F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Max Verstappen slow, George Russell fast, Lando Norris back!

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F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Max Verstappen slow, George Russell fast, Lando Norris back!

Full results and times from qualifying for the sprint race in Shanghai

Originally written by Chris Deeley. This version is a translation.

Friday 13 March 2026 09:36

Mercedes swept the front for of the grid for Saturday's Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, with George Russell taking a strong pole position.

Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton will line up on the second row as things stand – although Norris may jump to the front row depending on whether the stewards decide to penalize Kimi Antonelli for a possible impeding incident in SQ2.

Ferrari's pace, with Hamilton splitting the McLarens and just three and a half tenths behind Antonelli, was markedly improved from practice earlier in the day. Interestingly, that coincided with the shelving of the team's experimental 'Macarena' read wing system, which was removed from the Scuderia's cars between sessions, ostensibly for reliability issues rather than performance.

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Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, on the other hand, had an absolutely horrible time, barely making it through SQ2 by less than a tenth of a second before qualifying eighth and tenth respectively – with Verstappen one and three quarter seconds behind Russell's pole time.

Earlier in the session, both Cadillacs and both Aston Martins were eliminated in the bottom four places as expected, with Sergio Perez not even making it onto the track, but it is the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz who will be joining them sitting in the garage for the rest of the session, with their overweight car unable to make SQ2.

Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying Results
Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	George Russell	Mercedes	1:31.520
2	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.289s
3	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.621s
4	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.641s
5	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.704s
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+1.008s
7	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.368s
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+1.734s
9	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+1.889s
10	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	+2.203s
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	ELIMINATED IN SQ2
12	Esteban Ocon	Haas	ELIMINATED IN SQ2
13	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	ELIMINATED IN SQ2
14	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	ELIMINATED IN SQ2
15	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	ELIMINATED IN SQ2
16	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	ELIMINATED IN SQ2
17	Carlos Sainz	Williams	ELIMINATED IN SQ1
18	Alex Albon	Williams	ELIMINATED IN SQ1
19	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	ELIMINATED IN SQ1
20	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	ELIMINATED IN SQ1
21	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	ELIMINATED IN SQ1
22	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	ELIMINATED IN SQ1

Changes to F1 qualifying in 2026

There are a couple of changes to the way qualifying works this year, not quite as sweeping as the new technical regulations.

Firstly we now have 22 cars on the grid, so instead of 5 cars exiting after SQ1 and SQ2, we will have 6 being eliminated. That still leaves 10 for the pole shootout in SQ3.

Unlike in grand prix qualifying, where Q3 now gets an extra minute and lasts for 13 rather than 12, sprint qualifying timings are unchanged (12 minutes for SQ1, 10 for SQ2, eight for SQ3)

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