Two races, two pole positions for George Russell in the 2026 Formula 1 season.
George Russell takes pole for the F1 Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix
Mercedes’ strong start continued in F1 Sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix
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After taking pole, and eventually the win, at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix the Mercedes driver captured P1 for the F1 Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. As we saw last week, it was another front-row lockout for the Silver Arrows, as teammate Kimi Antonelli secured P2 to start alongside Russell in the Sprint.
Lando Norris delivered a strong performance to take P3, where he will start alongside Lewis Hamilton, who qualified fourth. While Ferrari did run their “flip-flop” rear wing during FP1, the team returned to a more conventional design for the qualifying session.
Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc will line up for the F1 Sprint race on the third row, while Pierre Gasly will start seventh, next to Max Verstappen who qualified eighth. The Red Bull driver aired his frustrations after the qualifying session, describing the whole day as a “disaster.”
Here are the provisional qualifying results for the F1 Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. Note that race officials are currently investigating a potential impeding incident between Gasly and Verstappen, and the outcome of that investigation could change the final grid:
Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| Row 2 | 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari |
| Row 3 | 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| Row 4 | 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| Row 5 | 9 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 10 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull |
| Row 6 | 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 12 | Esteban Ocon | Haas |
| Row 7 | 13 | Liam Lawson | VCARB | 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi |
| Row 8 | 15 | Arvid Lindblad | VCARB | 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine |
| Row 9 | 17 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams | 18 | Alexander Albon | Williams |
| Row 10 | 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| Row 11 | 21 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 22 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac |
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