F1 2026 China GP LIVE: Race updates, stream and start time in Shanghai – UK Times

McLaren: “No [we won’t make the grid] as the pit-exit is closed. We’re still working to rectify the issue.”

1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 1:32:064

2. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.222

3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.351

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.364

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.486

6. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.544*

7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.809

8. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.938

9. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +1.057

10. Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.228

11. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) – 1:33:354

12. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – 1:33:357

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 1:33:538

14. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 1:33:765

15. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) – 1:33:784

16. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – 1:33:965

17. Carlos Sainz (Williams) – 1:34:317

18. Alex Albon (Williams) – 1:34:772

19. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 1:35:203

20. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – 1:35:436

21. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 1:35:995

22. Sergio Perez (Cadillac) – 1:36:906

*Norris is now set to start from the pit-lane, if he starts the race at all.

Norris has missed the laps to the grid and his car still sits in the garage!

McLaren statement: “We had identified an issue on the electronics side, which is why we had removed the floor and checked a number of parts.

“We believe we have rectified the issue and the team are now in final preparations for the race.”

“It was a pretty clean session, really happy, unfortunately George had an issue in Q3 – but it was a really good session, no mistakes, looking forward to the race.

“I just tried to keep my focus, stay calm, and deliver a good lap.”

Antonelli pips Sebastian Vettel’s record as the youngest-ever pole-sitter…

On qualifying issues: “Damage limitation, Q2 the front wing broke, went out in Q3, car wasn’t restarting, really happy to be standing here. Start of the last lap, had no tyre temp, no battery, so it could have been much worse.

On race: “We need to take care of the guys in red as well. Lewis is going to be pretty dicey at the beginning of the race, put on a good race to the fans.”

“It was a really tough qualifying, bit harder with the wind, so gusty today. These guys put in great laps, really happy to be up here, they’ve been rapid so far this season.

“We did some great work over the break and we managed to get a little bit closer to these guys, that’s a real positive.”

On race: “Still going to be a challenge, I’m sure we’ll have some fun, looking forward to it. Our goal is try and break the gap between these two.”

“Many said the kid was too young to be in Mercedes, now he’s the youngest pole-sitter. I’m so happy for Kimi to be on pole.

On race: “Let’s see how they get away from the start, Ferrari will be pushing like crazy like Melbourne and today.”

On Russell’s issue: “It looks electrical. I didn’t think it was going out but to my surprise, we went out.”

6. Racing Bulls – 6 points

11. Aston Martin – 0 points

1. George Russell (Mercedes) – 33 points

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 22 points

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 22 points

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 18 points

5. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 15 points

7. Ollie Bearman (Haas) – 7 points

8. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) – 4 points

9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 3 points

10. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – 2 points

11. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 2 points

12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 1 point

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 0 points

14. Alex Albon (Williams) – 0 points

15. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – 0 points

16. Carlos Sainz (Williams) – 0 points

17. Sergio Perez (Cadillac) – 0 points

18. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 0 points

19. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) – 0 points

20. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 0 points

21. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – 0 points