack HADJAR Oracle Red Bull Racing 1:33.723
11 Nico HULKENBERG Audi Revolut F1 Team 1:33.635
12 Esteban OCON TGR Haas F1 Team 1:33.639
13 Liam LAWSON Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team 1:33.714
14 Gabriel BORTOLETO Audi Revolut F1 Team 1:33.774
15 Arvid LINDBLAD Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team 1:34.048
16 Franco COLAPINTO BWT Alpine F1 Team 1:34.327
17 Carlos SAINZ Atlassian Williams F1 Team 1:34.761
18 Alexander ALBON Atlassian Williams F1 Team 1:35.305
19 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team 1:35.581
20 Lance STROLL Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team 1:36.151
21 Valtteri BOTTAS Cadillac Formula 1 Team 1:37.378
Russell quickest in sole practice session for Chinese Grand Prix
George Russell set the fastest lap of the single practice session available to teams as the first Sprint weekend of the new F1 season got underway at the 2026 FIA Formula One Chinese Grand Prix. Russell set a best time of 1:32.741 beating team-mate Kimi Antonelli by just over a tenth of a second with McLaren’s Lando Norris another four tenths back in third.
Mercedes was to the fore through the session with Russell setting the pace in the opening phase of the session predominantly run on C3 Medium tyre Pirelli tyres. The Briton posted a lap of 1:34.169 to lead Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by over two tenths of a second with Mclaren’s Oscar Piastri just behind the Monegasque driver.
The opening phase was studded with incidents. Shortly after running got underway, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto went off track unusually, with his car lurching into a spin just before a braking zone, similarly to how Max Verstappen exited qualifying for last weekend’s season-opener in Australia.
There was then an odd moment when defending world champion Norris tangled with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver went to pass the Ferrari man only for Hamilton to push ahead, a move that resulted in minor contact between the pair. Hamilton, who was running the ‘rotating’ rear wing the team had trialled in pre-season testing, then had a spin at Turn 6, flat-spotting his tyres and telling his team that his brakes had locked.
There were bigger problems for Arvid Lindblad, however. With 15 minutes gone, the Racing Bulls driver ground to a halt at Turn 9 and a VSC was deployed. The 2026 season’s only rookie would take no further part in the session.
One the VSC was removed, Hamilton shed his damaged Medium tyres and switched to a longer run on Softs but despite the softer compound he could still only get to just over two tenths off Russell’s’ Medium-tyre best.
And when the Australian Grand Prix winner bolted a set of C4s onto his Mercedes he confirmed his car’s pace by posting a lap of 1:32.807 which he then improved to 1:32.741. Team-mate Antonelli followed with lap of 1:32.861 to take P2 on the timesheet. Norris got closest to the Mercedes pair, posting a time of 1:33.296 to set 0.555s off Russell. The world champion was followed by Piastri and Leclerc, with Hamilton in sixth on 1:34.129.
The seven-time champion was followed by Haas’ Oliver Bearman and then by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen who ended the session with a best time of 1:34.541 which left him 1.8s off the pace. Nico Hülkenberg was ninth for Audi and the top 10 order was completed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
2026 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.741 28 211.595
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:32.861 0.120 29 211.322
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:33.296 0.555 28 210.336
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:33.472 0.731 27 209.940
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:33.599 0.858 27 209.656
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:34.129 1.388 25 208.475
7 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:34.426 1.685 27 207.819
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:34.541 1.800 24 207.567
9 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:34.639 1.898 26 207.352
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 1:34.676 1.935 27 207.271
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:34.773 2.032 28 207.058
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:34.828 2.087 25 206.938
13 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:34.856 2.115 25 206.877
14 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:34.877 2.136 24 206.832
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 1:34.947 2.206 25 206.679
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:35.480 2.739 30 205.525
17 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:35.679 2.938 17 205.098
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Honda 1:35.856 3.115 18 204.719
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 1:36.057 3.316 24 204.291
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 1:37.224 4.483 20 201.839
21 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:37.896 5.155 6 200.453
22 Sergio Pérez Cadillac/Ferrari 1:39.200 6.459 13 197.818
