SportyTV | Mercedes dominate in China as Antonelli takes pole after Russell's sprint victory

Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli continued to set the pace in the opening weeks of the 2026 Formula One season, after a strong start to the Chinese Grand Prix.

Russell, who won the first race of the year in Australia last weekend, converted his pole position into a victory in the sprint race to extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship.

On the other side of the Mercedes garage, Antonelli made history by becoming the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history, after leading Russell in qualifying for Sunday's race.

At 19 years and 201 days, Antonelli surpassed Sebastian Vettel's previous record of 21 years and 72 days, which he set at the Italian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso back in 2008.

It was also a positive day for Ferrari, who saw Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finish second and third in the sprint, with the latter coming home in third during qualifying.

An enthralling sprint race saw Russell come out on top, despite coming under pressure from former team-mate Hamilton, which saw the pair swap places five times early on.

As was the case when he was second on the grid in Melbourne, Antonelli suffered a poor start from second as Hamilton surged from fourth and into the lead of the race.

However, Russell was able to speed clear and opened up a five-second gap to the chasing pack, though a late safety car ensured the Briton would be put under pressure.

First Sprint race win of the season Really fun few opening laps too! Well done team pic.twitter.com/fvg241PtcO
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) March 14, 2026

But the championship favourite was able to hold on and move 10 points clear in the drivers' standings, with the Ferraris followed over the chequered flag by Lando Norris.

Antonelli took fifth after being forced to serve a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar, with the McLaren of Oscar Piastri finishing sixth.

Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Haas' Oliver Bearman rounded off the top eight as Max Verstappen missed out on the points, and Mercedes' dominance continued in qualifying.

The Silver Arrows locked out the front row for the third time in as many qualifying sessions this season, as Russell finished 0.222 seconds behind record breaker Antonelli.

Russell was limited to just one run in the final qualifying session after suffering a gearbox problem, but he was able to put a lap together just in time to start behind his team-mate.

McLaren duo Piastri and Norris will line up fifth and sixth, respectively, and behind the two Ferraris, with Pierre Gasly taking a surprise seventh for last year's strugglers Alpine.

Verstappen and Hadjar were only good enough for eighth and ninth on another difficult outing for Red Bull, while Bearman secured the final spot in the top 10 for Haas.

It's Kimi Antonelli who will lead the field away!

Here's how the drivers will line up for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix #F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/xtr2v4hbxn
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2026