F1 Chinese GP sprint race and qualifying as it happened

Colapinto and Bortoleto briefly enter the drop zone, but both improve their final laps

That demotes both Williams' back into the drop zone, where they will remain

Verstappen leaps to fourth, Hadjar to seventh to book their place in Q2

Sainz rises to 14th, demoting his team-mate Albon back down after getting up to 16th briefly.

Linblad recovers to 11th, great job by the rookie given the lack of track time.

Good news, Lindblad is back on track to try and counter the attack to come from the Williams' that want his safe Q2 spot.

Meanwhile, the Red Bulls - also teetering on the edge in 14th and 15th - are back on softs for their final runs.

Issues for Lindblad have consigned him to pit-lane - the rookie has been beset by problems all weekend thus far, missing most of practice before retiring early in the sprint race.

He is currently 16th and on the bubble for Q1 elimination... Albon is 17th, just a tenth behind

Hamilton bolts softs on to leap up into the top three.

With six minutes to go, it's a similar story in the drop zone as we had in Sprint qualifying - both Williams, both Astons, both Cadillacs

Mercedes are out to play and duly annex the top two with Russell marginally ahead of Antonelli

Piastri, Hulkenberg and Bortoleto complete the top five.

Hamilton and both Red Bulls persevering with the mediums right now in a sea of softs

Bit of a wild moment for Hamilton through Turn 9 on the exit kerb, but after getting out of shape, he keeps things pointing in the right direction to fight another day

Nearly an awkward moment for Valtteri Bottas, who manages to wedge his Cadillac right at the front of a long pit-lane exit queue courtesy of his team's placement at the end of the paddock, but leaves precious little room to drag it round without clattering some scenery.

We really should know better than to doubt the experienced Finn, he swings the Cadillac round with a few inches to spare - never in doubt, never in doubt

If you were wondering, 12 of this year's 22 drivers are now off the mark after one Grand Prix and one sprint race.

Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson are the latest drivers off the mark, the former taking a sixth place finish and the latter impressing en route to seventh place in the Racing Bulls

While it's always feel strange to readjust from racing to qualifying in that order, we're resetting and getting ready to determine how the grid for Sunday's full length encounter will play out

Some great points raised by our Sam Hall (see below) about the Sprint Race and how 'overtake mode' and the short, sharp distance gave it a fast and furious feel.

To add my two cents, the early stages at least give a feel of a rough and tumble motorcycle race, where slipstreams and bubbles act as their own two-wheel overtake mode. 

It does make writing this text commentary hard work - by the time you've pointed out a pass, there is a good chance they've swapped position again. My laptop keyboard was close to catching fire early on in that race.

A small price to pay for eventful racing... that is until my laptop actually does catch fire and it's a trip to Curry's for me.

Mercedes vs Ferrari is shaping up to be a fun battle this season!

One race down, one to go...

Can George Russell maintain his early doors 100% qualifying record with a third pole position in just seven days?

Some sprint action from Verstappen.

This is your one-hour notice that qualifying for the 2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix will be starting at 7am GMT!

Right, so that was fun, let's do it again tomorrow - shall we say, 56 laps?

OK. But first, qualifying - which kicks off at 07.00 UK time. We'll be back for then, go get some shut eye!

Over at defending champions McLaren, Norris and Piastri looked like their were pushing as hard as they were in 2025, but the car is clearly not in the same league as Mercedes and Ferrari. 

Pretty miserable day for Red Bull too - Verstappen got a terrible start but even the 'King of Comebacks' couldn't seem to do much once he was in the lower reaches.

A late safety-car assisted surge to ninth blunted the pain, but it's still well off what we've come to expect. Hadjar might have scored but for the failed soft tyre gamble and the wallop he got from Antonelli on lap one.

Hamilton surprisingly downcast on his result, pointing out he was leading at the beginning before slipping to third.

In the context of 2025 (last year's Chinese sprint notwithstanding) it's a big boost and should give him encouragement a long-awaited first GP podium as a Ferrari driver is in the offing.

However, being overhauled by Leclerc will be one sting, as will seeing his former beloved Mercedes showing the kind of form that had him on top of the world for so long