Sprint Qualifying Results – Boy George looks ominous as he takes Pole again

By Camille Lebez Leroy

Mercedes takes control in Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix

Sprint Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix took place on Friday at the Shanghai International Circuit and set the starting grid for Saturday’s sprint race. The session delivered a strong performance from George Russell, who secured pole position for the sprint after a very fast final lap.

The British driver set a time of 1:31.520 in SQ3, which was enough to beat the rest of the field and take the top spot on the grid. It was an important result for Russell and continued his strong start to the 2026 season.

Mercedes lock out the front row

Mercedes had an excellent session overall. Kimi Antonelli qualified second, completing a front-row lockout for the team. Antonelli finished just under three tenths of a second behind his teammate.

This result showed that Mercedes currently has a very strong pace in Shanghai, especially over a single lap.

McLaren and Ferrari are close behind

Behind the two Mercedes cars, Lando Norris placed third for McLaren. Norris was competitive throughout the session but could not match the speed of Russell’s final lap.

Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth for Scuderia Ferrari. His teammate Charles Leclerc finished sixth after struggling to improve his final lap time in the last part of qualifying.

Between the two Ferrari drivers was Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri, who took fifth place.

Verstappen and others are further back

Further down the top ten, Pierre Gasly qualified seventh for Alpine F1 Team, while four-time world champion Max Verstappen finished eighth for Red Bull Racing.

Verstappen struggled to match the pace of Mercedes and McLaren during the session, leaving him with more work to do in the sprint race.

Looking ahead to the sprint race

Sprint Qualifying decides the starting order for the short sprint race on Saturday. The sprint usually lasts around 100 kilometres and gives points to the top eight finishers.

With both Mercedes cars starting on the front row, the team will hope to control the race. However, drivers like Norris, Hamilton and Piastri will be close behind and ready to challenge when the lights go out.