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F1 Sprint Race Results: George Russell Showcases Mercedes Dominance at Chinese GP

Check out the full results and report from the sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Jude Short|
Mercedes-Benz Media

George Russell finished just under a second ahead of Charles Leclerc on his way to a Chinese Grand Prix sprint race victory—continuing his perfect run in 2026 and claiming all 33 available points from the season so far.

Lewis Hamilton ended up third, having entertained over the first half of the race, battling with Russell for the lead before Russell and Leclerc eventually got the better of him.

Nightmare start for Antonelli and Verstappen as Ferrari prosper again

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Australian GP 2026
Kimi Antonelli had a similar lights out to the one he experienced in Australia, having yet another start where he lacked the required battery power. | Mercedes-Benz Media

It was a wild start to the sprint race, as while pole-sitter George Russell got off to a strong start, his teammate Kimi Antonelli in the other Mercedes was slow off the line, dropping five places before Turn 1 and ending up in seventh.

Meanwhile, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton got the better of Lando Norris, who started third, with Hamilton finding himself in second as the opening lap progressed. Max Verstappen, who had started eighth, fell down to 13th after a start that mirrored Antonelli's further up the grid.

Antonelli's start went from bad to worse as the young Italian made contact with the side of Isack Hadjar's Red Bull and received a ten-second penalty for the action, while further down the field, Arvid Lindblad spun his Racing Bull around and dropped down to last.

An impressive Turn 8 overtake from Hamilton saw him leading from Russell, with the two ex-teammates engaging in a ding-dong battle over the next few laps.

Top three engage in positional battle

The opening laps saw Mercedes on Ferrari action as Hamilton sought to defend his lead from Russell, who had a strong start to the year in Australia, as Russell zipped past Hamilton on the back straight, only to get taken down the inside by the veteran on multiple occasions.

Eventually, the tides started to turn, as Russell managed to stay ahead of Hamilton on Lap 6 and stayed further up the road, while Hamilton quickly found himself in third following a tussle with Charles Leclerc on Lap 8.

Kimi Antonelli looked to atone for his poor start as the sophomore pushed his way past Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and the Ferrari duo and made his way back to second, albeit with a penalty looming over his head.

However, a spanner was quickly thrown in the works.

Safety car after Hülkenberg stops on track

Just as Valtteri Bottas was told to retire the car by his Cadillac pit crew, Nico Hülkenberg's car was shown to have stopped on the circuit, and as marshals aimed to remove it, a safety car came out.

A resulting pit stop laid host to chaos, as while most of the big names were unscathed, Antonelli chose to serve his time penalty and Piastri found himself the victim of McLaren's stacking, with the duo both now on the cusp of a points-scoring position.

Meanwhile, the safety car restart was made significantly less dramatic as Russell led the Ferrari of Leclerc and the 2025 champion Norris, but Leclerc found himself spinning his tires on restart and giving the number 63 Mercedes enough of a gap to head into the distance.

Hamilton, who lost out to British compatriot Norris in the pits, got the better of the papaya to trail his Ferrari in third, while slightly further down, Antonelli and Piastri worked their way past Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls and Ollie Bearman's Haas to round out the top six.

Russell would cross the line first, adding eight points to the 25 he picked up in Melbourne, followed by the two Ferraris and Lando Norris, with Leclerc particularly impressive, having started P6.

Antonelli and Piastri were fifth and sixth, while Lawson and Bearman finished P7 and P8, utilizing clever strategy to keep the resurgent Verstappen out of the points and picking up a points tally for their respective teams.

Position

Driver / Team

1

George Russell / Mercedes

2

Charles Leclerc / Ferrari

3

Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari

4

Lando Norris / McLaren

5

Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes

6

Oscar Piastri / McLaren

7

Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls

8

Oliver Bearman / Haas

9

Max Verstappen / Red Bull

10

Esteban Ocon / Haas

11

Pierre Gasly / Alpine

12

Carlos Sainz / Williams

13

Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi

14

Franco Colapinto / Alpine

15

Isack Hadjar / Red Bull

16

Alexander Albon / Williams

17

Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin

18

Lance Stroll / Aston Martin

19

Sergio Përez / Cadillac

DNF

Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac

DNF

Nico Hülkenberg / Audi

DNF

Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls

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Jude Short
JUDE SHORT

After graduating from the University of Essex in 2024, Jude spent time as both a writer for Breaking the Lines and NBA Editor for VAVEL USA, before publishing work for GRV Media, GPFans, and startup site The Deck. Jude had a brief stint back with VAVEL in the summer of 2025, before joining Grand Prix on SI in September of that year.

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