US EditionRussell Leads Mercedes One-Two in China GP Sprint Qualifying
George Russell led Mercedes to a front-row lockout in sprint qualifying, outpacing rivals by up to 0.289 seconds, while Red Bull struggled with new power units.
- On Friday, Mercedes driver George Russell secured pole position for Saturday's sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, clocking 1min 31.520sec around the Shanghai International Circuit, 0.289sec ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli.
- Carrying momentum from his season-opening win in Australia, Russell praised his vehicle's performance, saying, "We knew after Melbourne we had a really good car. The engine's performing really well."
- World champion Lando Norris qualified third, 0.621sec behind Russell, while Lewis Hamilton placed fourth in his Ferrari and Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished eighth, 1.734sec off the pace.
- Drivers prepare for Saturday's 19-lap sprint dash, which marks the first of six sprint races this season at the Shanghai circuit.
- Shanghai's layout, featuring one long straight and multiple turn complexes, demands careful energy management as the 2026 cars split power 50-50 between conventional and electrical systems; teams had only one practice session Friday to finalize setups.
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The second day of the racing weekend in China begins on Saturday morning. First, the competitors will compete in the sprint race, which will be broadcast at 4:00. In qualifying, the best Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were again in the lead, having made an outstanding start to the new season. At 8:00, we will also have the qualifying for the big Sunday race. You can watch both the sprint race and the qualifying on Kanal A and…
Melbourne winner George Russell convincingly won the qualifying for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, with the Dutchman almost two seconds slower.
George Russell brands Mercedes car 'amazing' after sprint triumph ahead of Chinese Grand Prix
George Russell delivered a commanding performance in sprint qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit, claiming his maiden sprint pole position with a lap of 1:31
Briton George Russell (Mercedes) is the winner of qualifying for Saturday's sprint race of the Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix. He overtook teammate Italian Kimi Antonelli by just under three-tenths of a second on the Shanghai track, confirming Mercedes' dominance at the start of the season.
The Formula 1 World Cup comes to its second round of the season with the celebration of the Chinese GP in Shanghai. The 22 championship singles land on the Asian continent to try to improve their performances at the premiere in Australia. As a favourite, the Mercedes team, which doubled in the first World Championship race and has placed George Russell in the pole in the face of Saturday’s sprint. On the part of the Spanish representation, Ferna…
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