Mercedes’ George Russell won Friday night’s (March 13) Sprint race at a cool and windy Shanghai International Circuit after starting from pole position, overcoming early challenges from the Ferrari’s of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to win handily.
“It was pretty fun in the end!” Russell said after the race. “Really happy to get the win. It is really windy at the moment, and this first corner is so long. It only takes one lap of battling and you can destroy your front tyre.”
Russell’s Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli nearly stalled on the grid from second and dropped dramatically to eighth at the start, and was later issued a ten-second penalty for making contact with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. The young Italian eventually finished fifth.
Russell and Hamilton traded the battery-powered lead early, much like Russell and Leclerc did a week ago in Australia, until Russell pulled away from his fellow Brit six laps into the race. Then, the two Ferrari’s scrapped for second, nearly making contact in the battle.
Russell opened up a four-second lead at the midpoint, only to see that lead disappear on lap 14 when the safety car was deployed for Nico Hulkenberg’s stalled Audi. All of the front runners pitted and Russell held on to the lead after pits, followed by Leclerc, McLaren’s Lando Norris, and Hamilton.
By the time Hülkenberg’s car was removed, there were only three laps of racing left. Russell pulled away and took the win, remaining perfect on the season and extending his championship to lead over Antonelli to 11 points. Leclerc and Hamilton finished second and third, respectively.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen bogged down at the start and fell as far back as 15th. He eventually recovered to finish ninth, the first driver out of the points.
2026 F1 Sprint Results: China
1 George Russell (Mercedes)
2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.674s
3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +2.554s
4 Lando Norris (McLaren) +4.433s
5 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +5.688s
6 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +6.809s
7 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +10.900s
8 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +11.271s
9 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +11.619s
10 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +13.887s
11 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +14.780s
12 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +15.753s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +15.858s
14 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +16.393s
15 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +16.430s
16 Alex Albon (Williams) +20.014s
17 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +21.599s
18 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +21.971s
19 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +28.241s
DNF Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
DNF Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
DNF Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
Qualifying for the Heineken Chinese Grand Prix will kick off at 3 a.m. ET Saturday (March 14) with the race following Sunday (March 15) at 3 a.m. ET. Coverage will stream live on Apple TV.
