George Russell survives early Lewis Hamilton scare in frenetic China Sprint

George Russell survived an early fight with Lewis Hamilton to secure victory in the China Sprint – the first sprint race of the season.

The Mercedes driver battled with his former team-mate across the opening laps before gaining control of the race at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Fighting Russell hurt Hamilton's tyres, causing him to fall behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc and settle for third.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris finished fourth despite briefly looking in with a chance of a rostrum following a late safety car, while Max Verstappen struggled down in ninth.

How the Sprint unfolded

There was action before the first sprint of 2026 even got underway, as changes to Alex Albon's Williams saw him start from the pit lane. That was not all, as Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly were both placed under investigation, with both cases to be reviewed after the sprint.

Hadjar faced an investigation for allegedly failing to follow the race director's instructions, while Gasly's Alpine left the pit lane in a potentially unsafe condition.

Following the chaos of the Australian GP start, all eyes were on the lights, which remained on for much longer than a week earlier.

As the lights went out, Russell aced the start, while both Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen bogged down and tumbled backwards, the Dutchman dropping almost to the back of the field.

The start quickly worsened for Antonelli as he hit Hadjar at Turn 6, resulting in a 10-second time penalty. At the front, Russell may have aced the start, but an ambitious Hamilton took the lead into Turn 9 on the opening lap.

Russell and Hamilton exchanged the lead several times across the opening laps before the championship leader eventually eased into the distance.

While exciting to watch, fighting Russell hurt Hamilton's tyres, causing him to fall behind Leclerc. The Ferrari drivers swapping positions was not without difficulty, as Leclerc complained over the radio that the seven-time champion was not leaving sufficient room.

Third became fourth for Hamilton on lap 11 after Antonelli made his way past during his recovery following the poor start, before the Italian moved past Leclerc with ease two laps later to take second.

It was a well-timed move by Antonelli, as seconds later a safety car was deployed after Nico Hulkenberg's Audi ground to a halt on the exit of the first corner. Hulkenberg was not alone in suffering issues, as Arvid Lindblad and Valtteri Bottas were both forced to retire a lap earlier.

All of the leading drivers dived into the pits for fresh tyres due to the remarkable level of degradation, with Antonelli having fallen to seventh after serving his penalty.

Russell remained in the lead ahead of Leclerc, Norris and Hamilton, the latter losing out to the McLaren after having to wait for Leclerc's stop to finish. With three laps remaining, the safety car period ended.

It was a smooth restart from Russell, who immediately built an advantage of over a second, largely due to Leclerc suffering wheelspin out of Turn 14. The top four quickly broke away from the field, with Hamilton's podium hopes restored on lap 18 when he overtook Norris.

There was no denying Russell victory, though, as he crossed the line ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton, marking a double Ferrari podium. Norris and Antonelli completed the top five, with Oscar Piastri in sixth, while Verstappen failed to score a point in ninth following his poor start.