FP1 Highlights | 2026 Chinese Grand Prix

Round two in the 2026 season brought the F1 circus to China and the first sprint weekend of the season. There was plenty of action in the only practice session ahead of sprint qualifying this afternoon. It was a frantic start to the session for Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton who found himself making contact with the new world champion Lando Norris. Lewis is backing off. Lando's then thought okay maybe he's got an issue and oh he's locked up. I think there was contact. I think the right front did just hit the side pod area of the Ferrari. That was then followed by a spin at turn six. For Hamilton it looked like he was hammering the brake pedal still attacking that hard cold tyres with way less downforce than he was expecting as the rear wing was still shutting. So a little bit like you'd have DRS sometimes staying open or you'd have the occasional incident in yesteryear. I wonder if that one for Hamilton is simply the downforce not attaching Despite their practice dramas there was a return for Ferrari's rotating rear wing only briefly seen in pre-season testing last month. Time will tell if this mechanism is one that can help the team in red this season having already excelled in Australia with Charles Leclerc's impressive start allowing the monogast to lead 23 laps. But a call not to pit under the virtual safety car ultimately left the Ferrari man out of the mix for the win. Franco Colopinto was another to test the limits early on. The Argentinian rotating 180 degrees approaching turn nine. Grip level very low but that rear axle is locked solid as he's just tickled the brake really and it's not a stamp coming into nine you're coming through the right hander of eight bringing it back it's a bit bumpy cold tyres and that rear axle was ready to lock as soon as he hit the left pedal. Franco Colopinto later encountering an issue he's Alpine conking out as he rolled down the pit lane with 15 minutes to go. So he's totally lost drive gone into neutral and you can see total confusion from the McLaren team on the right hand side as well. Haas' Oli Behrmann was another to rotate in FP1 the Brit spinning his 2026 Challenger as the session came to a close. A breathtaking debut weekend in Formula One saw Arvid Lindblad getting the better of his more experienced rivals to claim P8. But in China the 18 year old lasted only a quarter of an hour before his racing thoughts was forced to stop out on track. That grey smoky steaming stuff is well that's not good and that suggests that the low pressure air of the cockpit is drawing in something quite significant that's gone pop or bang. You can hear the engine running so I wonder if there's a transmission fault or a line's blown off something. But there was optimism for the Italian squad as Liam Lawson set the 11th fastest time in FP1. Lando Norris got to grips with his car as he drifted through the opening corners at the Shanghai International Circuit. This is where the first part of the pain kicks in for that front left and a swap of oversteer there for Lando. Plenty of runoff on the outside as you can see rear end saying no slight lock up for the front right as well. He would soon be followed by teammate Oscar Piastri who would take the very same trip beyond the boundaries later on. Oscar both cars have had that snap quite regularly. The Australian's home race was over before it had even started the 24 year old crashing out during his reconnaissance lap to the grid. So just like 2025 the McLaren man will hope that China is kinder to him having claimed pole before winning here 12 months ago. Once again Mercedes look the team to beat in China George Russell leading home Kimi Antonelli by one tenth of a second in practice. Russell got the better of Leclerc in Australia. An epic tussle eventually going the Brits way after a call by Mercedes to pit under virtual safety car and Antonelli had fought back from a bad start to finish within three seconds of teammate Russell at the front. The young Italian can become the second youngest winner in Formula 1 should he graze the top step of the rostrum this season. Elsewhere McLaren look quick the Woking Bay squad just over half a second off Mercedes at the top as Ferrari cement themselves as one of the top three teams despite a gap of nearly a second to Russell. Further down Haas are again in the mix the American squad hoping to repeat their performance in Australia which saw a mix of superb race pace and excellent strategy to allow Ollie Behrman to finish best of the rest. The Brit climbing from 12th to finish 7th in Melbourne. A maximum stabbing can never be counted out. The Dutchman excelled to climb from 20th to 6th in Australia setting the fastest lap in the process and set the eighth quickest time in practice at a sprint qualifying in China. So it's Russell fastest from Antonelli, Norris Piastri Leclerc, Hamilton and Behrman as Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly round out the top 10. 11th for Lawson from Bortoletto, Hadshaw, Ocon, Colopinto, Albon and Sainz. Alonso, Bottas, Stroll, Lindblad and Perez round out the runners.