F1 Chinese GP live commentary and updates - Race day
Follow live updates of the Chinese Grand Prix for round two of F1 2026
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Hello all, and welcome to our live commentary for today's Chinese Grand Prix. Race start is in approximately 50 minutes.
There's been an early update from McLaren, who identified an electronics issue on Lando Norris' car so removed its floor. The team believes it's fixed it now though, so the world champion should be all good for the race.
Overnight news
F1 and governing body the FIA have officially announced the series will not travel to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April due to the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The two Middle Eastern races will not be replaced, meaning there is a five-week gap in the calendar between the end-of-March Japan round and the Miami Grand Prix in the first week of May.
Pitlane is open
Drivers are now heading out onto the track for their reconnaissance laps. They might seem easy, but Melbourne last week saw Oscar Piastri crash...
Car of Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Mark Horsburgh / LAT Images via Getty Images
Race starts
Race starts could be a decisive factor in today's race. Due to the removal of the MGU-H under these rules, the procedure for drivers is now more complex and last weekend saw what could happen.
Various drivers were slow off the line due to a lack of power, including Liam Lawson who almost got hit by Franco Colapinto as a result. Some drivers were also slow to start in yesterday's sprint such as Verstappen, who confirmed he had a similar problem to Lawson.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
What's going on, Norris?
Going back to Lando, although the team said it thinks it'd fixed the problem, he still hasn't reached his gridbox yet. The McLaren is still in the garage...
Leclerc and F1 2026's oddities: The "crazy laps" are gone
Fourth on the grid won't have been what Charles Leclerc was aiming for going into qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, but he was surprisingly upbeat all things considered.
The Monegasque had a slight smile on his face at the end of Saturday's session having improved upon his grid position for the sprint earlier in the day, just 0.013 seconds behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who finished third.
"It's very rare for me to say to be happy when I'm P4 but honestly this track is, by far, I'm just struggling so much on this track I don't know why, I've tried everything, I've tried different setups, I've tried different driving," he told media including Autosport.
The Chinese national anthem has just finished, but Norris is still in his garage. This is a real worry for McLaren and its world champion
There's 11 minutes until race start and although Norris has his race suit on, it doesn't look as though he's going to make it to the grid with the pitlane now closed.
The same goes for Gabriel Bortoleto, as his Audi was pushed back into the pits...
Chinese GP starting grid
Maybe ignore the Norris P6 here...
Oh, McLaren...
We've talked about Norris still being in his garage, but our people on the ground are saying that McLaren has now rolled Oscar Piastri back into his!
It's definitely not been the most ideal start to 2026 for the reigning world champions, as it also had just one car start the Melbourne opener after Piastri's crash.
The formation lap is set to begin with no McLarens! That third row is completely empty...
The formation lap is go.
No Bortoleto
The McLarens are at risk, while it's confirmed that Bortoleto will not make the race start.
The Chinese Grand Prix is go!
Lap 1/56
Lewis Hamilton takes the lead! The seven-time world champion profited from Kimi Antonelli focusing too much on George Russell, as he swept around the outside of Turn 1.
Russell is even down to fourth with Charles Leclerc up to third in the sister Ferrari.
Lap 1/56
Very brief yellow flag as Hadjar spins off at Turn 13. Red Bull driver has been told to box.
Lap 2/56
Earlier we mentioned Verstappen's poor start in yesterday's sprint and the same has happened again, with the world champion down in 11th despite being the sole soft tyre runner.
Lap 3/56
We've a new leader...again! Antonelli overtook Hamilton heading into Turn 14 and moments later, Russell took third from Leclerc.
Alpine!
But look at Alpine go! It was a horrible 2025 for the French outfit finishing bottom of the championship, but 2026 is looking promising with Gasly currently fifth and Colapinto up to sixth.
Lap 4/56
Well that was easy. Russell hits the overtake button and takes second from Hamilton down the pit straight, so it's a Mercedes 1-2 again.
Lap 9/56
A theme of the early racing in 2026 has been those 'yo-yo' battles for the lead. We saw it in Melbourne between Leclerc and Russell, plus the Shanghai sprint between Hamilton and Russell.
But we've not really seen it today. Antonelli is over a second in the lead, having looked rather comfortable since overtaking Hamilton early on.
Lap 10/56
We have our first scheduled pitstops, as Lawson pits from eighth and Verstappen from 10th. Two-stop likely on the cards.
Lap 10/56
And just as they pit, Stroll causes a yellow flag by going off at Turn 1.
Lap 10/56
Well that's not what both Red Bull teams wanted! Safety car. If only Lawson and Verstappen waited an extra lap.
Lap 12/56
Differing strategies under the safety car has bunched up the order. Mercedes and Ferrari pitted, but the likes of Colapinto, Ocon and Linblad didn't, so they've put themselves right in the mix amongst the frontrunners.
Colapinto race winner, anybody?
Lap 13/56
Safety car is ending, so how will Antonelli manage this? Think he'd be rather glad that he has Colapinto and Ocon between him and Russell.
Lap 14/56
Back underway.
Lap 14/56
The Haas and Alpine has certainly cost Russell. The championship leader was compromised by the two drivers ahead squabbling, by going wide at Turn 6 to avoid contact which allowed Hamilton to come through.
Lap 15/56
Now Hamilton is making progress as he overtakes Ocon for third in the final sector. Russell struggling meanwhile, as he's now down to sixth with Leclerc moving past down the pit straight.
Lap 15/56
"We've got no grip," reports Russell
Lap 16/56
Where's this Hamilton been the last few years? He's progressed quickly and is now second behind Antonelli. Moments after overtaking Colapinto, his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc then grabbed third from the Alpine.
Lap 17/56
It's suspected that a battery issue was behind Stroll's retirement. This goes back to the excessive vibrations in that Honda power unit, which caused repeated battery failures and no spares in Melbourne.
Lap 20/56
Forget those in front, this battle between both Haas and Alpine cars for fifth to eighth is where it's at! It's also allowing Verstappen to enter the mix.
By: Ed Hardy
