04:34
Aston Martin ran a reverse strategy to everyone else in the session, using the softs first and the mediums later, indicating a greater focus on race pace than qualifying performance.
Hamilton took pole and won the China sprint race last year
F1 Chinese GP Friday practice and sprint qualifying as it happened
Live text coverage of Friday practice and sprint qualifying at the 2026 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Russell fastest in both SQ1 and SQ2
- Cadillacs, Astons and Williams out of SQ1
- Lindblad retired from practice after smoke flowed from his cockpit
- First sprint weekend of the 2026 season
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
13 Mar 2026
04:32
Chequered Flag
Out comes the flag to bring practice to a close. Russell and Antonelli lead Norris and Piastri. Leclerc and Hamilton follow in a two-by-two formation. Bearman, Verstappen, Hulkenberg and Gasly complete the top 10.
04:30
Off goes Leclerc at the final corner. He understeers wide across the gravel on the outside of the corner, bouncing over the kerb and likely damaging the floor.
04:27
Antonelli improves and closes on Russell. The battle for Sprint Pole later on today could be interesting, as could the battle for third and the midfield, but the chasm between those two battles is huge.
04:25
Up to fourth for Norris with a time 0.959s back on Russell. Verstappen sets his first soft tyre time, and goes seventh, 1.8s off the pace. Mercedes appears to have an even greater advantage this weekend.
04:23
Points for Bearman last weekend, and he seems to be carrying this form forward, moving up to P5. But here come the two McLaren drivers, which could see the Haas driver drop a couple of positions.
04:20
Oh dear. Leclerc puts in his reply to Mercedes, and falls 0.792s shy of the benchmark. All laps completed within moments of each other for the top three, and that is a margin you could quite literally park a bus in.
04:19
Soft tyres time now as we head into the final 10 minutes of running. Russell lays a firm marked with his first soft-tyre effort, putting in a 1m32.807s. Antonelli goes within 0.156s of his Mercedes team-mate.
04:18
Yellow flag...in the pit lane
Colapinto has oddly stopped in the pit lane, forcing yellow flags to fly as the Alpine mechanics sprint to recover the car. But just before they get to the car, he manages to get it going. However, with the mechanics having run away, there's no one at the garage to receive him. Very strange.
04:16
The Red Bull garage is likely a very interesting place right now, with Hadjar P11 and Verstappen P12. Both are over 1.7s back on Russell.
04:09
Whether it's because of the new powertrains or some other reason, drivers continue to run wide and suffer snaps under braking. It's very difficult to determine what is driver error and what is the car right now.
04:08
Good news for Williams, Sainz is on the track!
04:06
Here come the timed efforts. Hamilton leapt up to P3 but has just been replaced by Piastri. Medium tyres are still the option of choice, with Hamilton the only non-Aston Martin driver on softs, this down to his spin earlier in the session.
04:05
The problem for Sainz and Williams is reportedly a data issue, with his car not talking to everything it needs to. The Spaniard is sitting in his car just waiting to head out onto the track, but this is time that he will be unable to regain.
04:03
Top 10 Update
Halfway through the session, and here is the top 10.
- Russell 1m34.169s
- Leclerc +0.240s
- Antonelli +0.625s
- Bearman +0.781s
- Hamilton +0.816s
- Piastri +0.951s
- Norris +1.403s
- Gasly +1.470s
- Lawson +1.487s
- Ocon +1.612s
03:59
After flatspotting his mediums, Hamilton fits the softs and jumps to fifth. He's now 0.816s behind Russell, and one place behind Bearman's Haas.
03:58
The post sounds positive, but Sainz remains in the garage. Williams endured a difficult Australian Grand Prix, and this is far from ideal as we near the mid-point of the session. Team Principal James Vowles has indicated that they could solve all of their weight issues tomorrow if money were no issue, but these continuing problems cannot just be handwaved away.
03:54
The moment Lindblad's weekend took a turn for the worse.
03:52
We're now into a period of race simulations for most teams. But Alonso has the softs on and sets his best lap of the session, going to P17 and 4.410s off Russell's pace.
03:46
Lindblad out
As Lindblad slowed to a stop, smoke could be seen coming from the cockpit. It's unclear what the fault was, but it's possible that the extinguisher went off in his car. As a safety issue, that is something that means drivers are forced to stop as soon as possible.
03:45
The yellow flags fly again, and this could well be a red, as Lindblad pulls off the track at the Turn 14 hairpin. The Virtual Safety Car is deployed as he climbs out of the car.
03:43
Back to green flag running and we continue as we were. Alonso and Saiz remain in the garages having only completed installation laps, while Stroll is the slowest of those with a time, 8.945s off the pace.
03:41
VSC
Antonelli was about to retake his position at the top of the timings before the Virtual Safety Car is displayed to allow for debris to be recovered from the long back straight.
03:40
10 minutes into the session and we turn to the timing screens for the first time today, as George Russell moves ahead of Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli with a 1m35.065s effort. Leclerc is third and Gasly fourth.
03:36
Hamilton spins
Not a great few corners for Hamilton, who sweeps around the outside of the final corner on Lando Norris and makes floor-to-tyre contact with the McLaren, before spinning at Turn 6 and badly flat-spotting his medium tyres. With severely limited tyres this weekend, that could be hugely detrimental for his day.