George Russell continued his strong start to the 2026 season by winning the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.6 seconds after an entertaining early battle at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton completed the podium for Ferrari after briefly leading in the opening laps, finishing ahead of reigning world champion Lando Norris and Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who recovered from an early collision and a 10-second penalty.
Oscar Piastri crossed the line sixth for McLaren to score his first points of the season after briefly overtaking Antonelli at the restart before being ordered to hand the position back for doing so before the restart line.
Further back, Liam Lawson claimed his first points of 2026 with a strong drive to seventh, narrowly holding off Haas rookie Oliver Bearman, while Max Verstappen recovered from a poor start to finish ninth for Red Bull.
Attention now turns to Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, scheduled for 3pm local time on Saturday (6pm AEDT).
Results: Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, Sprint
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time / Retired | Pts. |
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 19 | 33:38.998 | 8 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 19 | +0.674s | 7 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 19 | +2.554s | 6 |
| 4 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 19 | +4.433s | 5 |
| 5 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 19 | +5.688s | 4 |
| 6 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 19 | +6.809s | 3 |
| 7 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 19 | +10.900s | 2 |
| 8 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 19 | +11.271s | 1 |
| 9 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 19 | +11.619s | 0 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | 19 | +13.887s | 0 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 19 | +14.780s | 0 |
| 12 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 19 | +15.753s | 0 |
| 13 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 19 | +15.858s | 0 |
| 14 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 19 | +16.393s | 0 |
| 15 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | 19 | +16.430s | 0 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 19 | +20.014s | 0 |
| 17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 19 | +21.599s | 0 |
| 18 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 19 | +21.971s | 0 |
| 19 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 19 | +28.241s | 0 |
| NC | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 12 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 12 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 11 | DNF | 0 |
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