Chinese Grand Prix Takeaways: A double blessing and a double whammy
F1 OpinionWednesday, 18 March 2026 at 07:30
The 2026 Chinese Grand Prix was our second experience of the new Formula 1 cars with a track layout quite different from Melbourne's Albert Park while we also ran under the Sprint format. So did anything change?
Not much if you ask me, as we were hit with a double whammy: Sprint weekend and the new cars.
Many expected the layout of the Shanghai International Circuit to favor the new power-deprived F1 cars, and somehow it was not as bad as we saw in Melbourne during the season opener.
It was clear how the car ran out of juice on the two long straights and how the drivers were holding back in the corners, harvesting energy for their batteries.
Jolyon Palmer even came up with a new phrase for that as he was commenting on one of the onboard laps, saying: "Flat out harvesting in the corner..."
Well, at least we can still use "flat out" in F1 of 2026.
In terms of the Sprint, nothing changed; there were some battles early on before everyone settled into their rhythm and it turned into a data-gathering procession.
In the Grand Prix, on the other hand, we did not have the Yo-Yo racing in the early laps like in Australia as Mercedes seemed to turn their engines up to dispose of the fast-starting Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
And while a Safety Car and some grip issues for George Russell meant it wasn't smooth sailing for Mercedes, the Briton soon passed everyone, except his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, who led him home as Mercedes secured their second consecutive one-two finish.
Antonelli winning his maiden F1 race and Hamilton returning to the podium are two highlights for me from Shanghai as I sought to extract some Takeaways from the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, but let's start with this.
How many overtakes?
Formula 1 made sure after Melbourne to show us how many overtakes the 2026 installment of the race down under delivered compared to 2025, as if that is what should define our sport.
However, we were not treated to such a significant statistic in Shanghai and one can only wonder why...
Maybe they lost track counting how many times Hamilton and Leclerc exchanged positions during the race based on battery charge, or maybe there weren't enough overtakes this year to boast about and throw in our faces as proof of how successful the new regulations are.
And while the fight between the Ferraris was hailed as proof of how good the racing is this year, I beg to differ.
Firstly, both Lewis and Charles are world-class drivers and are fully able to deliver close and clean racing, especially when the cars are way beyond their limits in the corners since they are harvesting energy.
Second, ultimately the position was decided on the battery status of each of them as well as the tyre situation, but in the end, it was a good old error under braking that decided the outcome of the fight as Leclerc locked up and Hamilton—who was complaining about deployment—passed him and was on his way to his first podium with Ferrari.
Before that, Leclerc delivered a beautiful pass on his teammate after going deep with a huge lunge that showed what real F1 racing is about...
Russell did not sleep well on Sunday night
Let's not beat around the bush. Russell entered the 2026 F1 season with spring in his step as he knew Mercedes had a winner on their hands in their W17, and that was finally his time to shine and fight for his first title.
And up until the qualifying last weekend, everything was going to plan for the Briton. He won from pole in Melbourne and won the Sprint from pole in Shanghai, but then things started to unravel.
The front wing on his car broke in Q2, and then he suffered from a technical issue in Q3, which meant he could do only one lap, which was good enough for second as Antonelli took pole.
Up to now, Russell has been playing the big brother role quite nicely when dealing with his young teammate, or the "Big Sis," as the Chinese fans called him.
Antonelli now showed he is capable of wins and will now attack his next Grand Prix weekend with the confidence of a race winner. He still needs to prove that he can win consistently, but Shanghai was definitely a Red Flag for Russell and it would be interesting to see how he reacts and whether he will remain quite amiable with his teammate.
Grande Kimi!
As I said earlier, Antonelli winning his first race in the top flight was one of the highlights of the Chinese Grand Prix for me.
And while his weekend was not perfect given how he dropped at the start of the Sprint Race, he then rose up the ranks in classic Kimi fashion, keeping a cool head under pressure whether it was of his own making or not.
We have to admit that Russell's qualifying issues gave Antonelli the chance to take pole, but he saw an opportunity and delivered under the pressure of expectation from his team, who needed him to pick up the pieces when the other car had issues.
In the race, the 19-year-old had no answer to a seven-time F1 Champion in the fast-starting Ferrari SF-26 and had to yield the lead, but not for long. He kept his cool, retook the lead, and never looked back, even managing the Safety Car restart quite well.
His lockup towards the end of the race showed how much the expectations were weighing on him, but he survived that, and with some words of encouragement from Bono, he brought the car home.
Despite many factors playing into Antonelli's hands, we have to remember how young and inexperienced he is, and with that in mind, one can understand how impressive his performance was.
Those tears in parc fermé spoke volumes about Kimi's state of mind and his emotions, having gone through a baptism of fire when he was fast-tracked into F1 in 2025.
It wasn't easy; he made mistakes on the way, but his talent was abundantly clear throughout, and now with a win to his name, the pressure should be off.
Loving the 2026 Sir Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton's Ferrari nightmare in 2025 is well documented, but I have always refused to accept that it was his fault.
Indeed, he is getting older, and he would not match Leclerc—one of the best, if not the best, qualifier on the grid—in terms of pure pace, but no one expected it to be so bad.
It is no secret that Lewis dreaded the ground-effect cars and their bouncing, but he is so far relishing the handling of the new 2026 cars.
He was closer to Leclerc in Melbourne and made use of his great record in Shanghai to outqualify and outrace him and take the first podium.
But putting that aside, we have seen a totally different Hamilton in 2026, a far cry from the depressed and gloomy Lewis we sadly witnessed last season. His body language is different, projecting confidence and tranquility.
Hamilton to Ferrari was one of the greatest stories in F1, the greatest in the last decade, and it would have been a pity if it had been ruined by the Scuderia's tendency to break drivers.
For now, Lewis seems to have survived his Ferrari initiation and is so far enjoying an encouraging start to this season.
After getting the podium in China, he said he could see his first win in Red happening, and I couldn't agree more.
Chinese Grand Prix Quick Hits
- It seems we spoke too soon when we hailed the reliability of the new cars during testing, as the weekend in Shanghai delivered a different picture.
Both McLarens could not start the race, while Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto suffered the same fate.
While it was not a surprise that both Aston Martins did not finish, Max Verstappen's DNF simply capped off a miserable weekend for the Dutchman.
Even the mighty Mercedes were not immune given Russell's qualifying woes, but at least Cadillac managed to get both their cars across the finish line. - A great weekend for Ollie Bearman with his fifth-place finish for Haas. Ferrari must be quite content about their driver future. The kid is simply too good.
- On the other hand, we have Esteban Ocon, struggling to keep up with his teammate and making mistakes like that stupid move on Franco Colapinto, who was having a decent race for a change and got ruined. At least Ocon apologized.
- Colapinto managed to score a point after all, and with Pierre Gasly an impressive sixth, Alpine managed double points. Can anyone remember when they last did that?
- A disastrous weekend for Red Bull Racing, never managing to nail the setup of their RB22, not to mention the starts from which Verstappen suffered in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix.
- The footage of Fernando Alonso taking his hands off the steering due to the pain from the vibrations is an insult to the pinnacle of motorsport. Shame on you, Aston Martin and Honda, for ruining what could be the Spaniard's last hurrah in the top flight.
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