F1 2026: Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Recap

Kimi Antonelli becomes F1’s youngest ever pole sitter after pole position in Shanghai

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli created history in Shanghai as he became the youngest pole sitter in the sports’ history, with the Italian edging out George Russell to take pole at the Chinese Grand Prix 2026. The 19-year old beat four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel’s record from 2008. Antonelli outqualified George Russell and both Ferraris to take pole in Shanghai with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton locking out the second row behind the Silver Arrows. 

Here’s a quick recap of the Chinese Grand Prix 2026 qualifying session. 

Q1 – Verstappen continues to impress in a shaky Red Bull; Bottas outqualifies an Aston Martin

Arvid Lindblad and Valtteri Bottas, two drivers who were hampered in the Sprint and were short on laps in the weekend, were the first two drivers out on the track to get the qualifying session going. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the early benchmark setter with a 1:34.490s after the first runs from the majority of the grid aside from the Mercedes and McLarens. 

Oscar Piastri went quicker, breaking into the 1:33s with a 1:33.990s, going almost half a second quicker than his teammate, Lando Norris. Piastri was dislodged from the top spot once the Mercedes duo got their times on the board with Russell going fastest with a 1:33.262s, being 0.043s quicker than his teammate, Kimi Antonelli. 

As the clocked ticked down, the Williams, Aston Martins, and Cadillacs were the ones in the drop zone and as the chequered flag fell, strong laps from Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto saw Carlos Sainz’s heroic attempt to get out Q1 go in vain as Sainz, Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez were eliminated in the opening qualifying session. Charles Leclerc’s late lap meanwhile saw him go quickest in Q1.

Drivers eliminated in Q1:

Carlos Sainz

Alex Albon

Fernando Alonso

Valtteri Bottas 

Lance Stroll

Sergio Pérez

Q2 – Ferrari takes the fight to Mercedes, Lawson and Ocon gets caught late due to Yellow Flag 

Kimi Antonelli set the opening time of Q2 with a 1:32.950 before his teammate once again went quicker, with a 1:32.53s before the Ferrari duo put themselves between Russell and Antonelli with Hamilton being 0.311s slower than Russell in second place while Leclerc was 0.379s behind the quickest time. Verstappen’s first time saw him go P5, ahead of both McLarens as the Dutchman continued to pull the Red Bull to places it shouldn’t have been.

Russell remained on top for the majority of the session before Leclerc’s all-purple lap saw him go P1 with a 1:32.486 before Antonelli went 0.0043s quicker than Leclerc following his final lap of the session. As the session came to a close, all cars were improving before a late Yellow Flag with 34 seconds as Gabriel Bortoleto went off the track. Bortoleto’s incident hampered a couple of cars and it was Nico Hülkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and Bortoleto himself missing out. The Racing Bull of Liam Lawson and Haas of Esteban Ocon were the two drivers who were caught out late by the Yellow Flag with Ocon continuing to struggle against his lesser experienced teammate, Oliver Bearman, who made it through to Q3. Nico Hülkenberg meanwhile missed out on a top 10 shootout by 0.002s while Colapinto missed it by 0.005s, which ended a tight midfield scrap late on. 

Drivers eliminated in Q2:

Nico Hülkenberg

Franco Colapinto

Esteban Ocon

Liam Lawson

Arvid Lindblad

Gabriel Bortoleto

Q3 – History made in Shanghai

After reporting a slight issue at the end of Q2, Russell’s Q3 kicked off with that issue as the Mercedes leader suffered an early battery issue that stopped him on the track but he managed to get his car going and get back to the garage. Antonelli went quickest after the first runs, going 0.3s clear of Leclerc with the McLarens quickly dislodging both Ferraris in P2 and P3 but were still two-tenths off Antonelli. 

Antonelli’s 1:32.064s eventually was the deciding time as he was untouched and became Formula One’s youngest pole sitter, beating Sebastian Vettel’s record from Italy in 2008. Russell finished second with Hamilton and Leclerc slotting in the second row ahead of the McLaren duo. Max Verstappen struggled with his final lap while his former teammate and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly put in a stunning lap to outqualify both Red Bulls. 

Starting grid for the Chinese Grand Prix 2026 (before penalties applied)

1. Kimi Antonelli

2. George Russell

3. Lewis Hamilton

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Oscar Piastri

6. Lando Norris

7. Pierre Gasly

8. Max Verstappen

9. Isack Hadjar

10. Oliver Bearman

11. Nico Hülkenberg

12. Franco Colapinto

13. Esteban Ocon

14. Liam Lawson

15. Arvid Lindblad

16. Gabriel Bortoleto

17. Carlos Sainz

18. Alex Albon

19. Fernando Alonso

20. Valtteri Bottas 

21. Lance Stroll

22. Sergio Pérez