George Russell continued Mercedes’s strong start to the season by securing pole position for the first sprint race of the season in China on Friday, locking out the front row with teammate Kimi Antonelli.

Russell topped every session at the Shanghai International Circuit, taking his first career sprint pole with a lap time of 1:31.520. Antonelli was 0.289 seconds slower.

Lando Norris of McLaren set the third-fastest time, but could move into the front row depending on Antonelli’s investigation for allegedly impeding four-time world champion Max Verstappen during Q2. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella noted that Norris was not on a fast lap at the time.

Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari qualified fourth, followed by Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

The sprint race on Saturday will award eight points to the winner, with points to the top eight, ahead of Sunday’s main Grand Prix.

Mercedes “a joy to drive”
Russell, winner of last weekend’s Australian season opener, praised the car’s performance:

“The car has been feeling amazing. After Melbourne we knew we had a really good car, the engine is performing really well, and today it was a real joy to drive. It felt really quick and that was pretty cool, very different to Melbourne.”

Russell is the third consecutive British driver to claim sprint pole in Shanghai, following Norris in 2024 and Hamilton in 2025. He had also topped the sole practice session of the day, with Mercedes comfortably ahead of the field.

Pierre Gasly was seventh for Renault-owned Alpine but faces investigation for allegedly impeding Verstappen, who ended up eighth. Oliver Bearman of Haas was ninth, and Verstappen’s new teammate Isack Hadjar completed the top 10, over two seconds slower than Russell.

Norris said he was satisfied with P3:

“P3 is as good as we can do for the time being. I’m actually pretty happy to beat both the Ferraris today because they seemed strong all day. So I’m satisfied. Good position for tomorrow.”

Leclerc acknowledged Mercedes’ advantage but noted Ferrari could improve:

“In qualifying, for some reason, the Mercedes power unit finds a lot of lap time. We don’t quite find that yet, but in the race, we are closer, so I’m hopeful we can come back tomorrow.”

Hamilton praised his team after recovering from a tricky practice spin:

“The car generally felt great. On the straights, there’s still time to gain, so we have a lot of work to do to improve on power.”

Further down the grid, Audi showed promise with Nico Hulkenberg 11th and Gabriel Bortoleto 14th. Newcomers Cadillac filled the last two spots, while Sergio Perez missed the session due to a fuel system issue.

Struggling Aston Martin had Fernando Alonso 19th and Lance Stroll 20th, and Williams’s weight issues left Carlos Sainz 17th