2026 Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying: Russell takes his first Sprint Pole

George Russell stormed to a commanding Sprint pole position, his first, comfortably outpacing the field in a dominant qualifying performance. The Mercedes driver finished six tenths clear of the competition, with teammate Kimi Antonelli securing second to complete a front-row lockout for the Silver Arrows.

McLaren’s Lando Norris delivered a late improvement to claim third and emerge as the fastest non-Mercedes driver, while Lewis Hamilton slipped to fourth ahead of Oscar Piastri, who rounded out the top five in the closing moments of the session.

Formula One History Recommends

• 

  2026 Chinese GP FP1: Russell leads Mercedes one-two IN SOLE PRACTICE

• 

  2026 Chinese Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

2026 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying Results

2026 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying, 13 March 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:33.030	1:32.241	1:31.520	13
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:33.455	1:32.291	1:31.809	13
3	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:33.783	1:33.086	1:32.141	13
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:33.148	1:33.042	1:32.161	15
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:33.813	1:33.038	1:32.224	13
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:33.194	1:32.602	1:32.528	16
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:33.970	1:33.405	1:32.888	15
8	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:34.170	1:33.564	1:33.254	17
9	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	1:34.280	1:33.501	1:33.409	16
10	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	1:34.447	1:33.620	1:33.723	15
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	1:33.997	1:33.635		14
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	1:34.087	1:33.639		13
13	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1:34.110	1:33.714		13
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	1:34.291	1:33.774		14
15	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	1:34.495	1:34.048		13
16	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1:34.592	1:34.327		12
17	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1:34.761			6
18	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:35.305			6
19	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:35.581			5
20	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:36.151			7
21	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	1:37.378			8

Russell storms to Sprint pole in Shanghai as Mercedes lock out the front row

George Russell continued his commanding start to the weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix by claiming Sprint pole position at the Shanghai International Circuit, leading a Mercedes front-row lockout ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli. The Briton’s performance confirmed Mercedes as the team to beat so far in the early stages of the 2026 F1 World Championship, with Russell having already topped the sole practice session earlier on Friday before dominating all three phases of Sprint Qualifying.

With Shanghai hosting the first Sprint event of the season, the grid for Saturday’s 19-lap Sprint race was determined during the Friday afternoon session that began at 15:30 local time. Russell set the tone from the outset and carried that pace through the knockout format, ultimately delivering a blistering 1:31.520 lap on the soft tyre in SQ3.

That effort left the Mercedes driver nearly three-tenths clear of Antonelli, who secured second place with a 1:31.809. However, the Italian rookie’s performance was subject to a post-session investigation after he was noted by stewards for allegedly impeding Lando Norris earlier in the session.

Behind the dominant Mercedes pair, reigning World Champion Lando Norris emerged as the best of the rest for McLaren, though his lap was more than six-tenths of a second slower than Russell’s benchmark. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton slotted into fourth place, narrowly splitting the McLarens and finishing just ahead of Oscar Piastri in fifth.

The second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc claimed sixth position, though the Monegasque driver finished almost one second adrift of Russell’s pace. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly followed in seventh, while Red Bull endured a relatively muted session with Max Verstappen only eighth fastest.

Haas continued their encouraging form through Ollie Bearman, who secured ninth position on the Sprint grid, while Red Bull’s second car, driven by Isack Hadjar, rounded out the top ten.

Just outside the top ten, Nico Hülkenberg narrowly missed progressing to SQ3 and will line up 11th for Saturday’s Sprint in his Audi. Haas driver Esteban Ocon followed in 12th, with Liam Lawson placing 13th for Racing Bulls.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto secured 14th position, ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad in 15th and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto in 16th.

It proved to be a difficult session for Williams, with both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon eliminated in the opening segment of Sprint Qualifying. The pair were joined in the early exit by Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who also failed to progress beyond SQ1.

Cadillac will occupy the final row of the grid, with Valtteri Bottas finishing ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver was unable to record a lap time after suffering a fuel system issue, leaving him without a representative time in the session.

2026 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Starting Grid

The Sprint starting grid, with or without penalties, after the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying session.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:31.520	13
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:31.809	13
3	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:32.141	13
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:32.161	15
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:32.224	13
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:32.528	16
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:32.888	15
8	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:33.254	17
9	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	1:33.409	16
10	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	1:33.723	15
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	1:33.635	14
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	1:33.639	13
13	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1:33.714	13
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	1:33.774	14
15	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	1:34.048	13
16	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1:34.327	12
17	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1:34.761	6
18	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:35.305	6
19	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:35.581	5
20	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:36.151	7
21	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	1:37.378	8