George Russell continued his imperious start to the 2026 Formula 1 season by comfortably beating his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli to pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint.
After winning last weekend's season opener in Australia, Russell topped all three segments of the shorter-format qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit, with his time of 1:31.520s putting him almost three tenths clear of Antonelli.
McLaren's Lando Norris was the best of the rest but the reigning world champion was six tenths off Russell's time as he edged out Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton for third.
Antonelli faced a post-session investigation for impeding Norris during SQ2 but escaped a penalty as the McLaren driver admitted he had not been on a fast timed lap.
"The car has been feeling amazing," Russell said. "We knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine is performing really well, and today it was a real joy to drive."
The third row will also be McLaren-Ferrari as Oscar Piastri took fifth ahead of Charles Leclerc, who appeared to be on course for third place before appearing to suffering with energy deployment issues in SQ3.
A frustrated Max Verstappen could only manage eighth for Red Bull as the four-time world champion was surprisingly beaten to seventh by Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
"The whole day has been a disaster pace-wise. No grip. That's the biggest problem - no grip, no balance," Verstappen said.
"Just losing massive amounts of time in the corners. Then because of that you start triggering other little problems but the big problem for us is the cornering is completely out."
There was a further blow for Red Bull as Haas' Oliver Bearman beat Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar to ninth.
At the back of the grid, Williams were the big losers as they had both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon knocked out in SQ1, joining the Aston Martins and Cadillacs in exiting at the first stage.
Aston Martin continue to be blighted by issues with their troublesome Honda power unit, while 2026 F1 newcomers Cadillac were only able to field one car as Sergio Perez was ruled out by a fuel system issue.
Russell was similarly dominant in Melbourne qualifying last weekend but lost the lead at the start as he was one of several drivers to struggle to get off the line amid the complex challenges provided by F1's all new power units for 2026.
Perhaps the biggest threat could come from Hamilton in fourth, after both Ferraris made strong starts in Australia, with Leclerc taking the lead.
"Expect the unexpected," Russell said.
"I don't know what will happen. My practice start this morning was much better - one of my best of the season. We are improving so much in that regard.
"The full focus since Melbourne has been on how we can improve those starts. Thankfully the two guys around me are two Mercedes engines, so hopefully no fast-starting Ferraris zoom by."
Saturday March 14
2.25am: Chinese GP Sprint build-up*
3am: CHINESE GP SPRINT*
4.30am: Ted's Sprint Notebook*
5.30am: F1 Academy Race 1*
6.30am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
7am: CHINESE GP QUALIFYING*
9am: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday March 15
2.35am: F1 Academy Race 2*
5.30am: Chinese GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
7am: THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
9am: Chinese GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
10am: Ted's Notebook*
*Also on Your Site Main Event
Formula 1 is in Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Your Site F1.
