Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell led team-mate Kimi Antonelli as Mercedes dominated qualifying for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Russell was 0.289 seconds clear of the Italian and a massive 0.621secs ahead of the first non-Mercedes, world champion Lando Norris in the McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari, just 0.02secs slower than Norris, while McLaren's Oscar Piastri took fifth ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen could manage only eighth place, 1.734secs off the pace and behind the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.

Read the full report here

Image source, Getty Images

One week on from locking out the front row for the main race in Melbourne, Mercedes have secured another one-two, this time for the first sprint race of the year in China.

George Russell will be on pole position alongside team-mate Kimi Antonelli but can any of the chasing pack - Lando Norris is third, Lewis Hamilton is fourth and Oscar Piastri Piastri - jump the Silver Arrows at the start? Ferrari's Charles Leclerc went from fourth to first at Albert Park last weekend thanks to his burst of pace off the line, so maybe we'll keep an eye on Hamilton's Scuderia tomorrow.

It's another early start for us all, so set your alarm for 02:45 GMT for build-up to the 19-lap sprint race in Shanghai at 03:00.

Qualifying for Sunday's main grand prix follows at 07:00.

See you on Saturday!

Max Verstappen this week announced he'll be taking on a new challenge by competing in the Nurburgring 24-hour race in May - one week before the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

At the same time, Verstappen has also said he wishes Formula 1 racing was "more fun" at present.

New rule changes brought into the sport at the Australian Grand Prix have met with a mixed reception, with some saying the new emphasis on energy management is robbing the sport of skill and excitement.

So what's the appeal of endurance racing - and might it prove more attractive to Verstappen than the sport that's made him famous?

Take a listen to the podcast above or via BBC Sounds here

"I'm just happy with the result," was reigning world champion Lando Norris' assessment of his sprint qualifying. "P3 is as good as we can do for the time being.

"I'm actually happy to beat both of the Ferraris today because they seemed pretty good the whole day."

Overall, Norris said he's satisfied with his position for the first sprint. "Certianly things have been better this weekend just because the track is a lot more simple from the power unit side of things," he added.

"Everyone kind of falls in line a bit more but we seemed to get a good amount out of it at the end, it was close. Good lap and it puts me in a good position."

Kimi Antonelli hasn't been too far off his Mercedes team-mate George Russell so far this weekend but the Italian teenager just feel short in the final sector in SQ3 and will start second on the grid.

"The pace is very strong but just didn't put the lap together at the end on the softs," said Antonelli. "Still work to do and all to play for tomorrow.

"I'm feeling good in the car. It's more about details and tomorrow we will try to have a good start."

11. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

12. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

13. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

14. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

15. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

16. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

17. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

18. Alex Albon (Williams)

19. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

21. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

22. Sergio Perez (Cadillac) no time

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell takes the applause of the Shanghai crowd as he secures his another pole position in that rapid Mercedes. His front-row time for tomorrow's sprint is more than two seconds quicker than the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar in 10th place.

"The car has been feeling amazing," says Russell in his post-qualifying interview. "After Melbourne, we had a really good car and the engine has been performing really well and today was a real joy to drive."

Russell adds he is intrigued to see what the lap times were in 2025. "It felt really quick, really different compared to last year," he says of today's shootout.

On what he can do tomorrow, Russell says the start will be a big factor, as the team were sluggish at lights out in Melbourne compared to Ferrari. "I think we've found some improvements," he says.

Richard Orr: The Mercs clearly have an engine advantage over the rest of the field. It's a bit sad the FIA are going to let it go on until June.

Rob: They change the regs to make racing better but the gap is now even wider. Hopefully over the next years it will close again…

1. George Russell (Mercedes) - 1:31.520

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.289

3. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.621

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.641

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.704

6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +1.008

7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.368

8. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +1.734

9. Oliver Bearman (Haas) +1.889

10. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +2.203

Image source, Getty Images

Charles Leclerc has been one of the main contenders to Mercedes but the Ferrari man ended up sixth in that session. His best mate Pierre Gasly put in a great lap for Alpine and will start seventh on Saturday.

Max Verstappen will line-up in eighth alongside Gasly, with Haas' Oliver Bearman and the other red Bull of Isack Hadjar completing the top 10 in ninth and 10th respectively.

Oscar Piastri is next to cross the line and Charles Leclerc loses another place, as the Australian slots into P5 on the grid for tomorrow's sprint grid.

Charles Leclerc can't challenge the Mercedes this time around and the Monegasque driver stays in fourth place, which is now fifth, as Lando Norris takes third spot, ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Max Verstappen's time is only good enough for fifth on the timesheets so far, with the likes of world champion Lando Norris and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri still to come.

The gap between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli is now 0.289 seconds, as the Italian has just gone a little bit quicker on his latest lap.

The Mercedes pair were level right up until the final sector but then George Russell ramped up the power and snatched that provisional pole away from Kimi Antonelli.

Lewis Hamilton completes his flyer on the softs and goes P3, with Charles Leclerc one place behind in fourth.

On what we've seen so far, you wouldn't bet against George Russell grabbing sprint pole in Shanghai.

A grid penalty might be coming Kimi Antonelli's way for that incident with Lando Norris but the Italian is on track now, decent amount of juice in the battery, which quickly drains on the long back straight, but he goes to the top with a 1:31.520.

The 'Get Involved' button is there for all your thoughts today, folks. Do you agree with Tom that we need to fire up the time machine and head back to the good old days?

Two impeding incidents the stewards have noted from that session: Kimi Antonelli on Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly on Max Verstappen.

First sprint pole decider of the new season is green. Drivers need to use soft tyres for this session but they can be used or new.

Tom: F1 is so bad now let’s go back to 2012

Jacob: Surprise surprise the Mercedes duo with Toto’s Rocketship are 1st and 2nd. Need a big performance from Ferrari to make this an interesting weekend.

James Ross: Verstappen very vocal about wanting these regs changed, but not so much about 2023 where the regs were even worse for racing. Can't think what the difference is.

11. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

12. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

13. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

14. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

15. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

16. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

The two Racing Bulls cars are in the bottom six along with Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg but Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar could be looking over their shoulders here in ninth and 10th.

The ones below can't improve and the Red Bulls go through to the sprint pole shootout. Verstappen highlighted an Alpine on the racing line during his lap. "Ridiculous," he tells his pit wall.