Formula 1 News: Mercedes locks out front row for China Sprint

In a commanding display at the Shanghai International Circuit, George Russell secured pole position for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint race, leading a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli. The Briton’s benchmark lap of 1m31.520s in SQ3 put him 0.289 seconds clear of Antonelli, with Lando Norris rounding out the top three for McLaren, 0.621s adrift.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The session unfolded under what appeared to be stable conditions, with no weather disruptions noted. Russell carried his momentum from a strong showing in Melbourne, topping all three segments of the Sprint Qualifying format. In SQ1, he set the pace with a 1m33.030s, ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. SQ2 saw Antonelli briefly take the top spot with a 1m32.291s before Russell reclaimed control. The final SQ3 shootout confirmed Mercedes’ superiority, as Russell’s flyer proved untouchable.

Notable struggles marked the session for reigning champions Red Bull. Max Verstappen, who has dominated recent seasons, could only manage eighth place, 1.7 seconds off the pace, after battling severe drivability issues. The Dutchman vented frustration over team radio, describing his RB22 as “horrendous” and “undriveable,” with excursions into the gravel at the final corner in both SQ1 and SQ2. Teammate Sergio Perez fared worse, failing to set a lap in SQ1 due to a fuel system glitch.

Other highlights included Pierre Gasly’s impressive seventh for Alpine, a surprise amid the team’s recent form, and strong showings from rookies Ollie Bearman (ninth) and Isack Hadjar (tenth). However, the session wasn’t without drama: Antonelli and Gasly faced post-session investigations for impeding incidents in SQ2, with Antonelli blocking Norris in Turn 1. Additional off-track moments saw drivers like Bearman and Hadjar dipping wheels into gravel, while Nico Hulkenberg missed SQ3 by a mere 0.015s.

Lewis Hamilton, last year’s Sprint winner in China, qualified fourth for Ferrari, just ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in fifth and teammate Charles Leclerc in sixth, who was a full second off pole.

Post-session, Russell expressed delight with the W17’s performance: “The car’s been feeling amazing – we knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine’s performing really well, and today was a real joy to drive.” Verstappen, meanwhile, remained terse about his setup woes, highlighting a lack of grip.

This sets up an intriguing Sprint race. The Sprint is scheduled to kick off the weekend’s action, promising close battles in Shanghai’s enthusiastic atmosphere.

Quotes

Georage Russell: I am happy that we were able to secure pole position for tomorrow’s Sprint race, the first Sprint pole of my career. The W17 has been feeling great the entire day, and we’ve been able to make the most out of the car in today’s qualifying session. When the wind picked up in SQ3, we began to lose some speed on the straights, like others, but still managed to put all the sectors together and secure a front row for tomorrow’s race.

Despite our pace, we are cautious of the threat posed by others. We also know that anything can happen during a Sprint race, especially at the start. We’ve been working hard with the team on our getaways from the grid and have plenty of learnings from Melbourne. We will also need to focus on tire management as we always see a lot of graining at this track.

We’ll keep working overnight to ensure a good Sprint race tomorrow but also a successful qualifying session for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Kimi Antonelli: Securing a front row for tomorrow’s race is a good way to start the weekend. Congratulations to George for Sprint pole too; this continues our strong form as a team from Melbourne. Despite that, we know there is still a lot of work to do to improve. We will go through all the data from Friday and analyse how we can put ourselves in the best possible position for the Sprint but also the all-important Qualifying session. Tire management can be challenging here, and our starts were a limiting factor last weekend; we need to put all this together to perform as best as we can and fight for victory and pole tomorrow.

The overall positive is that the car felt good all day today. We need to keep it in that good window and, if we can do so, then I think we can bring home strong points in the Sprint. I’m looking forward to racing tomorrow and continuing this first Sprint weekend of the season.

2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying Results