Mercedes’ Gorge Russell set the fastest lap of the single practice session available to teams as the first Sprint weekend of the new F1 season got underway at the 2026 FIA Formula One Chinese Grand Prix. Russell set a best time of 1:32.741 beating team-mate Kimi Antonelli by just over a tenth of a second with McLaren’s Lando Norris another four tenths back in third. 

Mercedes was to the fore through the session with Russell setting the pace in the opening phase of the session predominantly run on C3 Medium tyre Pirelli tyres. The Briton posted a lap of 1:34.169 to lead Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by over two tenths of a second with Mclaren’s Oscar Piastri just behind the Monegasque driver. 

The opening phase was studded with incidents. Shortly after running got underway, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto went off track unusually, with his car lurching into a spin just before a braking zone, similarly to how Max Verstappen exited qualifying for last weekend’s season-opener in Australia.

There was then an odd moment when defending world champion Norris tangled with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver went to pass the Ferrari man only for Hamilton to push ahead, a move that resulted in minor contact between the pair. Hamilton, who was running the ‘rotating’ rear wing the team had trialled in pre-season testing, then had a spin at Turn 6, flat-spotting his tyres and telling his team that his brakes had locked. 

There were bigger problems for Arvid Lindblad, however. With 15 minutes gone, the Racing Bulls driver ground to a halt at Turn 9 and a VSC was deployed. The 2026 season’s only rookie would take no further part in the session.

One the VSC was removed, Hamilton shed his damaged Medium tyres and switched to a longer run on Softs but despite the softer compound he could still only get to just over two tenths off Russell’s’ Medium-tyre best.

And when the Australian Grand Prix winner bolted a set of C4s onto his Mercedes he confirmed his car’s pace by posting a lap of 1:32.807 which he then improved to 1:32.741.  Team-mate Antonelli followed with lap of 1:32.861 to take P2 on the timesheet. Norris got closest to the Mercedes pair, posting a time of 1:33.296 to set 0.555s off Russell. The world champion was followed by Piastri and Leclerc, with Hamilton in sixth on 1:34.129.

The seven-time champion was followed by Haas’ Oliver Bearman and then by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen who ended the session with a best time of 1:34.541 which left him 1.8s off the pace. Nico Hülkenberg was ninth for Audi and the top 10 order was completed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. 

2026 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.741 28 211.595
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:32.861 0.120 29 211.322
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:33.296 0.555 28 210.336
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:33.472 0.731 27 209.940
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:33.599 0.858 27 209.656
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:34.129 1.388 25 208.475
7 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:34.426 1.685 27 207.819
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:34.541 1.800 24 207.567
9 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:34.639 1.898 26 207.352
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 1:34.676 1.935 27 207.271
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:34.773 2.032 28 207.058
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:34.828 2.087 25 206.938
13 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:34.856 2.115 25 206.877
14 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:34.877 2.136 24 206.832
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 1:34.947 2.206 25 206.679
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:35.480 2.739 30 205.525
17 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:35.679 2.938 17 205.098
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Honda 1:35.856 3.115 18 204.719
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 1:36.057 3.316 24 204.291
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 1:37.224 4.483 20 201.839
21 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:37.896 5.155 6 200.453
22 Sergio Pérez Cadillac/Ferrari 1:39.200 6.459 13 197.818