Mercedes Dominate Sole Practice Session at Chinese Grand Prix
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets in the only practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, giving Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team an encouraging start in Shanghai.
Russell finished fastest with a lap time of 1:32.741, narrowly ahead of teammate Antonelli by just over a tenth of a second. The session marked a strong showing from Mercedes during the limited track time available on the Sprint weekend.
Lando Norris secured third place for McLaren despite setting his time on an older set of soft tyres, while teammate Oscar Piastri finished fourth.
Spins and Incidents Mark Eventful Session
The session began with heavy activity on track and soon produced several dramatic moments.
Both Franco Colapinto and Lewis Hamilton experienced spins after suffering rear wheel locking under braking.
Hamilton also had a tense moment at the final corner when he appeared to turn in on Norris, whose McLaren had moved up the inside. Race officials reviewed the incident but ultimately decided no further investigation was necessary.
Early Exit for Lindblad
The session ended early for Arvid Lindblad after the Racing Bulls driver encountered technical issues roughly 15 minutes into the session. He completed just six laps before being forced to stop, bringing his practice outing to a premature conclusion.
Late Drama for Bearman
Another incident occurred late in the session when Oliver Bearman spun his Haas F1 Team car while exiting Turn 3.
The young driver lost control of the rear of the car and spun directly in front of Lance Stroll. The Aston Martin driver reacted quickly and managed to avoid contact with the spinning Haas.
Chinese GP Practice 1 Results
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George Russell (Mercedes) – 1:32.741
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Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – +0.120
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Lando Norris (McLaren) – +0.555
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – +0.731
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – +0.858
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Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – +1.388
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Oliver Bearman (Haas) – +1.685
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – +1.800
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Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) – +1.898
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Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – +1.935
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Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – +2.032
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Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – +2.087
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Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) – +2.115
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Esteban Ocon (Haas) – +2.136
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Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – +2.206
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Alex Albon (Williams) – +2.739
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Carlos Sainz (Williams) – +2.938
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – +3.115
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Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – +3.316
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Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – +4.483
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Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) – +5.155
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Sergio Perez (Cadillac) – +6.459