F1 Qualifying Results: Kimi Antonelli smashes pole record after George Russell Mercedes issues

Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, Mercedes, Australia, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 Qualifying Results: Kimi Antonelli smashes pole record after George Russell Mercedes issues

The results from the 2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix qualifying session

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Saturday 14 March 2026 09:26

Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday, becoming the youngest ever F1 polesitter in the process.

George Russell will start alongside him on the front row but the Brit nearly had an absolutely disastrous session, his car stopping on track early in Q3 before he had set a lap time.

Russell had complained about understeer at the end of Q2, having been beaten by Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli on the timing boards, and had his team change his broken front wing before Q3.

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However, he stopped on track almost immediately after going out, complaining about power issues, before getting his car running again – but slowly, unable to change gear as he trundled around to the pits in desperate hope that his issues could be resolved. They were, but the Brit simply couldn't find the pace to beat his teenage colleague.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will get a great chance to use their prodigious take-off speed from third and fourth respectively, but Max Verstappen will start in eighth, behind the Alpine of Pierre Gasly on the fourth row.

Having also stopped after just a handful of laps in practice and failed to finish the sprint race, the Racing Bulls rookie surely feared the worst at that point – but he emerged from the garage with enough left on the clock to set a final lap, which sent him through to Q2.

However, when he was tracking to challenge the top 10 in his final Q2 run, Gabriel Bortoleto went off at the final corner to bring out double yellow flags and ruin Lindblad's lap. He will start 15th.

The bottom six will again be made up of two Williams, two Aston Martins and two Cadillacs.

F1 Qualifying Results: Chinese Grand Prix 2026

Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Results
Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:32.064
2	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.222s
3	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.351s
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.364s
5	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.486s
6	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.544s
7	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+0.809s
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.938s
9	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	+1.057s
10	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+1.228s
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	ELIMINATED IN Q2
12	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	ELIMINATED IN Q2
13	Esteban Ocon	Haas	ELIMINATED IN Q2
14	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	ELIMINATED IN Q2
15	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	ELIMINATED IN Q2
16	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	ELIMINATED IN Q2
17	Carlos Sainz	Williams	ELIMINATED IN Q1
18	Alex Albon	Williams	ELIMINATED IN Q1
19	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	ELIMINATED IN Q1
20	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	ELIMINATED IN Q1
21	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	ELIMINATED IN Q1
22	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	ELIMINATED IN Q1

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 Q1 and Q2, we will have 6 being eliminated. That still leaves 10 for the pole shootout in Q3.

The other notable change is in the timings - Q3 now gets an extra minute and lasts for 13 rather than 12.

Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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