Less than a week after the thrilling season opener in Australia, the teams were right back to work in China. This time, it was double the action for the first sprint race of the 2026 season, complete with 19 laps of racing entertainment.
Kimi Antonelli had a horrible start from the front row of the grid, dropping down to the bottom of the top ten. Attempting to recover from his start, he pushed hard on the opening lap. While racing in the middle of the field on the inside of turn six, his Mercedes washed a little wide, tapping the side of Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull, causing a little bodywork damage. This earned him a ten-second penalty for causing a collision.
Antonelli’s misfortune allowed Lewis Hamilton to pressure George Russell in the leading Mercedes. Oscar Piastri did have a look around the outside of both cars in the first corner, but had to back out of the move when Hamilton moved wide to get alongside Russell. He took the lead with a good move on the inside of turn nine, but lost the lead again at the turn 14 hairpin.
This began the back-and-forth racing we witnessed at the season opener in Australia. Hamilton would take the lead in the first corner, only for Russell to retake the lead at turn 14, helped by the overtake mode, which was awarded at a single detection point in the final corner that gives extra battery power for the entire lap.
While the two squabbled for the lead, Charles Leclerc was able to creep ever closer. When Hamilton was overtaken in turn 14 on lap five, this left him under pressure from his teammate, who was eager to try and fight for the lead. Leclerc finally got by his teammate down the main straight three laps later, but Hamilton did not go down without a fight.
Leclerc slipped a little wide in the first corner on lap nine as the corner tightened. This gave Hamilton the opportunity to retake P2 on the inside, but Leclerc fought back in the left-handed third corner. He retook the position as he left Hamilton out wide, but this battle had let Russell build a bit of a gap out front.
The race was neutralized on lap 13 when Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi came to a halt in the first corner with some sort of mechanical issue. This prompted many of the lead cars to pit for new tyres. Antonelli benefited the most, as he served his ten-second penalty, although this meant he rejoined in P7.
It took the marshals a while to remove the stranded Audi, but the racing finally resumed to allow three final laps of action. Russell timed the restart well, seemingly catching a few drivers off-guard.
Piastri had a strong restart, overtaking Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, and Liam Lawson on the opening lap. However, he overtook Antonelli before the start-finish line. Antonelli had also managed to overtake Bearman and Lawson and was right behind the McLaren. Piastri’s team instructed him to give back the position to Antonelli, avoiding any action from the stewards.
At the end of the 19 laps of action, George Russell took the chequered flag for the second time this season in the first sprint race of the year. Charles Leclerc stood on the second step of the podium, joined by teammate Lewis Hamilton in P3, who had overtaken Lando Norris on the penultimate lap.
But this was just a sneak preview of the action that lies ahead in China. The cars will be back on track tomorrow for the main event.
| 1 | G. Russell | 33 |  | |
| 2 | K. Antonelli | 22 | -11 | |
| 3 | C. Leclerc | 22 | -11 | |
| 4 | L. Hamilton | 18 | -15 | |
| 5 | L. Norris | 15 | -18 | |
| 1 | Mercedes | 55 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 40 | -15 | |
| 3 | McLaren | 18 | -37 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 8 | -47 | |
| 5 | Haas | 7 | -48 | |
