The 2026 Formula 1 season continues this weekend with the Chinese Grand Prix, which marks the first of six sprint events this year.
F1's new era began just a few days ago at the Australian Grand Prix, as the series' radical new cars split opinion among drivers and fans.
Mercedes led the field across the weekend, with George Russell topping all three qualifying segments, before leading home a team 1-2 ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Russell leads the drivers' standings coming into this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, while Mercedes came away with full points in the constructors' championship in Australia.
This weekend's Chinese Grand Prix will see the teams' understanding of their new cars tested to the absolute limit, with the sprint format meaning they will have just one practice session to get on top of things before launching straight into sprint qualifying.
The Chinese Grand Prix is also set to offer a different view of what the new cars might be capable of, with the maximum allowed 9MJ of battery recharge allowed.
This, coupled with the layout of the track, sees F1 go from one of its most energy-hungry tracks to one of its least.
Most of the grid is expecting Mercedes to still hold an advantage in China, though Ferrari will be hoping to keep the pressure on after a tight early tussle in Australia between Russell and Charles Leclerc.
Red Bull also never got a chance to show off its potential, with Isack Hadjar retiring with a mechanical issue after qualifying third, while Max Verstappen was forced to come from the back of the grid to sixth after he crashed in Q1.
McLaren will be keen to put Australia behind it, after Oscar Piastri crashed on the sighting lap and Lando Norris finished a distant fifth, 50 seconds from Russell in first.
Aston Martin's problems were a major talking point in Australia, but there looks to be no immediate end in sight to these as it remains limited on batteries.
2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Friday schedule
Practice - 3:30am-4:30am GMT
Sprint qualifying - 7:30am-8:14am GMT
That marks an end to our live coverage for today, but do join us again tomorrow for more F1 action!
We will be bringing you updates throughout the sprint race and regular Grand Prix qualifying from Shanghai on Saturday.
The 19-lap sprint race takes place at 3am UK time, so set those alarms early if you don't want to miss it.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has revealed the scale of the challenge it faces to beat Mercedes in the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Read more here ⬇️
RED BULL REVEALS SCALE OF CHALLENGE TO BEAT MERCEDES
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has explained his team’s massive advantage over the rest of the Formula 1 field at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Read the full story ⬇️
WHERE MERCEDES' "BIG ADVANTAGE" IS COMING FROM
Some big breaking news from the F1 paddock this morning: cancellation of the upcoming Middle East races is due to be confirmed this weekend.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli keeps front-row start for Chinese GP sprint race.
Charles Leclerc was not happy with the performance of his Ferrari engine in sprint qualifying.
Here's why ⬇️
LECLERC RAGES OVER FERRARI TEAM RADIO AFTER SPRINT QUALIFYING ISSUE
Lewis Hamilton praised Ferrari’s F1 car in China, but says it still lacks power and is pushing the squad to work harder in Maranello.
Full results from sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 2 of the 2026 F1 world championship.
George Russell took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race ahead of Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Russell once more proved the driver to beat as Mercedes again demonstrated its superiority over one lap, with the Briton 0.289 seconds faster than Antonelli.
But Mercedes’ front-row lockout is under threat, with Antonelli facing a stewards’ investigation for impending McLaren’s Lando Norris during the session.
Read our full report here ⬇️
RUSSELL TAKES CHINA F1 SPRINT POLE, BUT MERC 1-2 UNDER THREAT
The final order - before investigations - of the top 10:
Russell's understated job on Friday has landed him the first Sprint pole of the season, as Antonelli joins him on the front row of the grid.
Counting them across the line, Gasly betters Verstappen, as Norris goes third, Piastri is fifth and splits the Ferraris. Hadjar is slowest of the 10.
No improvements from the original five this time around.
Those with a time on the board will do a cool lap before going again, but the remaining drivers have fresh rubber, which could make all of the difference.
Russell puts in a final sector 0.4s better than Antonelli to take provisional pole by 0.360s. The Ferrari's go second and third, with Hamilton the better by some 0.6s. Verstappen was the only other driver on the track, and he was also the slowest.
If Russell takes Sprint pole today, it would be his first. Less of a negative point against Russell, that's more a reminder of the struggles Mercedes has faced in recent years.
Antonelli wasted no time in taking to the track this time, as he bids to flip the pecking order at Mercedes.
The stewards will be busy after the session, with Gasly and Antonelli both to be investigated for impeding against Verstappen and Norris. If deemed guilty, a three-place grid penalty could be the punishment.
Flavio Briatore has commented on Mercedes' Alpine investment reports for the first time, downplaying them.
Verstappen and Hadjar JUST squeak through in P9 and 10. Out go Hulkenberg, Ocon, Lawson, Bortoleto, Lindblad and Colapinto.
Into the final minute and Hamilton moves briefly to P4, before Piastri displaces him. Antonelli puts in another quick lap, just in case the stewards take action after his blocking incident.
There could be trouble on the way for Antonelli though, as he blocked Norris at Turn 1 of the McLaren driver's planned hot lap. That will almost certainly be looked at, as race control notes the incident.
But as before, Mercedes rock up and knock seven bells out of the chasing pack. Russell and Antonelli are now 1-2.
This is more of a typical qualifying session now, with the track rubbering up and the times beginning to come down. Verstappen and Gasly led the way, but Leclerc has obliterated the target by 0.962s. Hamilton falls 0.658s shy of his Ferrari team-mate.
Under the radar in SQ1 was Verstappen, who was 11th and complaining that "everything" was wrong with his car. With pace hard to extract from the Red Bull, this will be a tense session for the team. Hadjar only just squeaked through SQ1 in 14th.