Mercedes driver George Russell won the first sprint race of the season in Shanghai on Saturday morning, maintaining his 100 percent score in this young season – following his victory last weekend at the Australian GP. Max Verstappen experienced a dramatic start in China, fell far back, and ultimately had to settle for ninth place.
Read more Results sprint race Chinese GP 2026
In the first phase of the sprint race, Russell struggled briefly with Lewis Hamilton, who took the lead shortly after the start. For several laps, it was a matter of yo-yo racing between the two Britons, a result of battery charging and the use of overtake mode. After a few laps of swapping positions, however, Russell pulled away convincingly and drove straight to his first sprint victory, strengthening his lead in the world championship.
Unlike Russell, his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli had a poor start. The Italian lost a large number of positions and also collided with Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar, which resulted in a ten-second time penalty. Partly because of this, he was ultimately classified in fifth. Behind Russell, Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Hamilton finished second and third respectively.
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However, the man with the worst start of the field was Max Verstappen, who was slow off the line and fell back from P8 to P20. After that, the four-time world champion from Red Bull turned it into a recovery race. Despite a safety car situation (Nico Hülkenberg stopping) and a pit stop, Verstappen – on softs in the final phase – ultimately finished no higher than ninth place. As a result, he just missed out on points. Only the top eight receive points in a sprint race.
Later today, qualifying for the Chinese GP is on the schedule. This starts at 08:00 Dutch time.
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Results
- PosDriverTeamNationalityTime
- George Russell
Mercedes
33:38.998 - Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
+ 0.674 - Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
+ 2.554 - Lando Norris
McLaren
+ 4.433 - Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
+ 5.688 - Oscar Piastri
McLaren
+ 6.809 - Liam Lawson
Racing Bulls
+ 10.900 - Oliver Bearman
Haas
+ 11.271 - Max Verstappen
Red Bull
+ 11.619 - Esteban Ocon
Haas
