Toto Wolff celebrates Mercedes 1-2-3 at Chinese Grand Prix

Photo: © IMAGO

Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff celebrates Mercedes 1-2-3 at Chinese Grand Prix

Hamilton will always be part of the Mercedes family

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 14 March 2026 20:56

F1 boss Toto Wolff had to do a double take in Shanghai when he thought Mercedes had achieved a 1-2-3 at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Following on from their dominant qualifying display in Melbourne, Mercedes once again clinched a front row lockout in China. Only this time it was Kimi Antonelli on pole.

After suffering gearshift issues, George Russell had little time to salvage his qualifying session in Q3, where he managed to promote his car to P2 but was still two tenths of a second behind his team-mate.

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Completing the top three in qualifying was Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who was only three tenths of a second from the pole position time and crucially ahead of his team-mate Charles Leclerc.

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Wolff: Hamilton still our driver

It was Toto Wolff's reaction to qualifying that caught attention however, after Mercedes shared a video on social media.

As Wolff looked at the timing screens which listed Antonelli, Russell and Hamilton in the 1-2-3 positions, it took him a moment to realise that Hamilton was driving for Ferrari.

"I actually thought for a moment that we have three cars. First second and third. Need to get used to it," he said to the camera.

He then pointed to the screen which showed Antonelli, Russell and Hamilton posing as the top three. When confronted with the fact Hamilton was driving in red he said emphatically: "Still our driver."

What time is the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix?

Lights out for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix is at 15:00 local time (CST), 07:00 (GMT) and in the US 03:00 (ET) and midnight on the West Coast.

In the UK, Sky Sports will broadcast live coverage of the Chinese GP while viewers in the US can access a 7-day free trial to the coverage on Apple TV, which now has rights instead of ESPN from 2026 onwards.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes George Russell Toto Wolff Kimi Antonelli