George Russell set the early benchmark for Mercedes during a busy and incident-filled sole practice session for the Chinese GP, as teams raced to gather data ahead of Sprint Qualifying later today.
With just 60 minutes available, drivers needed to learn the Shanghai International Circuit, evaluate energy management and braking points, and assess tyre behaviour.
Mercedes, however, remained the benchmark after its strong opening race, with Russell emerging as the driver to beat following his dominant showing in Melbourne.
Ferrari arrived in China looking to challenge Mercedes after showing promising pace in Australia. The team also planned to test an innovative “macarena” rear wing during the session as it searches for further performance.
The only practice session at the Chinese GP was underway
Most of the field headed out on medium tyres early on, with Aston Martin the only team to run softs.
Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 compounds for the event – one step harder than in Australia – and teams have just 12 sets available on the Sprint weekend.
George Russell set the early pace, leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli by just 0.029s to put Mercedes at the top of the timesheets.
Charles Leclerc sat just under half a second behind in third, followed by Pierre Gasly and Oscar Piastri.
The session featured several incidents. Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton made minor contact at Turn 16 when Norris attempted to pass, while Hamilton tried to retain track position.
Shortly afterwards, Hamilton locked his brakes and spun, leaving his tyres with visible flat spots.
Elsewhere, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto also spun after losing the rear unexpectedly before reaching the corner.
A brief Virtual Safety Car was first deployed to clear debris from the main straight, though replays suggested it was not caused by Gabriel Bortoleto, who had earlier locked up and run wide.
Traffic also proved frustrating for some drivers, with Isack Hadjar gesturing in annoyance after encountering a slow Cadillac on track.
A second Virtual Safety Car followed when rookie Arvid Lindblad stopped at Turn 9 with apparent issues.
The Racing Bulls driver parked his car on the inside of the hairpin, allowing marshals to recover it relatively quickly, though the stoppage cost valuable track time.
Once running resumed, George Russell continued to lead the way with a 1:34.169, while Charles Leclerc moved up to second ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman.
Carlos Sainz also lost running time, returning to the pits after completing just a single lap.
Second half of the session
Lewis Hamilton switched to soft tyres early after flat-spotting his mediums during a spin.
His first runs were modest, but he soon improved to second place, 0.208s behind George Russell, whose benchmark lap was set on mediums.
Most drivers stayed on the medium compound through much of the session, while Aston Martin continued to run a different programme.
Carlos Sainz also lost valuable time in the garage due to a data issue before eventually returning to the track.
The busy hour included a brief pit lane incident when Franco Colapinto stopped in the fast lane before managing to move his Alpine clear.
At the front, Russell remained quickest, improving his time to a 1:32.741.
Rookie team-mate Kimi Antonelli briefly moved into second, while Charles Leclerc slotted into third, though still several tenths off the Mercedes pace.
The closing minutes saw a handful of late improvements as the session wound down.
Isack Hadjar moved up from 18th to 14th but remained over two seconds off the pace after another difficult run.
Nico Hulkenberg climbed to ninth late on, while Pierre Gasly also secured a place inside the top 10.
At the top, George Russell finished fastest with a 1:32.741, leading Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 0.120s.
Lando Norris improved late to take third ahead of Oscar Piastri, while Ferrari ended the session fifth and sixth.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished eighth, with Hadjar down in 13th.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Chinese Grand Prix – FP1 Results
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