Antonelli’s maiden win charge, Ferrari’s rapid launches and midfield rivalries: What to expect in the Chinese Grand Prix
- Meghana Sree
- 7m
- 4 min read
After an exciting sprint and historic qualifying session, the stage is now set for the main event. From Kimi Antonelli chasing a maiden F1 victory up against George Russell, to the Ferrari pair ready to bring more thrills on track, here are five things to look out for at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix.
The first sprint weekend of the season has certainly not disappointed. From a closely-fought sprint race to a record-breaking qualifying session that saw Kimi Antonelli become the sport’s youngest ever polesitter, the Chinese round so far has been nothing short of exciting.
Antonelli delivered under pressure with a swift pole lap after his teammate and championship leader Russell was compromised by mechanical issues in Q3. Meanwhile, the Ferrari pair remain within striking distance, as we saw in the sprint race’s start.
With all the ingredients ready for an action-packed race, from teammate battles to ever-present reliability concerns, here are five important things to look out for in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Can Kimi Antonelli fend off George Russell for a maiden win?
The Silver Arrows pair are set to go head-to-head once again, although this time the young protégé will be leading from the experienced title favourite.
Antonelli will be intent on converting his historic pole into an equally momentous maiden F1 win in his second season with Mercedes, while Russell will be eager to go two for two in China after a sprint win to extend his championship points lead.
Based on what we saw in the sprint and earlier in Australia last week, Antonelli will have his work cut out ahead of the Grand Prix in perfecting his race starts. Poor getaways have compromised his results, and though he was able to rely on the W17’s superior pace to carve his way back up the order, he will want to avoid that possibility as much as possible with a maiden win on the line.
If he can hang on to the race lead in the opening stages and keep Russell at bay throughout the race, Antonelli has a shot at entering the record books once again as the second youngest race winner in F1 history, only behind Max Verstappen.
The Ferrari-shaped curveball
Even though Mercedes are leagues ahead of the competition, Ferrari are the only team who have been able to mount a challenge at least during the opening laps of a race so far owing to their rapid launches off the grid.
Both in Australia and this weekend’s sprint race, Ferrari leapfrogged from the second row to the race lead by Turn 1. With Lewis Hamilton starting third and Charles Leclerc in fourth, the Scuderia has a serious chance of jeopardising a Mercedes win — especially since Hamilton has been statistically competitive in Shanghai and has looked comfortable in his car all weekend.
Hamilton will also be chasing an elusive first podium in red, but will be ready to pounce for the win should the Mercedes pair duke it out ahead — that is, unless he doesn’t find himself in a tense battle of his own with Leclerc as we saw in the sprint.
Can the Red Bulls make up any positions?
A “disaster” was what Verstappen had to say of his weekend in China so far, as he finished out of the points in the sprint and qualified for the race down in eighth. The Dutchman is struggling to find harmony with his RB22, with freshly promoted teammate Isack Hadjar faring no better after qualifying ninth, both drivers behind the frontrunners followed by the McLarens and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine in seventh.
After pulling out all the stops after the sprint, making extensive changes to the car’s set-up, the Red Bull drivers were still unable to challenge for the front rows and had to settle for eighth and ninth.
Speaking after qualifying, Verstappen remarked: “I have no balance, so you can't even lap after lap get a bit of a reference because it's just all over the place and it's incredibly difficult to drive. It's not good.”
Verstappen went on to add that their qualifying positions will also be where they “will be racing tomorrow”, but if there’s anything the four-time world champion has proven, it’s that he can climb up the grid with masterful ease, which he’ll be expecting to do tomorrow to challenge the McLarens further ahead.
Alpine vs Haas
Alpine’s Gasly and Oliver Bearman have been in perfect qualifying form lately, both drivers impressing with tidy laps and consistent racecraft to score points. The only drivers outside the top four teams to enter the third part of qualifying for both the sprint and Grand Prix, Gasly in seventh and Bearman in 10th will be eager to collect points and boost their teams’ tallies on the board as both Alpine and Haas compete for the ‘best of the rest’ title.
Meanwhile, their teammates Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon will also be eyeing points finishes, both drivers starting 12th and 13th respectively.
Haas currently lead the midfield on seven points with Alpine down in eighth, behind Racing Bulls and Audi, but with Gasly starting ahead of the rest, the team will be looking forward to a decent chunk of points from the race and a leap up the order.
Audi chasing more points
Audi’s pace has looked promising all weekend, but the team have had their fair share of misfortune after Nico Hülkenberg’s sprint race DNF and Gabriel Bortoleto’s spin during qualifying that led him to miss out on Q3 despite being on a lap that looked good enough to take him through until the unfortunate incident.
Hülkenberg lines up just outside the points in 10th with Bortoleto in 16th. The senior German driver will be chasing his first points with the German outfit, while Bortoleto will hope to unleash more of the R26’s pace to recover positions on track.
