After a captivating start to the 2026 Formula 1 season in Melbourne, Round 2 swiftly followed as Shanghai played host to the first Sprint weekend of the campaign.
Once again, the action delivered as Mercedes showcased the excellence of their early 2026 package while Ferrari put on a show for the fans. But ultimately the glory went to the young Kimi Antonelli who wrote himself into the F1 history books.
Here are all the key moments from the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix…
Antonelli becomes F1’s second-youngest race winner
As Round 2 of the season got underway in China, the signs initially suggested that George Russell could be on for a repeat of his victorious weekend last time out in Australia, with the Briton setting the pace in Friday’s sole practice session before converting pole into a Sprint win on Saturday.
Team mate Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, had faced a tricky Sprint, falling back at the start and picking up a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. He ultimately crossed the line in fifth.
Yet the Italian would go on to mount quite the comeback, starting with claiming his first Grand Prix pole position in Saturday’s Qualifying – making history in the process as the sport’s youngest-ever polesitter.
The start of Sunday’s race saw Antonelli lose his lead to the fast-starting Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton – but the Mercedes driver later returned to P1, a position he would hold from then onwards despite locking-up a handful of laps before the end.
Antonelli went on to clinch his maiden victory, the 19-year-old becoming F1’s second-youngest race winner as well as heading a Mercedes 1-2 from Russell.
It proved to be a highly emotional moment for the youngster, who tearfully admitted to being “speechless” afterwards. He went on to pay tribute to his team, thanking them for helping him to “achieve this dream”.
A thrilling Ferrari fight as Hamilton secures his first podium for the Scuderia
Mercedes might have continued to hold the upper hand on pure pace over the course of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, especially in Qualifying, but that didn’t mean it all went the Silver Arrows’ way.
Ferrari are making a habit of bolting off the line under F1’s all-new regulations, initially shown by Leclerc and Hamilton at the Australia opener, and again across the Shanghai Sprint weekend – adding a fascinating element to the action.
Mercedes qualified 1-2 in both grid-deciding sessions last weekend, but they lost that advantage when both races began, leading to enthralling back-and-forth battles in the opening laps that kept fans on the edge of their seats.
On Sunday, Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell and Antonelli all went wheel-to-wheel around the twists and turns of the Shanghai International Circuit, and while overall honours ultimately went to the young Italian, Mercedes know Ferrari will make their life difficult at upcoming races.
After falling away from the Mercedes pair, Hamilton and Leclerc had their own entertaining scrap for the final podium spot, with the seven-time World Champion coming out on top and scoring his first Grand Prix rostrum in a Ferrari in the process.
“I had so much fun,” said Hamilton when he hopped out of the car. “We had a great start. I wasn’t able to keep these guys [Mercedes] behind, but to stay in the fight…
“It was one of the most enjoyable races I’ve had in a long, long time, the fact that the cars are the way they are this year. That battle with Charles at the end was awesome – great wheel-to-wheel, very fair and just what we want.”
A nightmare Grand Prix Sunday for McLaren
Reigning World Champions McLaren endured a miserable time in Shanghai, as neither Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri were able to start Sunday’s Grand Prix due to technical problems on their MCL40s.
Reigning Drivers’ champion Norris failed to even leave the pit lane prior to the start, his car suffering “an issue that’s not letting us even start the car”.
Piastri, who led home a McLaren 1-2 in China 12 months ago, did make it to the grid but his car was wheeled back into the pit lane before the formation lap, making it back-to-back Grand Prix non-starts for the Australian after his crash on the reconnaissance lap in Melbourne.
“It was an electrical problem on the power unit, different to Lando’s,” said Piastri. “Just very unfortunate to both have issues, but we don’t fully know any more than that at this point.”
The pair had been due to start on the third row for Sunday’s Grand Prix, having taken a haul of points in Saturday’s Sprint with Norris P4 and Piastri P6.
Red Bull’s struggles apparent in China
Max Verstappen left Shanghai a frustrated man, as the four-time World Champion scored no points all weekend with Red Bull struggling for pace compared to the leading teams.
Verstappen and team mate Isack Hadjar could only start both the Sprint and Grand Prix from P8 and P10 respectively, but bad starts each time put Verstappen to the very back of the field on the opening lap.
With not enough time to recover, Verstappen finished P9 and outside the points on Saturday but was running P6 in the Grand Prix until a ERS [Energy Recovery System] cooling issue forced him to retire with 10 laps remaining.
“A lot to learn from,” said Verstappen. “It’s definitely not where we want to be, of course, but I also know that the team is giving it everything, so it’s frustrating for me but also frustrating for them.”
Hadjar was able to bring some positivity to Red Bull, finishing Sunday’s race in P8 having suffered a high-speed spin on the opening lap entering the back straight.
“I didn’t see that [first-lap spin] coming,” Hadjar conceded after the race. “The rear snapped out so fast, and it’s a shame because we had a good start.”
Bearman and Gasly impress as midfield battle heats up
Ollie Bearman’s superb fifth-place finish in China, as well as Pierre Gasly’s sixth, impressed plenty as the pair stood out across the weekend for Haas and Alpine respectively. Both were quick over one lap, making it to SQ3 on Friday and Q3 on Saturday. Gasly felt unlucky to miss out on points in the Sprint, where Bearman managed to finish eighth.
But come the Grand Prix, those two slugged it out all race long, with Bearman finishing as the lead driver behind the Mercedes and Ferrari cars and Gasly tailing him home, only two seconds back.
With both also scoring in Australia, Bearman sits an impressive fifth in the Drivers’ Championship, while Gasly is seventh. Alpine were the slowest team in 2025, so their turnaround has been impressive while Haas have seemingly jumped to the head of the midfield fight.
And considering that many believed the top four teams would leave a big gap to the midfield runners under the new regulations, the performances of Bearman and Gasly so far show that that is far from true.
But the question is – who else from the midfield can catch up? Racing Bulls had the pace in Melbourne, while Audi cannot be discounted either. All in all, the midfield battles look set to be incredibly hard-fought this season.
F1 ACADEMY’s new season kicks off
The 2026 F1 ACADEMY season officially got underway in China as Alpine’s Nina Gademan opened up her campaign with victory in Saturday’s opening race, beating Natalia Granada (Sephora) and Audi’s Emma Felbermayr.
Gademan started on pole for the reverse grid race, and led from lights to flag despite a Safety Car cutting her advantage and causing some tense final moments as she crossed the line just six tenths of a second ahead of her rivals.
But Felbermayr then took victory for herself in the second race of the weekend, to leave Shanghai in the lead of the Championship.
Alba Larsen was the initial pace-setter for Ferrari in Sunday’s Race 2, after picking off Alisha Palmowski (Red Bull) at the start. Larsen looked set to cruise to the win, but a late Safety Car bunched up the field and, at the restart, she had a snap of oversteer that sent her into the gravel and cost her the victory.
As such, Felbermayr capitalised to take the win and make it two podiums in a row, beating Palmowski while Payton Westcott (Mercedes) rounded out the podium.
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