Russell tops FP1 in Shanghai
- Jason Sharp
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Written by Jason Sharp
It’s the first sprint weekend of 2026, which means there was just one singular practice session for the drivers to get to grips with the Shanghai International Circuit.
This hour-long session saw a huge queue to leave the pit lane, with all the teams and drivers desperate to gather all the information possible ahead of sprint qualifying.
There was much discussion about Ferrari before hitting the track, as they debut their much anticipated rotating rear wing this weekend.
But the rotation that immediately grabbed attention was a huge spin for Lewis Hamilton. The seven time World Champion’s rear tyres locked up at Turn 6. He was able to continue, but with flat-spotted tyres on his Ferrari.
The sprint winner from last year was also noted by the stewards for minor contact with Lando Norris at the final corner, as both were preparing for a flying lap. The stewards concluded no further investigation was necessary.
It was a smooth session for Mercedes, as championship leader George Russell topped the session with a best time of 1:32.741, ahead of his team mate Kimi Antonelli in P2 by 0.120 seconds. The two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were P3 and P4 respectively, with the gap being 0.555 seconds to the Mercedes ahead.
The two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were P5 and P6, and the Ferrari powered Haas of Oliver Bearman was P7. Max Verstappen could only manage P8 for Red Bull, ahead of Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg, and Pierre Gasly creeped into the top ten for Alpine.
There was much more action throughout the session in the form of spins, lockups and breakdowns. Franco Colapinto had an eventful session, spinning his Alpine at Turn 9 due to a rear brake issue; the Argentine would then have a brief stoppage in the pit lane but was able to continue.
Arvid Lindblad was plagued with reliability issues for his second FP1 session in a row. The 18 year old had to leave his car after a breakdown at the hairpin, bringing out the VSC.
Gabriel Bortoleto complained of engine issues throughout the session, and Carlos Sainz’ bad luck from Melbourne continued, as he was not able to run for the first 40 minutes of the session due to an issue with his Williams.
Looking ahead:
As we’ve seen from the top four, those with Mercedes power look to have the advantage going into sprint qualifying. George Russell looks comfortable at the front, but can the others produce more pace?
With such minimal running before sprint qualifying, there is lots of room for unpredictability at this punishing circuit.
