Chinese Grand Prix 2026: George Russell leads practice

George Russell led Kimi Antonelli to a top-two finish for Mercedes in the only practice session at the Chinese Grand Prix before the start of the weekend.

Russell was more than 0.7 seconds ahead of the number one driver not in a Mercedes, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Over the course of a single lap, this is almost a repeat of the advantage Mercedes showed in the season-opening race in Australia last weekend.

Antonelli was 0.120 seconds behind Russell, while Piastri’s margin was 0.736 seconds, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris close behind.

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, 1.388 seconds off the pace, but his time was set earlier in the session on old tires after an early session destroyed his set of medium tyres.

Ferrari was using an innovative rear wing with a flap that opened to straight-line mode by rotating around its axis by more than 180 degrees, rather than opening a gap through the front of the flat being raised.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen fell to eighth place, 1.8 seconds behind Mercedes and behind British Haas driver Oliver Biermann.

British rookie Arvid Lindblad only managed six laps before his Racing Bulls stopped after a reliability issue on the long back straight, and smoke billowed from the engine’s airbox before he went into a hairpin turn.

Qualifying for the sprint race takes place at 07:30 UK time.