The first Sprint of the 2026 F1 season is in the books at the Chinese GP, and you can view the championship standings after it here.
Heading into the weekend, George Russell led the standings for the first time. It was a perfect 43/43 for Mercedes as well thanks to Kimi Antonelli backing him up in Melbourne last Sunday. Even if both did not finish in the Sprint, the team would retain the lead in both championships.
Scuderia Ferrari also had a good Australia as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton bagged P3 and P4. Only the top two teams in the championship had both cars in the points in Melbourne.
Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Ollie Bearman, Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly also bagged points in Australia. Eight teams scored at least one, showing plenty of them can fight in the midfield this year.
Sprint Qualifying
A perfect start to the season continued for Mercedes on Friday as George Russell and Kimi Antonelli annexed the front row for the Sprint. Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Leclerc, Gasly, Verstappen, Bearman and Hadjar completed the top 10.
The likes of Audi and Racing Bulls were looking to rebound from a slightly disappointing qualifying to try and get into the top 8.
Williams, Aston Martin and Cadillac were just hoping to complete some mileage in the 2026 F1 Chinese GP Sprint thanks to their various issues and lack of pace.
Russell stays perfect
After early battles with Lewis Hamilton, the driver of car #63 produced a perfect performance to win once again. Leclerc and Hamilton drove strong races to get 2-3 for Ferrari. Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Lawson and Bearman completed the points scorers.
2026 F1 Drivers’ Championship standings after Chinese GP Sprint
- Russell 33
- Antonelli 22
- Leclerc 22
- Hamilton 18
- Norris 15
- Verstappen 8
- Bearman 7
- Lindblad 4
- Piastri 3
- Bortoleto 2
- Lawson 2
- Gasly 1
2026 F1 Constructors’ Championship standings after Chinese GP Sprint
- Mercedes 55
- Ferrari 40
- McLaren 18
- Red Bull 8
- Haas 7
- Racing Bulls 6
- Audi 2
- Alpine 1
