The Chinese Grand Prix has come to an end and a plethora of things have stood out this weekend, so let’s take a closer look at what happened in Shanghai.
It was the first Sprint Race of the season, meaning the sacrifice of one of Friday’s Free Practice sessions. With the new regulations many teams struggled due to this loss. Not Mercedes though, as George Russell managed to win the Sprint on Saturday ahead of the two Ferraris. This is Lewis Hamilton’s second sprint podium in China after his win here last year. Both the Italian team and Mercedes have been in top form so far this season.
This was further proven on Sunday by Kimi Antonelli in the other Silver Arrow. He secured his maiden win and his first pole position this weekend. Had it not been for a brief period in the beginning of the race where he was overtaken at the start it would have been a clean sweep for the 19-year old. He is now the second youngest race winner in F1 history (after Max Verstappen).
George Russell came in second, whilst Lewis Hamilton finished third- his first official podium in red (sprint races don’t count). It is clearly a track he enjoys racing at a lot. Charles Leclerc came in fourth after battling it out with his team mate for multiple laps.
A team that surprised many in a negative way was McLaren. The reigning Constructors World Champions had suffered from an electrical problem on Oscar Piastri’s power unit, whilst Lando Norris’ car wouldn’t even turn on. This is now the second race Piastri has not been able to start at after crashing on the way to the grid last week in Melbourne.
In two weeks time the five lights will go out in Japan for round 3 of the 2026 season. It remains to be seen if all teams struggling will be able to catch up with the front runners. If not, they will have a longer break in April as the FIA has announced the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix due to the political situation in the region at the moment. After Japan the cars will make their way to the US and Canada, before heading back to Europe for the summer.
