The inaugural free practice session for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix proved to be a critical hour for drivers, marking the start of the season’s first sprint weekend.
In the previous Chinese Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris set the pace in practice, a weekend that ultimately saw Oscar Piastri secure a victory for the team. However, this year, Mercedes appears to hold a significant advantage following their impressive win in Australia last weekend. The team is keen to swiftly get up to speed today and maintain their strong momentum for the 2026 season. It’s also worth noting that several teams have introduced car upgrades for this event, with Ferrari among those hoping their enhancements will provide the necessary boost to excel in China.
Green Light for Practice
With only an hour available to familiarize themselves with their cars, drivers wasted no time heading out onto the circuit. A busy track saw 20 out of 22 drivers simultaneously circulating, creating considerable traffic.
Early incidents included spins for both Franco Colapinto and Lewis Hamilton on their initial laps, severely flat-spotting their tires. Many drivers seemed to struggle with tire warm-up, as Gabriel Bortoleto became the next to lock up his fresh tires.
First Competitive Laps
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was the first to post a competitive lap time, clocking 1:35.094. His teammate, George Russell, quickly followed, surpassing Antonelli by 0.029 seconds with a 1:35.065.
The Alpine cars showed promising early competitiveness, with both drivers initially placing in the top 10. Antonelli’s subsequent flying laps were unfortunately disrupted by a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) and a yellow flag.
The VSC was deployed when Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bull halted at Turn 14. An early end to practice is always challenging for a driver, especially with only one hour allotted for the entire weekend. For a rookie like Lindblad, who impressed in Melbourne last week, missing track time on a new circuit like Shanghai is particularly tough.
Carlos Sainz also faced limited track action. The Williams driver completed only one out-lap before returning to the pits. While there seemed to be no immediate car issues, the team reportedly struggled to gather data from the vehicle.
Resumption of Practice
The VSC period concluded at the 40-minute mark, allowing drivers to resume their runs. Russell continued to lead the timings, with Charles Leclerc slotting into second, 0.240 seconds behind the Mercedes. Ferrari has surprisingly deployed their unique ‘Macarena’ rear wing for this Sprint weekend, earlier than initially planned. This distinctive component from the Italian squad is hoped to deliver the performance gain needed for the event.
At the halfway point of the session, Oliver Bearman delivered an impressive performance in his Haas, securing fourth position with a 1:34.950. Meanwhile, it was a subdued practice for Red Bull, with both drivers occupying 11th and 12th spots, approximately 1.8 seconds adrift of Russell’s leading pace.
Time for Soft Tires
Apart from the Aston Martins, who remained at the back of the field, Lewis Hamilton was the first to attempt a flying lap on soft tires. His initial competitive lap on the softer compound propelled him to second place, within 0.2 seconds of Russell. However, at this juncture, the leading Mercedes had not yet run on softs.
Eventually, with just 12 minutes remaining, a flurry of activity saw the rest of the grid switch to soft tires for simulated qualifying runs. Once Mercedes fitted the red-marked tires, a significant gap emerged between their times and those of the Ferraris. Russell continued to improve, setting a blistering 1:32.741, over eight-tenths faster than Leclerc in third. The McLarens began their ascent in the final minutes; Piastri moved to third (+0.736s), and Norris to fifth (+0.959s). The McLaren teammates then swapped positions as Norris surpassed Piastri, finishing 0.555 seconds behind Russell’s Mercedes. A late trip into the gravel at the final turn prevented Leclerc from improving his time in the closing seconds.
Given this was their sole practice session of the weekend, all drivers took turns at the start-finish line to complete their practice starts. The top 10 finishers were: Russell, Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Bearman, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Gasly.
Up Next: Sprint Qualifying
With only a single hour of practice completed, drivers must swiftly transition gears as Sprint Qualifying is scheduled to commence at 3:30 pm local time later today.
