Formula One Preview: Chinese Grand Prix

By Peter Johnson, Edited by Marit Everett

The Shanghai International Circuit’s enormous main stand offers a great view of the track’s iconic opening complex | Credit: Formula One

The second stop on F1’s 2026 world tour is the Shanghai International Circuit, which also hosts the first sprint race of the season.

Circuit guide

The Herman Tilke-designed Shanghai International Circuit first joined the Formula One calendar in 2004. Despite being built on flat marshland, the track’s most iconic section is the sweeping T1-4 complex, which features a drastic rise in elevation and several viable racing lines and has been known to yield thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing.

Following the tight right-hander of Turn 6, Sector 2 is fast and flowing with several sweeping bends up until the chicane at T11-12. The final third of the lap is characterised by the 1.2-kilometre dash to the hairpin at Turn 14, the track’s clearest overtaking opportunity.

It will be interesting to see, given the new regulations and what we witnessed in Melbourne, how far down that back straight cars start decelerating due to the exhaustion of their battery.

The left-hander of T16 completes the lap, but danger can also lie in the Shanghai International Circuit’s pit lane, a tight left that drivers must tackle at speed. Just ask Lewis Hamilton about 2007.

Another notable feature of the circuit is the ever-changing view down the pit straight, with brand new skyscrapers appearing on the horizon year on year as the city of Shanghai continues to expand.

Oscar Piastri and George Russell went wheel to wheel at the start of last year’s Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

Weather forecast

It is set to be a dry weekend in eastern China, with sunshine on Friday and Saturday ahead of a cloudy raceday. The air temperature is forecast to range from 14 to 17 degrees Celsius while the cars are on track throughout the weekend.

A rare high point for Lewis Hamilton in 2025 as he won the Shanghai sprint | Credit: Formula One

Major talking points

First sprint weekend: The Shanghai International Circuit plays host to the first sprint weekend of the 2026 season, as it has done for the last two seasons. Since 2023, the sprint has had its own, shorter qualifying session, which these days takes place on a Friday afternoon ahead of the race on Saturday morning. Eight points are awarded to the winner, down to one for the driver in eighth. Lewis Hamilton memorably won last season’s Shanghai sprint in just his second race for Ferrari.

Clipping on F1’s longest straight: One of the more bizarre sights of the first race weekend of the season, which may yet prove to be a “new normal” in F1, was the spectacle of drivers losing up to 60 kph in speed despite remaining at full throttle on the run to Albert Park’s Turn 9. This was due to the battery, which supplies half of the new engines’ power, running empty before the drivers reached the end of the straight. With the Shanghai International Circuit boasting the longest straight on the F1 calendar with a 1.2-kilometre straight to Turn 14, we may see significant drops in speed as drivers’ batteries inevitably run flat.

Max Verstappen was the biggest name to hit trouble last weekend as he crashed out of Qualifying | Credit: Formula One

Reliability improvement?: The first race weekend for any new set of regulations is often a war of attrition, and last weekend in Melbourne proved no exception. Max Verstappen’s RB22 was the most high-profile casualty on Saturday, as Verstappen’s rear axle locked and sent him into a spin during Q1. A torque spike for Oscar Piastri on the way to the grid on Sunday cost him a chance to race in front of his home crowd. Additionally, Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll also suffered technical gremlins across Qualifying and the race. Will the teams demonstrate a greater understanding of their cars and therefore enjoy improved reliability in China or will they continue to be plagued by the unknowns of the new regulations?

McLaren and Red Bull yet to show true pace: Unlike Mercedes and Ferrari, the other two of F1’s big four teams are yet to show their true pace in these new cars. Lando Norris ran a distant fifth in Australia, but without Oscar Piastri’s participation in the race perhaps we are yet to see a complete display of McLaren’s performance. Red Bull on the other hand, had no real clear running last weekend. Isack Hadjar qualified incredibly well in third, before retiring from the race on Lap 10 while his teammate Max Verstappen crashed out early in Qualifying and spent the duration of his race fighting through traffic.

Aston Martin struggles but begins to cut losses: As was expected, the Australian Grand Prix weekend proved to be tricky for Aston Martin. The team struggled for both laps and pace, although Fernando Alonso came within two-and-a-half seconds of fastest man George Russell in Q1. With Aston failing to set a competitive lap time in FP1 and Alonso being five seconds off the pace in FP2, this marked a significant step forward. The veteran Spaniard was buoyed by his relative speed on Saturday and remained confident that with further running the team would be able to discover more pace. After an impromptu testing session during the race, how much closer to competitive will they be this weekend?

Oscar Piastri claimed his first victory of 2025 in Shanghai | Credit: Formula One

Past Chinese Grands Prix

The Shanghai International Circuit has delivered multiple memorable races over the years.

The 2007 race could have been a day of jubilation for Lewis Hamilton, when the then-rookie had the potential to seal the title with a race to spare. Instead, it ended with the young Brit beached in the gravel trap at the entrance to the pit lane, as his McLaren team left it too long to bring him in for wet tyres.

The 2012 Chinese Grand Prix witnessed the beginning of an F1 dynasty, as Nico Rosberg collected the team’s first victory since its return to the sport in 2010.

A modern classic in 2018 saw Daniel Ricciardo deliver arguably his greatest win, charging from sixth to first in the final stint of the race. The Red Bull driver made a number of daring manoeuvres, including a bold pass up the inside of Valtteri Bottas at Turn 6 to take the lead.

Lewis Hamilton claimed his sixth victory in China in F1’s 1000th Grand Prix in 2019 | Credit: Formula One

China wrote itself into F1 history in 2019, hosting the sport’s 1000th Grand Prix. The race itself wasn’t a classic, but clips of Mercedes’ poetic double pitstop of Hamilton and Bottas still occasionally do the rounds online.

The most recent trip to China was again a memorable one for Hamilton, who enjoyed his best moment of his maiden Ferrari campaign with a lights-to-flag victory in the Saturday sprint. Sunday brought him and his team right back down to earth though, with both him and teammate Charles Leclerc disqualified from the race while Oscar Piastri won for McLaren.

Both Ferrari drivers, alongside Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, were disqualified from last year’s Chinese Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

Drivers to watch

Lewis Hamilton: Since his pit lane disaster in 2007, the Chinese Grand Prix has treated the seven-time world champion rather well. He has won a record six Grands Prix in Shanghai (2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019) and won last year’s sprint. Hamilton had the kind of spring in his step that has been missing for several years in Melbourne - he seems to have found his groove again, and he usually goes well here.

Oscar Piastri’s Australian Grand Prix was over before it began | Credit: Formula One

Oscar Piastri: It was the worst possible start to the season for Oscar Piastri, hitting the barriers on the way to the grid for his home Grand Prix. He did win here last year and after a disappointing end to last year and start to this season he could really do with a good result.

Charles Leclerc: In his Instagram wrap of the Australian Grand Prix, the Monégasque driver described the Shanghai International Circuit as his “most challenging track of the season”. Given the imperiousness of the Ferrari in Melbourne, will Leclerc be better equipped to tackle a track he tends not to enjoy?

Session times

Practice 1 Fri 11:30 - 12:30 (03:30 - 04:30 GMT)

Sprint Quali Fri 15:30 - 16:14 (07:30 - 08:14 GMT)

Sprint Sat 11:00 - 12:00 (03:00 - 04:00 GMT)

Qualifying Sat 15:00 - 16:00 (07:00 - 08:00 GMT)

Race Sun15:00 - 17:00 (07:00 - 09:00 GMT)