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00:03I wanna let my hair down
00:06While I'm staring down your face
00:07Wanna go till the lights out
00:09Take a ride back to my place
00:11You watch your mind
00:13If you don't know what this is
00:15I tell them one by one
00:17If I'm one by one
00:18Twist my wrist
00:19Cause I think so close
00:20Eyes on me
00:22Out to my back
00:23Just like this
00:23Can't for the night
00:25Just keep watching
00:27Just keep watching
00:28Just keep watching
00:32Just keep watching
00:37Just keep watching
00:37Just keep watching
00:41Just keep watching
00:44Just keep watching
00:45From Melbourne to Shanghai
00:47It's the first sprint we've kept
00:50George Russell has been absolutely lighting up the timings
00:54And goes quicker
00:55And we've seen so many drivers fall foul
00:58For that final point
00:59One, two, three, one
01:00Both Williams out in SQ1
01:02For the first time in Shanghai
01:04Check this ability
01:05It's a reckless
01:06Gustafen is so unhappy in the car
01:09Who can catch?
01:10George Russell
01:11McLaren
01:12Can well challenge for the second row
01:14Maybe even the front row start him
01:16Crunch time
01:17Lewis Hamilton
01:18Nearly into the gravel
01:20What the hell
01:21What the hell do you have to do?
01:22Full eyes to Lando Norris
01:23Looking for a second pole in the Shanghai sprint
01:25But it's P3 for him
01:27It's a Mercedes front row here
01:32George Russell has headed every session since FP3 in Australia
01:36And another comfortable drive to sprint pole yesterday
01:39Almost three tenths ahead of his teammate
01:43Mercedes early season domination rolling over into China
01:47And we're just over half an hour away from the first sprint of 2026
01:55Morning all
01:56If you're watching back in the UK
01:58Thanks for staying up
01:59Thanks for getting up
02:01But we promise you a busy day of action
02:03First sprint weekend
02:05We've got the sprint
02:05We've got qualifying as well
02:07For the Chinese Grand Prix
02:08To come your way
02:09In the wee hours of the morning
02:11And joining me for that
02:12Three-time W Series winner
02:14Jamie Chadwick
02:141997 World Champion
02:16Jacques Villeneuve
02:17Another day of domination from Mercedes yesterday
02:20Yes, it's a trip back to the past
02:25So let's hope it doesn't stay like this for three years
02:27But obviously they came well prepared
02:30They designed their own engine and the car
02:32The chassis with the engine
02:33So of course they're ahead of the opposition
02:35Or the other Mercedes runners
02:38But they will catch up
02:39It does have echoes
02:41You touched on it there
02:41It does have echoes of 2014
02:43Because they've just come out of the blocks
02:46They look completely comfortable
02:48None more so in the hands of George
02:49He's been imperious recently
02:51He's been super strong
02:52Obviously we're only
02:53Well, not even two races in
02:55Australia
02:55We knew was going to be a bit of an outlier
02:57But now we've come here
02:58And this is a little bit more of a traditional track
03:00For what we think
03:01The batteries are going to be able to handle
03:02And he's super dominant
03:03He's so strong
03:04The Mercedes especially
03:05I think
03:06Obviously we know that the power unit
03:09Is seeming superior
03:11But the chassis is so strong here
03:13And I think that's something
03:14That they've got a good advantage with
03:16With regards to expectations
03:17Do you think there is?
03:18I mean look
03:18He's trained all his life for this
03:20They all have
03:21But when it eventually comes your way
03:23And you know that you've got an engine
03:25And a chassis
03:26A car underneath you
03:27That is capable of great things
03:29How does that kind of change your mindset?
03:32It puts you in a very comfortable zone
03:34And it's easier for you to focus
03:36Because you don't have to think about
03:37What you're doing in the car
03:38You don't react to the car
03:39You actually drive the car
03:40It does whatever you want it to do
03:42And that car seems to have been designed
03:44Let's not say for George
03:46But it goes hand in hand
03:47With the way George drives
03:48So he sits in it
03:50And it doesn't
03:51It seems effortless
03:52Where you look at Antonelli
03:53And he has to work hard at it
03:55And that's where the difference is
03:56There are only 7,000
03:58So between George and Kimi
04:00Over the first two sectors
04:01And then there's just something
04:02That George has found
04:03In that third sector
04:04What is that?
04:05But now with the way the regulations are
04:08I don't think you can quite
04:08Look at it like that
04:09I think with the way the deployment is
04:11There's lots of little things
04:12That you can do
04:13To find the lap time
04:14And get rewarded for the lap time
04:15Later in the lap
04:16So I think George also isn't
04:18Having to go quite to the
04:20To the last tenth of the second
04:22He's able to just kind of
04:23Bring it back a tiny bit
04:24Be very consistent
04:25Very smooth
04:26Do every lap that he needs to do
04:27I've not seen a mistake from him
04:28All weekend
04:29Every time he goes out
04:30Every lap ends up P1
04:32Whereas for Kimi
04:33It's either P1
04:34Or it can be
04:35You know a little bit further down
04:37So that's the tricky thing for Kimi
04:38Is it's not quite as natural at the moment
04:40And it's
04:41As Jack said
04:42A little bit harder work
04:43Okay
04:44Right
04:44We're about to get ready for the pit lane
04:46To be open
04:47Where are you Ted?
04:48I'm looking up and down
04:49And I can't see you
04:52Thank you Simon
04:53Yes standing right
04:54Ready to go
04:55So morning all
04:56Here we go
04:57First sprint race of the year
04:58And the McLarens are keen to get out
05:01Down at the end of the pit lane
05:03So half an hour race
05:0519 laps
05:06One set of the medium tyre should do it
05:08But graining is not their friends
05:11And might slow the drivers down
05:12So watch out for a pattern across the tread of the tyre
05:15That might mean someone is in trouble with a bit of tyre graining
05:19Just like last week's Grand Prix
05:20There's still this extended start procedure
05:23With the blue flashing lights on the side of the grid
05:25Watch out for that
05:26That's to allow the cars to spool up their turbos
05:30That's ready for the start
05:31And like in Australia
05:33We're still expecting Ferrari
05:34To get the best start of the field
05:36So Lewis Hamilton from P3
05:38Will be looking to jump Mercedes 1 or 2
05:41Into the first corner
05:43He had a good old look at his old team's cars
05:44After qualifying yesterday
05:45And he's hoping they'll be looking at the rear
05:48Of his Ferrari today
05:49A couple of start
05:50Well at least one started from the pit lane
05:52That we know about so far
05:54That's Alex Albin
05:54After they changed his setup
05:56Checo Perez's Cadillac
05:57They say the fuel system is fixed
06:00But they're not 100% sure
06:02So we'll see on the laps to grid
06:04Whether they make it round to the starting grid
06:07For the sprint race
06:08But David Croft is waiting for us up in the commentary box
06:11Crofty, let's see what the sprint races look like
06:13With these new rules and cars, shall we?
06:15Yeah, can't wait for it
06:16Good morning everyone
06:17From high up in the grandstand
06:19Bernie Collins alongside me here
06:21And Lando Norris out on the track
06:23A bit of British bias for you
06:25First thing Bernie
06:25Three sprint pole sitters here in Shanghai
06:28They've all been British
06:30The latest one
06:31Probably not a surprise whatsoever
06:32George Russell in domineering form throughout this weekend
06:35Yeah, the Mercedes has been very, very strong
06:38And when we start to look at it
06:39Even their straight line speed looks particularly strong in that car
06:42So they are going to be the ones to beat today
06:45We expect that their race pace is good
06:47But, you know, as Ted alluded to
06:49Can that Ferrari get a good start off the line?
06:52And how much does that play under the strategist decision on start tyre?
06:56That's going to be very crucial here
06:57Lewis Hamilton starting P4
06:59Which is where Charles Leclerc started in Melbourne
07:00And he led into turn one
07:02Now Ted has touched on the tyre choices
07:04Now, you'd want to put the softs on if you want a good getaway
07:08But are they really going to last 19 laps here?
07:12Yeah, I think that's the impression
07:13The soft tyre is probably not going to be
07:16I think for me the choice today
07:18I think it's going to be much more towards the medium
07:20Now that was a slight disadvantage off the start line
07:23But it will hold on
07:25We expect for the 19 laps
07:27Although the longest stint that anyone did on that
07:29Was 12 laps in P1 yesterday
07:32So it is a venture into the unknown
07:35And for those of those out there that would start
07:38And I don't think the hard
07:39I think the hard is going to be too hard for the sprint for 19 laps
07:43And they potentially want to hold on to that for the main race tomorrow
07:47Pierre Gasly locking up
07:48He starts P7 on the grid
07:50Alpine don't have a sprint top six finish
07:53Since Gasly was third in Spa 2023
07:55It's a Mercedes front row lockout
07:57George Russell leads the championship for the first time in his career
08:00However, if George doesn't have a good race
08:04And doesn't score points and Kimi Antonelli wins
08:06He will be the youngest ever leader of the world championship ever ever ever
08:12At 18 years 201 days
08:14Lewis Hamilton currently holds that record from back in 2007
08:17I hope Kimi's listening because that's great motivation isn't it
08:20Because he has a real chance that Mercedes car does look very strong
08:24The one thing to watch out for
08:25We talked about the Ferrari starts
08:27We know that last week Ferrari were good in the race as well
08:31Their pace improved significantly
08:34And yesterday they alluded to the same thing
08:37Is this another lockup for Pierre Gasly? Yes it is
08:42Something flew out of my car
08:44So it's actually you might not see that
08:46But in the replay it was the cover on the pedo tube
08:48So the pedo tube seems to have gone out of the garage
08:51With the bright sort of pink flash covering it
08:54And then Ed's come off as he's gone round
08:56So as long as nobody picks that up it should be okay
08:58Already an adventure then for Pierre Gasly
09:01And Isaac Hadjar has been noted for failing to follow race directors instructions
09:06A practice start infringement
09:08Did he start out of the pit lane in the wrong place?
09:12Fitz flying off cars, drivers starting in the wrong place
09:15And we've not even got the red lights on yet, Simon
09:17Thanks Shofty, that's the story of 2026 so far isn't it?
09:22It started and still is a journey into the unknown
09:25But what did we learn from the opening race in Melbourne?
09:28Here's Ted with some answers
09:32The first Grand Prix of 2026 was every bit the shakeup Formula One was expecting
09:37Mercedes' mastery of the rules has left world champion Lando Norris
09:41Looking like his title winning celebratory honeymoon is well and truly over
09:45Do you feel the season's still long enough for once you've sold everything
09:49You can still be in contention for the championship?
09:51I'm in round two so I'm not really thinking of it at all
09:53Just focus on doing a good job here this weekend
09:55The race starts are an area of much discussion
09:59Specifically whether to allow the use of the electric motor
10:01To help the cars off the start line
10:03Rather than not below 50km per hour as is the rule now
10:07But it's thought Ferrari who aced the starts in Australia are not agreeing any change
10:13If a team who has a competitive edge in that regard
10:16Ferrari at the moment with the race starts
10:19They wouldn't wish to see anything changing
10:21Half the grid got caught out by a quirk in the rules for the race start in Melbourne
10:26We now know that but because there was some resistance from some teams to change
10:31We're just going to have to work around it
10:34In any case there is a desire to try and help get the cars away cleanly
10:38Avoiding the need for more close-call instinctive saves
10:42Such as Franco Colopinto's on a grateful Liam Lawson
10:46Yeah, it was quite sketchy and very close
10:47Hopefully it doesn't happen every weekend
10:50Because at some point something will happen
10:51You did a very good job to avoid that
10:54I spoke to him after the race
10:55And it was just an issue that we had
10:58And something that we hadn't had too much before that
11:01But now that we've had it we understand why
11:03And we'll obviously fix that going forwards
11:05We also learnt in Melbourne how the art of a Formula One driver has changed
11:09How driving these cars is different to previous years
11:12It is a different challenge, you know
11:14We used to fight for, you know, our life in 1012 in Bahrain
11:20Or 1011 in Melbourne
11:22That challenge is gone, in a way, you know
11:26You use those corners to charge the battery
11:29Not anymore to make the lap time
11:31So this weekend will provide more answers
11:34And the governing body, the FIA
11:36Is actively considering ways to tweak and review the new rules
11:39There will be meetings about this next week
11:42With the likely cancellation of the Grand Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia
11:45Giving the teams the whole of April
11:47To understand and implement any changes
11:50It is what it is, there is constraints, regulations
11:53They are the same for everyone
11:54We'll learn how to deal with it better and better
12:00Yeah, so whilst the learning will be quick, be rapid
12:04That's the nature of Formula One
12:06Are you expecting some tweaks, some changes?
12:08We understand, I mean, it will be confirmed
12:11Before the end of the weekend
12:13That it's looking very unlikely
12:14That we're going to go to Bahrain and to Saudi Arabia
12:17So there's an opportunity, isn't there, there
12:19To implement some change after Japan, do you think?
12:23There is, and I think there needs to be a bit of opportunity
12:25Or a window to change things and adapt things
12:29Because I think we want to see great racing
12:31That said, I think losing two races loses two opportunities
12:34To know exactly what these rules are going to be when they shake out
12:37There's going to be a huge development race
12:39All the teams are going to be making big progress, big upgrades
12:43Big sort of developments with the systems especially
12:45So I think as this season goes on
12:48Yes, we know Mercedes are dominant
12:50And they are most likely going to go on to win this world championship
12:53But the whole rest of the grid is where it's going to be interesting
12:57And I do not expect Red Bull to stay where they are
12:59I do not expect McLaren to stay where they are
13:00And I fully expect Ferrari as well to be fighting at the front at some point
13:04I think one of the big issues has been the differential in speeds at the start
13:09Do you think any, I mean, it looks like Ferrari are not using their veto
13:13But they've said no to that at the moment
13:15What do you expect to happen there?
13:17I mean, is there a safety issue potentially?
13:20Well, not really because the issue happens later on in the starts
13:23When they run out of battery, not at the start itself
13:25Even though some cars are prone, but not related to having the batteries or not
13:31DFI can make changes on safety related issues
13:35They can clarify grey areas
13:37So there's less cheating potentially
13:39But just changing the rule because, oh, it'd be nicer for the sport
13:42Teams can veto, teams can
13:44And why would Mercedes accept any change?
13:47Always a bit of politicking
13:48Is that the right word? Something like that
13:51At the start of a new set of regulations
13:52Or even during a set of regulations
13:55But that's where we are at the moment on that
13:57For Max Verstappen, sort of shot of him there
13:59Not often, in 25 sprint races
14:02This is his worst ever starting position
14:041.7 off the pace
14:06And they apologise to him
14:08Yeah, they apologise on the radio
14:09He was frustrated
14:11I've not seen him like that as well in Formula 1 in his whole career
14:15So that is a head-scratcher for Red Bull
14:17Because they didn't look anywhere near that bad in Australia
14:20I think the balance of their car doesn't look good
14:23The tyre wear doesn't look good
14:24And the efficiency as well is poor
14:26So they really need to get on top of that
14:28We know them to come back on a race weekend
14:30But I think this season
14:32If we look at where they were last year
14:33Okay, they won 1.7 off
14:34But they definitely weren't fighting for the world championship
14:37And at the end of the year they were right there
14:38So they have the opportunity to make big gains this season
14:41Graining an understeer he was complaining of yesterday
14:44It's obvious
14:45You can see that the car is difficult to drive
14:48It has understeer
14:49Maybe because they need to secure the rear for the regen
14:53And that seems to be a trend
14:54Cars seem to generally have more understeer
14:57And Max hates that
14:58It's not the kind of car he can drive
15:00It kills the front tyres
15:01Only the Mercedes seems to have a neutrally balanced car
15:04They manage to regen without upsetting the rear
15:06Yeah
15:07Drivers arriving on the grid
15:09So to the cars
15:10We're going to take a short break
15:11We've got 20 minutes to go
15:12Until lights out in the sprint
15:14More
15:15Especially on Ferrari
15:16When we return
15:31It's Hamilton on pole
15:33And we've said that again
15:34And again
15:35And again
15:36On pole red
15:37Wow
15:38Lights out and away we go
15:39Hamilton with a better reaction time
15:41Leads into the first turn
15:44Lewis Hamilton
15:45Arrived at Ferrari in style
15:47And has hit the ground running in Shanghai
15:50To win the sprint in style
15:52He won maybe
15:53Whoo
15:54Yes
15:59That was undoubtedly the highlight of last year
16:03For Lewis Hamilton's pole
16:05And the win starts from 4th
16:06Let's go to the sky pad
16:07Anthony's there
16:09One thing to look out for in the start today
16:11In the sprint race
16:12Are these Ferraris off the line
16:14Charles Leclerc started 4th place in Melbourne
16:16And got an absolute flyer
16:18And that's exactly where Lewis Hamilton starts today's race from
16:22Despite a slow initial getaway
16:24The Ferrari then really comes alive
16:26And we've seen this all the way through
16:28Testing and the races so far
16:30So yeah
16:31Into the lead by the first corner
16:33And don't forget
16:34Here in Shanghai
16:35Circuit
16:36You've got another 20 metre rundown
16:38Towards that first corner
16:40As you get into the lead of course
16:41You can then mitigate the chances of front tyre graining
16:45And we saw that a lot in free practice one yesterday
16:48Max Verstappen a great shot here
16:50What you're looking out for is this band of darker
16:52This black kind of area on the tyre
16:55And that's where the tyre starts to open up
16:58And it works its way towards the inside shoulder
17:01And then you see the marbles getting flicked away from the tyre
17:04And what this gives you as a driver is the feeling of less front tyre grip
17:09And it's a nightmare to try and battle with
17:11So look at it as you go through turn one and turn two
17:13That inside shoulder
17:15It starts to feather up
17:16And then the rubber is just flying off of the tyre there
17:19So if you're in dirty air
17:21Of course that gets even worse
17:22Because you lose downforce
17:24So being in the lead of the race
17:26Is your friend when it comes to this kind of situation
17:28So if the Ferraris can get that advantage off the line
17:31Then lead the race at the start
17:33This short race today in the sprint
17:35That could really pay dividends
17:40Yeah, that's got to be the plan
17:41It's got to be the best opportunity, Jacques
17:43Doesn't it for
17:44Well, especially Lewis who starts from fourth
17:46Get a fast start
17:47And then just try and cling on
17:48Around here in China
17:51Yes, it's all on the start
17:53Because we saw afterwards
17:54That they could fight
17:56The Mercedes once
17:57They were in the lead
17:58But at this point
17:59Mercedes will have figured out
18:00How to use their energy better during the race
18:02The drivers as well
18:03They adapted
18:03The difference with Melbourne
18:05Is there's no braking into turn one
18:06And we saw that luckily
18:08It was half a car length behind
18:09And he used the braking
18:10To get ahead
18:11And that cannot happen here
18:13It's going to be tricky into turn one
18:15There is a tailwind as well
18:16Which might help the Mercedes
18:17A little bit more than normal
18:18But the turn one entry here
18:20It kind of fans out
18:21Through all of one
18:22If you go to the outside
18:23You can get sort of run wide
18:24But then it bottlenecks into turn three
18:27So it's going to get tight
18:28And a little bit tricky down there
18:30It's a little bit less conventional
18:31Than what we have at Australia
18:32But you would hope Mercedes
18:34Have got on top of whatever their issues were
18:36They're not going to be both sat on the grid
18:37Without a battery
18:39Or anything in their battery
18:40But yeah
18:41Lewis Hamilton's got to be
18:42Licking his lips at the start
18:42Great track
18:43Lots of overtaking opportunities
18:45Oscar Piastri
18:46After that terrible lack of start
18:49Last weekend at his home Grand Prix
18:50Starts from fifth
18:51And I think Ted is at the back of the car
18:54What can you tell us Ted?
18:55Well because he's just over there
18:56I won't call it terrible
18:57I'll call it unfortunate
18:58Shall we
18:58That Oscar Piastri is just about to start
19:00His racing laps for 2026
19:02I'm sure he'll be taking it
19:03Very very easy
19:04On the formation lap
19:07So of course
19:08Hasn't done any racing laps
19:09This year so far
19:11So he's got a sprint race
19:12And then a Grand Prix to do it
19:13But there's already been
19:14A little bit of an overfill
19:16On his car
19:17So it's sprung an oil leak
19:18Now I did see quite a few
19:20Cars doing this
19:21Obviously the mechanics
19:23The engineers
19:23Tip up the oil tank
19:25Top it up in the garage
19:27But then there's something about
19:28These new engines
19:29That does in Australia
19:30I saw a couple of
19:31There was a Ferrari
19:32And there was a Mercedes
19:33Powered engine
19:34That was just leaking
19:35A little bit of oil
19:36Out of the breather pipe
19:37Onto the grid
19:38And that does mean
19:38With this oily patch
19:40That you can see
19:41It has left a bit of a mark
19:44Now they've actually
19:45There are no concerns particularly
19:47We have the chief mechanic
19:48Carry having a look at the breather
19:51It's not like it's got an oil leak
19:52It's just that it's meant
19:53That the middle of the pit box
19:55Has this oily patch
19:56So as long as Oscar
19:57Just goes straight over that
19:59Then it shouldn't affect his start
20:01What about the other McLaren?
20:02Here's Rachel
20:04Just a quick one
20:05How are you feeling
20:06About the start today?
20:07Is that your best opportunity
20:08Do you reckon?
20:11Sure
20:11But I don't think we'll be able
20:13To really race against the Mercedes
20:14So
20:15Get them at the start then?
20:16Not really in our picture
20:17Yeah but they'll probably
20:18Come straight back fast
20:19So yeah
20:20My race is not really with them today
20:25I mean I know yesterday Jamie was saying
20:27That was as good as he could have hoped for
20:29And better obviously than qualifying for them in Australia
20:33I think so but that said he had a bit of a deployment issue
20:37So maybe there was a little bit more potential there
20:39But I think looking at the data
20:42There's a couple of places where George in particular
20:45Is a little bit more efficient with his deployment
20:47He kind of into turn 11 for example
20:49Compromises it a little bit more
20:50Gains more on the straight
20:51But the balance of the Mercedes just looks super strong
20:54It's the through-quarter balance
20:56Where the Mercedes is able to make a big advantage to McLaren
20:59So that's something I think McLaren can be confident about
21:01Going into the rest of the season
21:03But today is going to be tricky
21:04Yeah the way they roll through the corner with that Mercedes
21:07Saves the tires
21:08It allows them to regen better
21:10It's tough for your position
21:11And you know Lando is the same engine
21:13Definitely a slower car right now
21:15So P3 is like a pole for the rest of the grid
21:18Craig Slaters with Max Verstappen starting from 8th
21:22How challenging is today Max given how the car handled yesterday?
21:27Yeah we just tried to be a little bit better later on
21:30Maybe in qualifying
21:31But this weekend is not being great
21:34So it's about learning maybe as much as anything else this sprint
21:38Yeah but I mean everyone is learning
21:39But yeah we're just not quick enough
21:45He's being extremely pragmatic
21:47So is his teammate
21:48They're a refreshingly honest pair aren't they down at Red Bull
21:53But that honesty at the moment is I suppose omitting as a little bit of negativity
21:58Yeah he doesn't need to be anything else but honest
22:02And that's what the team needs
22:04They need to use this as not a test session but yeah really just getting the learnings in for the
22:09rest of the year
22:10That's the good thing with a sprint race
22:11When you're a little bit off there's not many points to get anyway
22:15And it's better than a free practice because you get a full proper stint run
22:20With other drivers you're racing
22:22When you're normally doing practice you're on your own
22:24It's good for practicing
22:26But there in a race trim you figure out the energy
22:28You figure out the tyres
22:29How it is in traffic
22:29It's good practice
22:30Let's hear from the sprint pole city George Russell
22:34Well George are you confident of a better start here?
22:39Yes a little bit
22:40A little bit
22:40But it's still we're still not in the perfect place and that's the part we're struggling with most
22:46But the only saving grace a little bit is where there's a few Mercedes cars around us
22:50So hopefully the difference shouldn't be too big
22:52But yeah if we're in the top three into turn one that's probably a success to be honest
23:00How good is it to turn up and feel as good as you do with the car week in week
23:05out?
23:05Yeah I mean it feels great it's always been so much hard work gone into this car
23:08It's been a while since we've had a car to fight sort of week in week out
23:12So just trying to make the most of it
23:14Well
23:16Say what you want about these new regulations but those opening laps
23:20Between the Ferrari's and the Mercedes in Melbourne were thrilling to watch
23:25Are we expecting the same here today or is it a different track so different kind of racing?
23:30Potentially but it's a sprint race so I think they're all going to be going for it into the first
23:33race
23:33Then we'll see what the rest happens
23:36We had a good show in Melbourne and what we've seen is something inerrant with the cars
23:41You know, maybe it's tougher at the start because of what they can run then in the race that gives
23:44them the advantage
23:45Well, let's see big crowd building here in Shanghai
23:49Final preparations here on the grid the pulse here to the front row look out for Mercedes
23:56Have the others any answers? We're about to find out
24:07Busy day of racing here on Sky Sports F1
24:12Talking you through in the pit lane Ted Kravitz
24:14Birdie Collins is in race control
24:17And up in the commentary box Anthony Davidson and David Croft
24:22Here we go then
24:22And we're ready for the Chinese sprint
24:27From Melbourne to Shanghai
24:30It's the first sprint we can
24:32George Russell has been absolutely lighting up the timings and goes quickest
24:38We've seen so many drivers full-foul of that final point
24:42Both Williams out in SQ1 for the first time in Shanghai
24:46It's a weakness
24:49Gustafen is so unhappy in the car
24:51Who can catch? George Russell
24:53McLaren can well-challenge for the second row, maybe even the front row start him
24:58Brunch time Lewis Hamilton nearly into the gravel
25:02What the hell is happening?
25:03Full eyes to Lando Norris looking for a second pole in the Shanghai sprint
25:07But it's P3 for him
25:09It's a Mercedes front row here
25:33Whatこ kinda hell?
25:39Teacher of theess
25:40It's a friend
25:41No!
25:42No!
25:44No!
25:59Enough
26:01Nothing
26:02Nothing
26:03Long
26:06welcome along everyone from shanghai where it's sprint weekend the first of six sprints throughout
26:12the 2026 season we go sprint racing in miami and canada silverton sandvort and singapore too but we
26:20start out here round two of this formula one season here in shanghai population around about
26:2629 and a half million people at this circuit absolutely brilliant for racing 3.39 miles
26:33active aero on four zones during the course of this 19 lap sprint race overtake gets you an extra
26:39half a megajoule of energy and your detection points right on the final corner of 16 seven left
26:45and nine to the right top speeds today at about 210 miles an hour let's take a look at the
26:51grid
26:52for this morning's action and sergio perez didn't start and turn a wheel in qualifying yesterday he's
27:01allowed to race alex albon they've changed the parts on his car he'll start from the pit lane
27:06after qualifying 18th lance stroll is 19th on the grid alongside foundry bottas in the other cadillac
27:14fernando alonso 18th for aston martin carlos science hasn't got out of the first part of qualifying so
27:19far this season is 17th franco color pinto 16th and then arvid linblad only six laps in practice
27:25before he went qualifying yesterday gabriel bortoleto 14th same place he qualified for the sprint last
27:30year liam lawson seven places above where he qualified last year ocon and hulkenberg missed out
27:36by 19 thousandths of a second of 15 thousandths of a second of a top 10 start isaac hadja just
27:42squeezed in ollie behrman starts ninth first time he's been in the top 10 for a sprint here max verstappen
27:48his worst ever qualifying for a sprint starts eighth his lowest ever grid spot casley seventh
27:53and charles clare start six where he started the last two chinese grand breeze it's fifth for oscar
27:58piastri on the grid fourth for lewis hamilton for his teammate charles clare led by turn one in
28:03australia third for lando norris and then it's a front row lockout for mercedes-benz george russell the
28:10third british driver on pole in three sprints here in shanghai they are the class of the field
28:16but kimmy antonelli keeping george russell very honest he won't have it all his own way
28:20anthony davidson this is the view we're going to get at the start but which way are the drivers going
28:26to go well i think usually crofty all the drivers will naturally drift over to the right hand side
28:31to protect that inside and that's what george russell is going to be thinking about it's obviously
28:36really hard to get these cars off the line we saw that last time out and all the way through
28:40testing
28:41as well any opportunity they have to get these cars off the line they seem to struggle
28:46most of them more than the ferraris so the ferrari goes to the left if you're lewis hamilton
28:52george russell might be pointing his car a bit to the right to try and cover lewis hamilton off
28:57kimmy antonelli might find himself a bit boxed in there and lando norris who's actually run wide
29:03at the first corner of both the previous sprint of events here will be wary about what happens
29:09through that first turn once again absolutely if you go on the outside that gives you obviously the
29:14inside for turn three right formation lap and we are underway here there'll be a stampede all the
29:21crews to get back into the pit lane in a few moments time but slowly but surely the drivers making
29:27their
29:27way off the grid for pierre gasly first time he's gone beyond sq1 for a shanghai sprint and it's alpine's
29:33best start in the sprint since sao paulo in 2024 his teammate franco colapinto uh had a miraculous
29:41recovery and escape from a big crash with liam lawson in the grand prix uh in melbourne superb piece
29:48of driving there so he'll definitely have his wits about him as he starts and the fans are here
29:53to cheer on their heroes a big oscar piastri fan and i know it may look a little bit uh
29:59mundane
30:00it's obviously slow speed on on an out lap on the preparation lap to grid but believe me the work
30:07that goes on for the engineers and especially the engine engineers keeping an eye on battery levels
30:13making sure everything is exactly where you want it to be on this warm-up lap before you come onto
30:20the
30:20grid again is super important and it's an absolutely nerve-wracking time for all of those engineers
30:26getting the turbo spun up of course at the start the best you can with the battery in the right
30:31place
30:32it goes hand in hand and the two kind of feed off of each other so getting it all in
30:38the sweet spot
30:38is absolutely critical and my biggest fear is that we we get a situation like we saw with lawson
30:44last time out we don't want a car to be standing still when the rest are flooding through at very
30:51high
30:51speeds very true last year's winner of the sprint from pole was lewis hamilton he's on the medium
30:55tyre bernie collins there are some though who've gone away from the strategy you were predicting 20
31:00minutes ago yes crafty well that's the best thing about these we'd like to see a bit of strategy
31:04divergence the majority of the field on that medium tyre as we discussed the outliers then only a single
31:11car on a soft that is isaac hadjar in p10 so watch out for his start can he get ahead
31:18of behrman that
31:19will be the aim for him particularly with that soft tyre three drivers on the hard tyre liam lawson
31:25carlos signs and fernando alonso they're all on a new hard tyre so majority on medium can isaac hadjar
31:32make that soft last will the hard be better at the end of the race those are the big things
31:36to look out
31:36for max verstappen did say it was a bit of a learning exercise for red bull so they're going to
31:40learn a bit
31:41about the soft tyres you do wonder if they're going to last for 19 laps he might make gains at
31:46the start
31:46might be vulnerable uh later on and will we see the the toto wolf knowing smile by the end of
31:52this
31:52race as the two mercedes sits in pole and second their fourth sprint pole for mercedes and a first
32:01lockout for the silver arrows in the sprint race since monza in 2021 it's obviously the time here it
32:09absolutely is crafty and obviously the for a driver that opening lap is where you can make or lose
32:15positions and you're going to be full attack but then you very quickly got to settle down and start
32:20thinking particularly about that front left tyre and i hope that we get a little bit more time than
32:26we had in melbourne uh when the five lights went on they the fifth light went on and it was
32:31out
32:31before you could even blink did it catch you out a little i think you caught some of the drivers
32:36out
32:36as well alex albon starting uh in the pit lane both williams out in sq1 for the first time here
32:42in shanghai we've already seen a few adventures for alex albon on his lap to the grid a big lockup
32:49yeah gasly was having a few lockups too here's the green flag then and you'll see the blue panels
32:54on the right hand side flash pre-start procedure get those revs up for the 21 drivers on the grid
33:02and now come the lights it's the first sprint in 2026 lights out away we go hamilton gets away
33:10brilliantly george russell leads from lando norris hamilton's coming at them russell into the first
33:16corner hamilton just behind lando norris and then we see the tussle between charles leclerc and oscar
33:22piastri running wide for the mclaren it was a brilliant start by hamilton he's up into second
33:27place now ahead of lando norris through the third corner come the rest of the field alex albon
33:33right behind second place to seventh the poor old kimmy antonelli there a terrible getaway
33:39and he got a bad getaway didn't he in australia and now he's made contact with isaac hajar bits of
33:45bodywork come flying off this has been a disastrous start for him charles leclerc ahead of oscar piastri
33:50both ferrari starting well and now lewis hamilton putting pressure on his old teammate george russell
33:56lewis hamilton leads the sprint what an opportune move that was absolutely brilliant stuff by lewis
34:03hamilton around the outside of turn eight a place where usually you wouldn't see any overtaken at all
34:09i don't think george russell was expecting it you're right it's not commonplace to overtake there
34:13but it was superb lock up at the rear of the field as spun round up in limblad lance stroll
34:20had to take
34:20avoiding action there the racing balls continuing the spin round as he tries to get back on the track now
34:26down the straight what has george russell got to try and challenge lewis hamilton he was strong in
34:31this final sector in qualifying he retakes the lead of the shanghai sprint can hamilton switch back and
34:37maybe use a bit of boost and energy to get russell by the final corner no george russell's safe for
34:43the
34:44time being in first place and he ends lap one where he started lap one but he's had work to
34:49do to
34:50maintain that lead russell from hamilton from charl mclair and now hamilton into turn one the crowd are going
34:56wild and loving this as the lead swaps around again that was that energy obviously that russell used to
35:02get past hamilton down towards turn 14 and hamilton knew that he was going to get that extra boost down
35:08towards turn one so it's you get that kind of flip-flop situation where you use it is going to
35:13pay you back
35:14later on isaac hadjar up one place to ninth linblatt right at the back steaming down the inside comes
35:21kimmy antonelli going wheel to wheel and passing ollie bearman into the hairpin as he tries to make
35:27so make amends for a poor start the same move that he pulled on uh the red ball a lap
35:31before but uh a bit
35:33better executed this time around max verstappen poor start from him he's down in 14th there goes
35:38antonelli on gasly making up yet another place that's two he's made up in the space of about six
35:44corners and he is up into sixth place as hamilton continues to lead out in front and has got an
35:49eight tenths of a second advantage over george russell then comes charl de claire and lando norris
35:54oscar piastri antonelli six gasly and bearman points all the way down to eighth place yeah watch
36:00out for this fight with bearman and gasly here crofty because uh gasly looks like he's really uh suffering
36:06here's russell on the attack once again and he's gonna go down the inside on lewis hamilton he's
36:10thinking about it but no just a bit too far behind for the second weekend running george russell is
36:17involved in an early stage tussle with the ferraris this time around it's hamilton who leads not
36:23charl de claire but leclair is well within touching distance of that mercedes as hamilton moves to the
36:28left-hand side to try and break the toe russell's there with him as they head into turn one really
36:32interesting watching the battery graphics keep an eye on that we keep an eye on leclair trying to go
36:37around the outside there the long way around on russell can't quite make it stick but russell used
36:42everything if the graphics correct all of his battery in a defensive move from leclair there
36:47yeah and that is giving lewis hamilton a bit of breathing space at the moment the defensive work
36:52that george russell is putting in to keep this man charl de claire at bay is two onto one ferrari
36:58onto mercedes once again crofty we're seeing the ferraris in race pace even though this is sprint
37:04race and you got a lot less fuel on board than the grand prix will be they seem to be
37:08able to fight
37:09the mercedes in a race pace but totally not in qualifying isaac hadjar and kimmy antonelli
37:14under investigation by the stewards for causing a collision we might see a replay of that there was
37:20definitely contact in the early stages max verstappen just got a poor start bernie collins telling me at
37:26race control she's been riding on board with him arvid linblad right at the back of the field
37:31as alex albon from the pit lane has made his way up into 16th place but there was a whole
37:36kerfuffle
37:37going on uh when linblad went off the track now we're on board with hamilton here comes george russell
37:42he's using that battery power he's blasting past the ferrari and back into the lead of the race
37:48but what has that done to his state of charge and his battery and has hamilton now
37:52got more energy to try and get george russell back maybe into turn one once again so george russell
37:58will complete this lap lap three in the lead but just watch it down the straight as hamilton
38:04and leclerc chase after the mercedes hamilton's gaining hamilton's gaining is he using overtake
38:10he's using all those years of experience to try and get back into the lead russell will hang this out
38:15has the inside line here but hamilton closes the door and the lead swaps around again yeah i think
38:21russell was just maybe a little bit too trigger happy that time crofty he blasted past the ferrari
38:26driver and wasted that amount of energy he's going to try down the on the inside of turn six no
38:31hamilton's got it covered but yeah when you're basically when you're overtaking a car you don't
38:36it's not the ideal situation to use too much energy in the process it's don't use it like drs basically
38:43use it as a valuable commodity you want to hang on to for later on on the lap it's great
38:48watching
38:48the drivers in these early stages this year figuring it all out it's fast and it's sparse
38:54and and all this will be going on with the tires starting to degrade in about six or seven laps
39:00time
39:00to add another dimension to racing here antonelli trying to gain on oscar piastri norris and piastri
39:07really running their own race at the moment the two mclarens a long way off the early pace of the
39:11mercedes of russell and the two ferraris for whom lewis hamilton who won here last year and picked
39:19up his so far only win as a ferrari driver back out in the lead in shanghai once again he
39:24does love
39:25this place as charlotte claire just has a little look momentarily on george russell and kimmy
39:29antonelli does the same thing on oscar piastri and right behind isaac hadger is gaining on pierre
39:35gasly now antonelli almost shoving the mclaren out of the way if he can and on the inside of the
39:41corner getting that move done now that was really neat because he had the pace over oscar piastri as
39:47russell challenging hamilton through turn one hamilton's got that inside line and stays ahead
39:53once more can russell try and make a dart down the inside here at turn three no he can't
39:58i think it might be on though for turn six potentially crofty because i think hamilton
40:02defended himself there into turn one let's see how this one plays out for russell we had a look last
40:07time around no not quite close enough this time how is kimmy go yeah so he's been repassed by
40:12piastria just saw them flash up in the in the background right let's have a look at the start
40:16once again and russell was pointing a bit to the right antonelli got bogged down hamilton makes a
40:22great start max verstappen just gets bogged down as well and into the first corner russell at that moment
40:27has the advantage there's norris running wide and then i'm keeping an eye on antonelli in seven
40:33places it was back then and i just want to see what happened down in towards turn six
40:38well they file through there alex albon playing catch up from the pit lane hamilton brilliant getaway
40:43absolutely i mean it flattered obviously by the very slow starting kimmy antonelli but you'd have to say
40:51the two in front of him norris and russell almost equally as good now this was max verstappen's start
40:59just bogged down yeah revs has completely died down and now george russell on the inside of the hairpin
41:05trying to get past lewis hamilton charlaclair getting interested in this one as well russell's back in the
41:10lead of this race lap five another new sprint leader as russell and hamilton trading places
41:17here in shanghai this time around though russell looks like he's had just that bit more energy power
41:23to put another couple of car lengths between himself and lewis hamilton going into turn one
41:27you'd have to say this time around he's done it charl looks down the inside of lewis in turn two
41:32a bit
41:32too tight there too close for comfort if you're a ferrari fan or fred vasser sitting on the pit wall
41:38yeah fred might just be on the radio saying guys remember your teammates here we'd quite like
41:42to pick up a second and third we'd like a first and second if possible there's the battery state of
41:47charge between hamilton and leclerc but russell's done it crofty when you survive this far around the
41:52lap you can now use and you see the the batteries there between the two ferrari drivers a little bit
41:57more used there for leclerc but russell is free at least now through this higher speed section of the
42:03circuit and he's going to be wanting to make some daylight between himself and lewis hamilton and
42:09he's pulled away through that section as you would imagine the mercedes got the upper hand in terms
42:14of sheer cornering speed four changes of lead we've had in the opening five laps of the shanghai
42:21sprint it's almost been like a carbon copy of melbourne and the grand prix and we're certainly getting
42:25uh plenty of excitement at the start of races but in melbourne last week when george russell
42:31had the lead and had the clear advantage he never looked like losing it look at charles
42:35claire's tire on the inside of his front left tire that looks a little bit angry if you ask me
42:40it does
42:41already and i think lewis's isn't great either lewis uh just going for that slightly earlier turn in
42:46there charles thought about it but then had to think better of it and meanwhile kimmy antonelli is
42:51making a pass on oscar piastri down into the hairpin so he's now up into fifth place russell has a
42:58gap of
42:581.2 seconds from lewis hamilton who's under pressure now from his teammate at lando norris
43:05running at fourth then comes kimmy antonelli then comes oscar piastri ollie bearman and isaac hadger
43:11on the soft tire meanwhile liam lawson who started on the medium tire here is up in the ninth place
43:18and
43:18might be eyeing a points finish as we watch max verstappen again oh dear yeah so bob down initially and
43:26then erupted in wheel spin as he changed through the gears eyes everywhere looking left and right
43:30he certainly didn't expect to go wheel to wheel with valtteri bottas i'm sure not that wasn't part of
43:35their pre-race strategy oh here's the move i wanted to see this is antonelli oh yeah he just locked
43:42up
43:42and that was nothing that hajar could really do there and he's got a 10 second time penalty for
43:48his troubles he's pulled off some overtakes to get himself back up to fifth but it's a 10 second time
43:53penalty uh for the young man from bologna russell hasn't really pulled away as much as i thought he
43:59would it's it's edging away what two three tenths a lap oh lewis i think is totally copy he is
44:07and i think
44:07charles gonna have a go here crofty yeah he's got the slipstream as well right behind lewis hamilton
44:12active aero with the rear wing and the front wing uh reducing drag by about 55 thought about having
44:18a go uh it wasn't on for him here's kimmy antonelli though on lando norris he got past oscar piastri
44:24here on the previous lap kimmy antonelli 10 second time penalty and he's doing his damnedest to try and
44:30finish in the points here and put 10 seconds uh between himself and isaac hajar who's currently in
44:36the final points position as here comes charles leclerc into turn one past lewis hamilton and now
44:42up into second place oh they nearly touched the ferraris as hamilton just went out wide yeah leclerc
44:48did that intentionally he knew that lewis was going to try and hang it around the outside so he
44:52just let the car ease out as wide as he possibly could but uh that's because hamilton must have used
44:58a defensive boost down the back straight charl would have known that and then he used his down
45:03the main street so now he's got to survive this section here in front of lewis but i tend to
45:07agree i think leclerc having the advantage at the start then look at lewis's left front tire he had
45:13the advantage just hang back watch the action unfold and the two drivers in front george and lewis
45:20fighting it out i think did extra damage to their front left tires and i think george russell mercedes
45:25have their graining problems but they have a pace advantage so he can he can put up with it a
45:30little
45:30bit easier and has he checked out out in front now two seconds the gap between russell and leclerc
45:36i'm monitoring the gap between antonelli and uh and lawson at the moment and he's uh he's within
45:4210 he's more than 10 seconds clear of liam lawson so when he gets that penalty he would finish
45:47eighth as it stands currently bernie collins see you at race control yeah just a quick one crofty
45:52oliver behrman running really well in that p7 position just at the edge of the points he is actually
45:58benefiting from isaac hadjar directly behind having that damage and he's created a lovely little train
46:04for himself to protect almost that position but that prevents in that group much overtaken happening
46:10so maybe that'll all play into kimmy antonelli's hands with that 10 second penalty isaac hadjar in
46:16the second red bull which liam lawson was driving here last year in his final race for the team
46:21lewis hamilton meanwhile has got the switch back on charles leclerc he forced him out a little bit
46:26wide two ferraris go wheel to wheel over the curb goes charles leclerc somehow they managed to avoid
46:31each other and we're on board now uh with the ferrari of charles leclerc stays ahead of lewis
46:37hamilton but hamilton can he come back at the hairpin no door slammed well and truly shut in his face
46:43there yeah lewis severe front left graining now on that uh ferrari so i'm surprised he actually had
46:49enough front grip to dart back to the inside into turn two but he's really not letting his teammate
46:55go here and i'll tell you who else isn't letting this go kimmy antonelli you can see him right there
47:00he is joining the party they have to watch out for this ferrari and uh because kimmy is just hunting
47:06them down the more they squabble the closer kimmy is going to get and isaac hadjar under big pressure
47:12now from liam lawson those soft tires starting to go off after nine laps of this sprint race with george
47:18russell leads he'd only ever led 18 sprint laps in his career before today uh well now he's got
47:25ahead of lewis hamilton and charles leclerc he looks like he could lead the rest of this unless he has
47:31an
47:31issue here comes kimmy antonelli down the inside on hamilton not this time hamilton holding on just for
47:39the moment the man who replaced him at the mercedes team when lewis hamilton made the move to ferrari
47:44ahead of last season uh lewis the second most experienced driver on the grid kimmy antonelli 18
47:51years and 201 days old does he know how wide all these cars are then he can complain about
47:58time three that's okay well charlotte not overly happy with the way his teammate is driving there
48:05and his teammate defending ferociously uh against uh lewis hamilton against uh kimmy antonelli as lawson
48:11gets past hadjar now and up into eighth place i i thought it was hard but fair racing between the
48:17two ferrari drivers obviously it's tense times if you're a team member there but uh you know you have
48:23to trust somebody of lewis's experience thing when you're in that kind of battle
48:27uh it's mother's day in the uk uh tomorrow happy mother's day to mums everywhere and lewis
48:34hamilton's mama she was in australia uh here to cheer her boy on uh by the side of the track
48:40did you
48:40get your mother's day presents all sorted before you came away and i'd be giving away secrets wouldn't
48:45it crofty yes it's tomorrow mrs davidson could be watching not at this time of the morning surely
48:52well done to everyone back in the uk and ireland if you have got up and i hope you're enjoying
48:56this
48:56uh sprint race because i think so far it's been well worth getting up for and we do not know
49:01how this
49:01is going to all pan out in terms of the battle for second third and fourth because kimmy antonelli
49:06is coming here at lewis hamilton and is gaining and is gaining and is using some battery energy
49:13to try and move a bit closer to the ferrari sadly for him couldn't get him into the hairpin
49:19and lewis hamilton look at the state of his rear tires as well it's a front limited track this but
49:23his rears seem to be really struggling too as down the main straight we go uh the bridge there 140
49:30meters uh high casting a shadow the main grandstand here on this shanghai morning is about 20 past 11
49:37here stay the charge for the battery hamilton's just kept a bit in reserve
49:42to help him defend against the fast-moving mercedes meanwhile gasly after losing places
49:47on the opening laps in 10th now has isaac hadjar very much in his sights and liam lawson has got
49:53past ollie bearman that hard tire choice for the racing bulls is paying off for the man who started
49:5913th and is now up into seventh oh yeah when you see the tires in this state after just uh
50:0411 laps crofty
50:05you know that the hard tire is going to be the one uh there for you toward the it's basically
50:10going
50:11to get faster and faster as the race unfolds now i love seeing these battery graphics i want them to
50:16stay on the screen because this is what it's all about both pretty even at the at this point around
50:2080 percent it just disappears because you want to hang on to that state of charge through this part
50:26of the corner here turn 11 into turn 12 you'll get it close up to 90 so they're both it's
50:31it's even
50:32between the two of them now so for the attacking car you you've got to maybe decide does the driver
50:38in
50:38front you have to preempt are they going to use it as the defense mechanism should i use mine as
50:43an
50:43attack mechanism and you're trying to second guess what you're doing it's okay so kimmy's used it as
50:48an as an attack and into the corner he goes he's got the inside line he's got the move but
50:53can hamilton
50:54get back has he got energy to do it exactly which he will have because we know they started through
50:59turn 12 evenly but he might not have the grip out of turn 14 to try and get that acceleration
51:06that he
51:07needs he's certainly within touching distance here down the straight but i think kimmy antonelli
51:12learning a bit more as he goes along has kept some in reserve uh to keep ahead as pierre gasly
51:19gets
51:19very close to isaac hadjar and can't quite get the overtake done into 14. yeah so antonelli survives
51:27that potential repass from hamilton and he's just got such natural speed look how lewis is starting to
51:33drop back there oh poor old linblad asked to retire the car yeah he only had six laps in practice
51:40a
51:40mechanical issue stopped him on the track he went into qualifying and managed to get himself up to
51:4515th on the grid and then had that spin on the opening lap and has been trundling along at the
51:51back so they're going to retire that car leaving us 21 in this race uh bottas will be running last
51:57perez ahead of him stroll and alonso at 19th and 18th alex albon has just dropped back been overtaken
52:03by nico hulkenberg who by the way uh made his debut in formula one 16 years ago at the bahrain
52:10grand
52:10prix today uh then colopinto ahead of him science and bortoleto ocon and verstappen running 11th
52:17hadjar under pressure in 10th gasly is running ninth now having got past hadjar just a moment ago
52:22beerman runs eighth and in the final points place liam lawson long way behind oscar piastri uh in the
52:29seventh place piastri sixth then lando norris the mclarens once again well off the pace of the
52:34ferraris and the mercedes we've had a great battle in this race hamilton now back down to fourth but
52:40antonelli has got a 10 second time penalty at the end of this race for causing a collision so hamilton
52:46will get that third place back again if he stays within 10 seconds and then leclerc second george russell
52:52is leading
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