George Russell has topped practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, as the Silver Arrows continue their strong start to the 2026 season.
During the weekend’s exclusive practice session before the sprint qualifying event on Friday afternoon, Live on Sky Sports F1 at 7.30amRussell’s time of 1:32.741 made him the 10th clear Antonelli at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Just as Russell edged Antonelli 1-2 in the season opener in Australia last weekend, Mercedes appear to be in a league of their own with world champion Lando Norris in third, half a second behind, and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piatri in fourth, two-tenths ahead by a lap. .
Ferrari, Mercedes’ closest challenger in Melbourne, made a splash after its pre-season debut but was disappointingly lacking in speed despite running the swiveling ‘Macarena’ rear wing that was not used in Australia.
Charles Leclerc was more than eight-tenths behind Russell’s lead time in fifth, while Lewis Hamilton was 1.3 seconds behind in sixth.
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Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz and Bernie Collins take a closer look at Ferrari’s rear wing design.
Hamilton had an eventful start to the session as he appeared to accidentally collide with Norris and later went off the track at Turn 6.
A lockout that preceded the spin flat spot forced Hamilton to switch to the soft compound ahead of his rivals and left him somewhat out of sync for the remainder of the session.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was eighth, just behind the Haas of Britain’s Oliver Bearman, 1.8 seconds behind.
British rookie Arvid Lindblad, who scored points on his F1 debut in Melbourne, completed just six laps before technical problems stopped the Racing Bulls driver on the track.
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Racing Bulls’ Arvin Lindblad retired in the first practice session of the Chinese GP after just five laps.
After a nightmare start to the season, Aston Martin showed some improvement with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll combining for 38 laps, but the Spaniard’s best time left him three seconds behind in 18th place and he was still short on pace.
Williams also suffered ongoing problems as Carlos Sainz was unable to run for the first half of the session due to a data issue and started his lap late.
Sky Sports F1 Chinese GP Schedule
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Take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments from the Shanghai International Circuit.
Friday March 13th
6am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6:45 a.m.: Chinese GP sprint qualifying (session starts at 7:30 a.m.)*
Saturday, March 14th
2:25 AM: Chinese GP sprint build-up*
3am: Chinese GP Sprint*
4:30 AM: Ted’s sprint notes*
5.30am: F1 Academy Race 1*
6:30 AM: Preparing for Chinese GP qualifying*
7am: Chinese GP Qualifying*
9:00 AM: Ted’s Qualifying Note*
Sunday March 15th
2.35am: F1 Academy Race 2*
5.30am: Build-up to the Chinese GP: Sunday Grand Prix*
7 a.m.: Chinese Grand Prix*
9am: Chinese GP reaction: checkered flag*
10 AM: Ted’s Note*
*Applies to Sky Sports main event as well
Formula 1 will be live on Sky Sports F1 from Shanghai for the first sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports NOW – No Commitment, Cancel Anytime
