George Russell has taken victory in the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint. Image: XPB Images
George Russell continued his strong start to the 2026 season by winning the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.6 seconds after an entertaining early battle at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton completed the podium for Ferrari after briefly leading in the opening laps, finishing ahead of reigning world champion Lando Norris and Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who recovered from an early collision and a 10-second penalty.
Oscar Piastri crossed the line sixth for McLaren to score his first points of the season after briefly overtaking Antonelli at the restart before being ordered to hand the position back for doing so before the restart line.
Further back, Liam Lawson claimed his first points of 2026 with a strong drive to seventh, narrowly holding off Haas rookie Oliver Bearman, while Max Verstappen recovered from a poor start to finish ninth for Red Bull.
Attention now turns to Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, scheduled for 3pm local time on Saturday (6pm AEDT).
Results: Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, Sprint
Pos.
No.
Driver
Team
Laps
Time / Retired
Pts.
1
63
George Russell
Mercedes
19
33:38.998
8
2
16
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
19
+0.674s
7
3
44
Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
19
+2.554s
6
4
1
Lando Norris
McLaren
19
+4.433s
5
5
12
Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
19
+5.688s
4
6
81
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
19
+6.809s
3
7
30
Liam Lawson
Racing Bulls
19
+10.900s
2
8
87
Oliver Bearman
Haas F1 Team
19
+11.271s
1
9
3
Max Verstappen
Red Bull Racing
19
+11.619s
0
10
31
Esteban Ocon
Haas F1 Team
19
+13.887s
0
11
10
Pierre Gasly
Alpine
19
+14.780s
0
12
55
Carlos Sainz
Williams
19
+15.753s
0
13
5
Gabriel Bortoleto
Audi
19
+15.858s
0
14
43
Franco Colapinto
Alpine
19
+16.393s
0
15
6
Isack Hadjar
Red Bull Racing
19
+16.430s
0
16
23
Alexander Albon
Williams
19
+20.014s
0
17
14
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
19
+21.599s
0
18
18
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
19
+21.971s
0
19
11
Sergio Perez
Cadillac
19
+28.241s
0
NC
27
Nico Hulkenberg
Audi
12
DNF
0
NC
77
Valtteri Bottas
Cadillac
12
DNF
0
NC
41
Arvid Lindblad
Racing Bulls
11
DNF
0
