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Mercedes Dominate in Shanghai Practice as Lewis Hamilton Struggles for Pace in Shock Chinese GP Session

Formula 1 action returned to the Chinese Grand Prix weekend with a dramatic and unpredictable opening practice session in Shanghai, where Mercedes stunned the paddock with a commanding performance while Lewis Hamilton endured a frustrating and messy outing.

The single practice session of the weekend was always expected to be crucial under the new 2026 Formula 1 regulations, and teams wasted no time gathering as much data as possible. However, the session quickly turned into a chaotic affair as multiple teams battled reliability concerns, technical issues, and on-track incidents.

At the front of the field, George Russell delivered an emphatic statement of intent by topping the timing sheets with a blistering lap of 1:32.741. The Mercedes driver looked comfortable throughout the session and appeared to have strong pace both on low fuel and longer runs.

Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli ensured it was a dream start for the Silver Arrows by finishing just 0.120 seconds behind, completing a dominant Mercedes one-two that immediately raised eyebrows across the paddock.

Behind them, McLaren emerged as the closest challenger. Lando Norris secured third position, although he was already more than half a second behind Russell’s benchmark time. Oscar Piastri followed in fourth, confirming that the papaya team remains competitive despite the strong pace shown by Ferrari during the season opener in Melbourne.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc managed to salvage a respectable fifth position, but the Italian team appeared unable to replicate the speed that earned them a podium at the Australian Grand Prix.

It was a far more difficult session for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion struggled from the beginning, enduring a scrappy start to practice that included a close moment with Norris before spinning and flat-spotting his tyres. The incident compromised his run plan and left Hamilton playing catch-up for the rest of the session.

When the times were finally set, Hamilton could only manage sixth place, more than half a second slower than team-mate Leclerc and almost 1.4 seconds adrift of Russell’s leading time.

Elsewhere, reigning champion Max Verstappen surprisingly finished only eighth fastest for Red Bull, suggesting the team may still be searching for the right setup in Shanghai.

Further down the order, several teams endured technical headaches. Williams had significant delays before finally sending Carlos Sainz onto the track with just 25 minutes remaining, citing mysterious data issues. Meanwhile, rookie Arvid Lindblad experienced a worrying moment when smoke emerged from his cockpit only fifteen minutes into the session, forcing him to pull over.

Aston Martin also struggled with reliability concerns that limited running for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, though both drivers managed to complete laps without stopping on track — something that ironically marked one of their most stable sessions of the season so far.

One of the stranger moments of the session came when Franco Colapinto suddenly stopped in the pit lane for nearly a minute before managing to get his car moving again just moments before mechanics sprinted toward him.

With such unpredictable running and clear performance gaps emerging, the Chinese Grand Prix weekend is already shaping up to be one of the most dramatic events of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Chinese Grand Prix Practice Results

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	George Russell	Mercedes	1:32.741
2	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.120s
3	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.555s
4	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.731s
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.858s
6	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+1.388s
7	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+1.685s
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+1.800s
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+1.898s
10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.935s
11	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+2.032s
12	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+2.087s
13	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	+2.115s
14	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+2.136s
15	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+2.206s
16	Alex Albon	Williams	+2.739s
17	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+2.938s
18	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+3.115s
19	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+3.316s
20	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+4.483s
21	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+5.155s
22	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+6.459s