F1 2026 China GP LIVE: Race updates, stream and start time in Shanghai

“It was a pretty clean session, really happy, unfortunately George had an issue in Q3 – but it was a really good session, no mistakes, looking forward to the race.

“I just tried to keep my focus, stay calm, and deliver a good lap.”

Antonelli pips Sebastian Vettel’s record as the youngest-ever pole-sitter…

On qualifying issues: “Damage limitation, Q2 the front wing broke, went out in Q3, car wasn’t restarting, really happy to be standing here. Start of the last lap, had no tyre temp, no battery, so it could have been much worse.

On race: “We need to take care of the guys in red as well. Lewis is going to be pretty dicey at the beginning of the race, put on a good race to the fans.”

“It was a really tough qualifying, bit harder with the wind, so gusty today. These guys put in great laps, really happy to be up here, they’ve been rapid so far this season.

“We did some great work over the break and we managed to get a little bit closer to these guys, that’s a real positive.”

On race: “Still going to be a challenge, I’m sure we’ll have some fun, looking forward to it. Our goal is try and break the gap between these two.”

“Many said the kid was too young to be in Mercedes, now he’s the youngest pole-sitter. I’m so happy for Kimi to be on pole.

On race: “Let’s see how they get away from the start, Ferrari will be pushing like crazy like Melbourne and today.”

On Russell’s issue: “It looks electrical. I didn’t think it was going out but to my surprise, we went out.”

6. Racing Bulls – 6 points

11. Aston Martin – 0 points

1. George Russell (Mercedes) – 33 points

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 22 points

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 22 points

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 18 points

5. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 15 points

7. Ollie Bearman (Haas) – 7 points

8. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) – 4 points

9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 3 points

10. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – 2 points

11. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 2 points

12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 1 point

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 0 points

14. Alex Albon (Williams) – 0 points

15. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – 0 points

16. Carlos Sainz (Williams) – 0 points

17. Sergio Perez (Cadillac) – 0 points

18. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 0 points

19. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) – 0 points

20. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 0 points

21. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – 0 points

The World Endurance Championship (WEC) event in Doha, originally set for 26-28 March, has already been postponed and rescheduled for October.

MotoGP’s Qatar round at Lusail, near Doha, on 12 April is facing significant difficulties and is unlikely to be rescheduled.

Formula Two, F1’s key support series, has its freight still in Melbourne after the season-opener. Should the Bahrain and Saudi F2 rounds be cancelled without replacement, the championship’s second race would not occur until Monaco in June.

Ex-Red Bull F1 team principal Horner, who lost his job last summer after 20 years leading the outfit, is known to be making enquiries with a group of investors into purchasing Otro Capital’s 24 per cent stake in Alpine, the Renault-owned team managed by Flavio Briatore.

Alpine confirmed Horner’s interest in the stake back in January but, now, Wolff has reportedly launched his own bid at the start of the new F1 season, in which Alpine are using Mercedes power units for the first time.

Euphoric and smug all in one swivel of the head, Toto Wolff currently cannot help himself. Just one week into F1’s new era, four years of torturous ground-effect running seem a distant memory now for Mercedes’s long-term commander-in-chief. On Friday, after a third successive perfect competitive session to start 2026, Wolff saw the monitor in front of him, the camera lasered in and turned to face it, smiling wryly. He did the same last week in Melbourne. An early contender for F1 “memeable content” of the season? You bet.

And, really, why shouldn’t he be so merry? Lightyears from the “top four is closely packed” predictions from pre-season testing, Mercedes are currently over the hills and far away. On Friday, George Russell claimed pole position for the sprint race in China, leading home another Mercedes one-two finish with Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli behind him. For the Silver Arrows, it’s been a hat-trick of flawlessness to open up the new campaign.