Russell puts Mercedes on top by half a second as spin delays Hamilton

Mercedes was consistently the team to beat throughout the sole practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix.

George Russell ended the hour of running fastest ahead of his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the pair separated by a tenth of a second. Russell set his quickest time on his second flying lap on soft tyres at the end of the session.

McLaren looked to be in stronger shape than they had been in Australia. Lando Norris set the third-fastest time at the end of the session, just over half a second off Russell’s best. Last year’s winner Oscar Piastri was fourth-fastest as a quartet of Mercedes-powered cars headed the times.

The two Ferraris were next, both deploying the team’s new rotating rear wing. Charles Leclerc lost time on his final flying run when he dropped his right-hand side wheels into the gravel trap at the exit of turn 16.

But his team mate had an even more eventful session. Lewis Hamilton was surprised to find Norris diving down the inside of him at turn 16 as he prepared to begin his first lap. The pair narrowly avoided a collision in an incident the stewards noted but declined to investigate.

Soon after beginning his first lap, Hamilton’s car snapped away from him in the braking zone for turn six. He rejoined the track, albeit with heavily flat-spotted tyres. He covered a few laps on his badly scuffed mediums before making an early switch to softs.

Oliver Bearman provided more encouragement to Haas with the seventh-fastest time. However he suffered a spin at the end of the session as he moved out of Lance Stroll’s way at the exit of turn four.

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Max Verstappen’s best effort in the Red Bull left him 1.8 seconds off the pace. Team mate Isack Hadjar was three tenths of a second slower. Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine completed the top 10.

Gasly’s team mate Franco Colapinto had an eventful session which started with a spin at turn nine on his out-lap. Later his car came to a stop in the fast lane of the pits as he came in from a run, prompting a group of Alpine mechanics to run down to him, only to trudge back when the A526 suddenly came back to life.

He ended the session 15th ahead of the two Williams drivers. Carlos Sainz Jnr suffered another disrupted session due to what Williams called a “data issue” on his car, though he was able to complete a run on softs.

The two Aston Martin drivers had more productive sessions than they enjoyed in Australia. However Arvid Lindblad will go into the sprint race qualifying session at a distinct disadvantage having completed just six laps in his Racing Bulls before it came to a stop at the turn 14 hairpin.

With drivers expressing serious concerns over the safety of race starts in F1’s new cars, and only one opportunity to practice them before this weekend’s two races, the FIA elected to let them perform two practice starts each at the end of the session. No major apparent problems occured.

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2026 Chinese Grand Prix first practice result

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2026 Chinese Grand Prix

• “What the hell is happening?” Frustrated Leclerc lost “half a second” on straight
• Antonelli keeps front row start, Gasly stays seventh as stewards clear pair of impeding
• Mercedes made early start to new power unit project ‘like last time’ – Hamilton
• “The whole day has been a disaster” says Verstappen after qualifying eighth
• Russell heads sprint race qualifying but second-placed Antonelli faces investigation

Browse all 2026 Chinese Grand Prix articles

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