Everything that happened in Chinese Grand Prix practice

Mercedes continued its early 2026 Formula 1 domination with a 1-2 in the sole practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

George Russell ended up 0.120 seconds clear of team-mate Kimi Antonelli with his 1m32.741s effort on soft tyres, and they were half a second ahead of everyone else.

A last-gasp lap from Lando Norris brought him within 0.555s of Russell and cemented McLaren as best of the rest, with Oscar Piastri in fourth ahead of Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari gave its 'flipping' rear wing a first race weekend appearance, though it began closing it a little earlier after a wild early spin for Hamilton after the car snapped away from him going into the tight downhill Turn 6.

That came just moments after Hamilton had a minor brush with Norris into the final corner when the McLaren moved down the inside seemingly being let past only for Hamilton to hold his ground on the outside into the corner. The stewards noted it but took no action.

Ollie Bearman challenged the leading teams throughout in his Haas and placed seventh - though he ended his session with a spin after the chequered flag.

It was a muted start for Red Bull. Even Max Verstappen's last soft-tyre run only got him up to eighth and he was 1.888s off the pace, with team-mate Isack Hadjar a further three tenths slower and five places further back.

Nico Hulkenberg's Audi and Pierre Gasly's Alpine completed the top 10.

Carlos Sainz sat out much of the session in the Williams garage with a data issue on his car, before getting out in time to do 18 laps and go 17th.

Rookie Arvid Lindblad fared much worse - his Racing Bulls stopping at the penultimate corner after just six laps on his track debut.

It was also a dramatic session for Franco Colapinto, who spun his Alpine on his out-lap at the start of the morning and later ground to a halt in the pitlane.

Many cars appeared to grain their tyres during the session, giving teams an extra headache with all the weekend's practice already now over and sprint qualifying coming up next.

Results

1 George Russell (Mercedes)
2 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.120s
3 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.555s
4 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.731s
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.858s
6 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +1.388s
7 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.685s
8 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +1.800s
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.898s
10 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.935s
11 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +2.032s
12 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +2.087s
13 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +2.115s
14 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +2.136s
15 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.206s
16 Alex Albon (Williams) +2.739s
17 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +2.938s
18 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +3.115s
19 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +3.316s
20 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +4.483s
21 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +5.155s
22 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +6.459s