Source : ABC NEWS
George Russell and Mercedes have continued their dominant start to the Formula 1 season, locking out the front row for Saturday’s sprint race in China.
On the back of his Australian Grand Prix victory from pole position last Sunday in Melbourne, Russell never looked challenged as he qualified fastest during sprint qualifying on Friday evening in Shanghai.
Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli qualified second fastest on Friday, after qualifying and finishing second in last Sunday’s season opener in Melbourne.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was qualified third, six-tenths adrift of Russell’s time.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was fourth, followed by Australian Oscar Piastri.
Norris, Hamilton and Piastri all posted times within one-tenth of each other, but were no match for the Mercedes.
“It was reasonable,” Piastri said of his final flying lap on Friday.
“The step in grip from the medium to the soft [compound tyre] was pretty big, but the gap to Mercedes was pretty impressive, so some things to try and work on.
“The car felt good. It was a decent lap and I don’t think there was too much left.”
Both McLaren drivers had similar times to the Mercedes in the first sector at the Shanghai International Circuit, but Russell and Antonelli were far too quick over the other two sectors of the 5.451km track.
Asked if there was much more McLaren could do to bridge the gap to Mercedes this weekend, Piastri definitively declared, “No”.
“Sector one we seemed good, but [losing] six tenths in the last sector is impressive.”
Meanwhile, Norris is hoping the start of Saturday’s sprint race will present an opportunity to attack the Mercedes duo.
Start procedures are more challenging for drivers in 2026, with the new power unit regulations draining the cars of energy.
Loading Twitter content
Russell and Antonelli were swarmed off the start line last weekend in Melbourne, with Charles Leclerc rocketing his Ferrari from fourth to lead at the first corner.
Norris, the reigning drivers’ champion, said he did not expect the Mercedes duo to struggle with race starts going forward, but still believed there was an opportunity for him from third on the grid.
“I don’t expect them to get bad starts to be honest,” Norris said.
“For years, they’ve been one of the best starters.
“It’s an opportunity for sure, I think they know what they did wrong last weekend in Melbourne, and they’ll probably be fine tomorrow, but you never know.
“It’s a good opportunity, easiest place to overtake is off the line, so we’ll see what we can do.”
Saturday’s 19-lap sprint race will begin at 2pm AEDT, with qualifying for the grand prix to be held from 6pm AEDT.
ABC Sport will have live blog coverage of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, March 15, from 4pm AEDT.
