Mercedes confirmed their strong form from the Australian Grand Prix by dominating the only practice session in Shanghai, finishing with a convincing 1–2. George Russell set the fastest time, edging teammate Kimi Antonelli by just a tenth of a second, while their closest challenger, Oscar Piastri, was more than seven-tenths behind.
The sole practice session of the Shanghai Sprint weekend began with Esteban Ocon leading the line out of the pit lane. Franco Colapinto’s run started poorly when he spun at the Turn 9/10 complex after locking the rear axle.
Lewis Hamilton, testing Ferrari’s “macarena” rear wing, also suffered a spin at Turn 5 after locking up and sliding off the track. Once back on circuit, Lando Norris caught Hamilton and attempted a move on the inside at the final corner. Hamilton immediately fought back, leading to light contact that sent a small piece of bodywork flying from the Ferrari SF-26.
After the first 10 minutes of running, George Russell topped the timesheets with a lap of 1:35.065, just 0.029 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli. Charles Leclerc was third, roughly half a second behind the Mercedes pair.
Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz had yet to record a lap time at that stage. Sainz completed a single lap before returning to the pits, where Williams mechanics—wearing rubber gloves before touching his FW48—began investigating a potential data issue.
The opening practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix saw several interruptions and dramatic moments, with George Russell ultimately finishing fastest for Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton was briefly noted for a collision incident as the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed. The neutralization came after a piece of bodywork detached from a Ferrari and needed to be cleared by marshals.
Meanwhile, Arvid Lindblad’s session ended prematurely. The Racing Bulls driver stopped his car at the hairpin on just his sixth lap, forcing another VSC period. For a Sprint weekend where track time is limited, the early exit was a disappointing start.
When green flag conditions returned, Charles Leclerc managed to split the Mercedes drivers on the timing sheet but remained half a second slower than Russell’s leading lap of 1:34.169. Russell had improved his pace just before the Lindblad-triggered VSC.
Lando Norris climbed to fifth position during this phase but experienced a brief moment of oversteer through Turn 3.
Hamilton was the first of the leading drivers to switch to soft Pirelli tyres. The Ferrari driver improved to fifth and then climbed to third on his second flying lap. Despite the progress, he remained more than four-tenths slower than Russell’s benchmark set on medium tyres. Hamilton later improved further, briefly moving into second place.
Carlos Sainz joined the session action with around 20 minutes remaining and worked his way up to 17th on the timesheet.
Elsewhere, Franco Colapinto encountered trouble while returning to the Alpine garage, stopping briefly in the fast lane. His mechanics rushed out to assist, but the driver was able to restart the car and return to the pit box without further help.
Russell later switched to soft tyres and improved his time to a 1:32.807. His teammate Kimi Antonelli moved up to second, just a tenth behind. Leclerc was third at that stage, six-tenths slower.
Oscar Piastri later climbed into third position, while Norris moved up to fifth. Max Verstappen struggled to match the pace, finishing eighth—behind Hamilton and Haas driver Oliver Bearman.
By the end of the session, Russell remained on top with a final lap of 1:32.741, leading Antonelli by just over a tenth. McLaren’s Norris finished third, while Piastri was fourth. The fastest non-Mercedes driver ended the session more than seven-tenths off Russell’s pace.
Chinese Grand Prix FP1 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