George Russell on Mercedes achieved pole position for the sprint of the Chinese Grand Prix, the second round of the 2026 Formula 1 season. The British driver preceded his teammate Kimi Antonelli by 0″289, who however risks a penalty for impeding Norris. In the second row Lando Norris (McLaren), third at 0″621, ahead of Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), fourth at 0″641. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) opens the third rows in fifth place at 0″704, ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), sixth at 1″008. There is Pierre Gasly (Alpine) in seventh place at 1″368 ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull), eighth at 1″734.
Tomorrow at 4 in the morning Italian time the Sprint will take place on the Shanghai circuit, followed by qualifying for the pole position of the race.
«From Melbourne we only worked on trying to get away better from the starting line», commented Russell immediately, «in Australia the race was very confused in the first laps, we’ll see tomorrow». The car feels fantastic, after Melbourne we have a great car again, it was a joy to drive,” added the 28-year-old Briton. This track seems very fast to me and very different from Melbourne.” (AGI)