George Russell dominated the first Sprint Qualifying session of the 2026 F1 season at the Chinese GP. He claimed pole position with a lap time of 1:31.520. The Mercedes team has again a front-row lockout with P1 and P2 for the Sprint Race during the China GP weekend. The gap to Russell’s team mate Kimi Antonelli in P2 was 0.289 and the McLaren driver Lando Norris in P3 was over six tenths behind.
Better performance compared to Melbourne in 2026 F1 Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying
George Russell is overall very satisfied with his car and the performance of the Mercedes engine in the Sprint Qualifying. He explains that in Melbourne they had a lot of derating, which made it more challenging to drive the car compared to this week in China.
“The car has been really great this whole day and also the engine is performing more, let’s say, normal compared to what we saw in Melbourne where you obviously had those big derates, it was a bit more challenging to drive.”
What is derating in F1?
Derating means that the power production by the power unit is reduced, in particular because the hybrid electrical elements of the engine run out of electrical power to boost the power production. With the new regulations, this means that it might be smarter to not cross the finishing line with the maximum speed but rather the ideal speed. So the drivers would not waste cruical energy before they would start their timed lap.
Windy Q3 challenging in 2026 F1 Sprint Qualifying for George Russell
In Q3 of the 2026 Sprint Qualifying the wind picked up compared to Q1 and Q2. He claims that Mercedes and McLaren lost a bit of their speed on the straight. However, the wind did not influence Russell’s positive feeling about the car at all. For him, he was absoutely comfortable and had a lot of fun driving it.
“It was a bit challenging in Q3 because the wind picked up and I think us and McLaren sort of lost a bit of speed in the straight, but the car has been really great and it was a joy to drive.”
No expectations for the start of the Sprint
“I can’t expect anything. Expect the unexpected. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Russell about expectations on the race start of tomorrow’s Sprint. He points out that he had his personal best practice start in the morning. The team focuses on how the starts can be improved since Melbourne.
“My practice start this morning was much better, probably one of my best of the season. We’re obviously improving so much in that regard and the full focus since Melbourne has been on how we can improve those starts.”
Russell jokes that the two cars starting behind him – Antonelli on P2 and Norris on P3 – are equipped with Mercedes engines which should make it more difficult for Ferrari to have a better start and overtake all three of them. Lewis Hamilton is on the second row, however.
“Thankfully, the two guys around me are two Mercedes engines, so hopefully there’s not going to be any fast starts and Ferrari zoom by.”
Possible struggle with graining in F1 Sprint Race
The polesitter thinks that Mercedes is going to struggle with graining in the Sprint Race. Looking at last year’s data, it was a factor that needs to be taking into consideration for this year’s Chinese GP.
“But then the race, it’s going to be, I think we’re going to struggle with graining. We saw last year, graining was quite a factor. Tyres were dropping off, so let’s see what we can do.”
