The crucial first free practice session for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix sprint weekend saw Mercedes assert early dominance. Following their impressive victory in Australia, the team appears poised to maintain its strong form, with both drivers setting leading times. Other teams, including Ferrari with its planned upgrades, are looking to make a significant impact on this highly anticipated race weekend.
The one-hour session began with nearly all drivers quickly taking to the track, leading to notable traffic. Early incidents included spins for Franco Colapinto and Lewis Hamilton, which resulted in flat-spotted tires, and a lock-up for Gabriel Bortoleto, highlighting potential challenges in warming up the tires.
Green Light on Practice
Mercedes quickly demonstrated its pace, with Kimi Antonelli initially setting the fastest competitive lap at 1:35.094, only to be narrowly surpassed by teammate George Russell with a 1:35.065. The Alpine team also showed promising early performance, positioning both its cars within the top ten. The session was briefly interrupted by a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) and a yellow flag after rookie Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bull came to a halt at Turn 14. This was particularly unfortunate for Lindblad, who had impressed in Melbourne. Carlos Sainz also experienced limited track time, returning to the pits early due to reported data collection issues with his Williams.
First Competitive Laps
After the VSC period, Russell continued to lead the timings. Charles Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, emerged as the closest competitor, trailing Russell by 0.240 seconds. Ferrari unveiled its unique ‘Macarena’ rear wing for the sprint weekend, hoping it would provide a crucial performance boost. Oliver Bearman of Haas also impressed, placing fourth with a 1:34.950. Notably, the Red Bull team had a quieter session, with its drivers sitting in 11th and 12th, approximately 1.8 seconds off Russell’s leading pace.
Time for Softs
As the session drew to a close, drivers switched to soft tyres for qualifying simulations. Lewis Hamilton was among the first to do so, immediately jumping to second place, just 0.2 seconds behind Russell. Once both Mercedes cars fitted soft tyres, they established a significant advantage. Russell further improved his time to a blistering 1:32.741, putting him over eight-tenths of a second faster than Leclerc. McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris also climbed the leaderboard in the final minutes, with Norris eventually moving ahead of Piastri to secure third, 0.555 seconds behind Russell. Leclerc, pushing hard, had a moment in the gravel at the final turn, preventing any further improvement to his time. The session concluded with drivers practicing starts, a vital exercise given it was the only practice session of the weekend.
Next Up: Sprint Quali
The final top ten drivers were: George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Oliver Bearman, Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg, and Pierre Gasly. Attention now swiftly turns to Sprint Qualifying, which is scheduled for later today, as teams and drivers look to translate their practice learnings into competitive grid positions.
