The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team started the weekend on a solid note. George Russell finished on top in the F1 Free Practice 1 session of the Chinese GP, with his teammate in second. It was a predictably frantic hour as teams tried to learn as much as possible before the later sprint qualifying. Follow below for all the F1 FP1 highlights of the one and only practice session of the 2026 Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix.
Early Incidents As Drivers Give it All-or-Nothing
Coming off the previous weekend’s win at Albert Park, Russell was straight out of the pit lane. However, the cool conditions did not slow either Russell or his teammate, Kimi Antonelli. And there was no risk of another part being left on the car, either. It looked as if all equipment had been covered in hi-vis yellow tape, covering the previous green to make it more noticeable to the mechanics.
Franco Colapinto had an early spin on his out lap coming into Turn 9. The BWT Alpine Formula One Team driver was facing the wrong way before righting himself. It was a little too close for comfort between Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris. The two British drivers, who unnecessarily fought for the final corner, seemed to have made minor contact with one another.
The Virtual Safety Car was deployed early due to damage and debris on the track. Gabriel Bortoleto had locked up, but it was not from the Audi Revolut F1 Team car. We had a few minutes of green flags before another VSC after Arvid Lindblad slowed to a stop, having to pull over after smoke filled the cockpit of his Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula One Team machine. This effectively ended the rookie’s session, with only six laps completed on an unfamiliar track.
Will the Flip-Flop Wing Flop?
Scuderia Ferrari HP chose to showcase the rotating ‘flip-flop’ rear wing at the Shanghai International Circuit, marking it as the first time since pre-season testing in Bahrain. And it already seemed to be garnering some interesting results.
Not long after his incident with Norris, Hamilton locked up and took a spin himself at Turn 6. The #44 had just deactivated the rear wing just before the incident. It may have just been a coincidence that Hamilton spun at that moment. The rear wing does take thousandths of a second longer to ‘do the Macarena’ as it closes.
While it makes braking manoeuvres a little more challenging, the payoff, obviously, is the increased top speed. Charles Leclerc was fast on the medium compound, and Hamilton made up ground after switching to softs. However, he had no idea just how well he was doing.
“Give me a plan, mate; I don’t know where I am in the session!” – Lewis Hamilton
In the end, Hamilton finished sixth, while Leclerc was unable to improve from fifth after dusting off into the gravel on his final push lap. While it seemed like the session was a successful one overall, will it be enough for Ferrari to bring it to Mercedes?
Limited Track Time for Sainz
After completing only one lap out in the F1 FP1 session, Carlos Sainz was resigned to remaining in the Atlassian Williams F1 Team garage for the majority of the session. The issue appeared to be a data communication issue, meaning that nothing was going in and nothing was being received in the garage. Sainz finally came out onto the Shanghai International Circuit with a quarter of the time remaining.
He was not the only driver with reliability issues, however. Bortoleto’s engine sounded a little worse for wear, and Sergio Perez was concerned whether his Cadillac Formula 1 Team engineers had switched the delta.
Both McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team drivers seemed to be struggling with the car’s fast snap of oversteer as they navigated in and out of turns. Norris and Oscar Piastri had relatively quiet sessions, finishing in the top five.
Colapinto had another issue as the session drew to a close, being forced to stop in the middle of the fast lane. He did manage to get it going again long enough to park it out of the way.
Next Up… Sprint Qualifying
The first Sprint weekend of the 2026 Formula 1 season presents new challenges, with drivers still struggling with reliability issues and getting used to the new car regulations. Now that teams have crammed as much data collection as possible, what could we expect to see later? Stay tuned for our coverage!