It looked increasingly likely that the 2026 F1 World Championship was becoming the George Russell show, such has been the dominance of the Mercedes. Russell also appears completely at one with the W26, holding a three-tenth advantage over his team-mate, Kimi Antonelli.
However, at the Chinese Grand Prix the qualifying story did not unfold as expected. A brief engine issue curtailed Russell’s final run for pole position. With his team-mate compromised, Antonelli — in the fastest car — capitalised on the advantage of the W26 to snatch his first pole position.
Inevitably, the news media focused on Antonelli becoming the youngest F1 driver to take pole position. That is certainly a nice statistic, but statistics do not win races, and Sunday’s race could tell a different story. Over a full Grand Prix distance, the data suggests Antonelli has been slower than Russell.
That could leave Ferrari in prime position to pose a genuine threat, because Mercedes may struggle to carry that searing one-lap pace over an entire race distance. If Ferrari get the strategy right and manage their tyres effectively, victory could well be within reach.
How It Unfolded
George Russell, who won Saturday’s Sprint, managed only one flying lap in the final stage of Qualifying after a brief car issue left him stopped on track. He returned to the pits stuck in first gear, the problem was fixed, and he set a single lap at the end of the session.
Ferrari secured the second row, with Lewis Hamilton just ahead of Charles Leclerc. Oscar Piastri led McLaren team-mate and reigning champion Lando Norris, while Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, and Ollie Bearman completed the top 10.
Nico Hülkenberg narrowly missed Q3 again and was joined in Q2 elimination by Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson, and Arvid Lindblad. Gabriel Bortoleto qualified 16th after spinning on his final lap.
Carlos Sainz led the Q1 eliminations ahead of Williams team-mate Alex Albon. They were joined by Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, and Sergio Perez at the back of the grid.
