F1 Chinese Grand Prix: George Russell, Mercedes Dominate Again In Sprint Race Qualifying

George Russell praised his Mercedes as a “joy to drive” as he took pole for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday to continue his team’s dominant start to the new era of Formula 1. Russell is the driver to beat in Shanghai after his dominant win in Australia last week. With teammate Kimi Antonelli qualifying second, 0.289 of a second down, and no other team close, Mercedes is on target for another 1-2 finish in Saturday’s sprint, which is followed by qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Lando Norris was .621 adrift, a vast gap in F1 terms, in third for McLaren. Only Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari in fourth and Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri in fifth got within a second of Russell’s time. Antonelli held on to second despite an investigation for impeding Norris during qualifying. He wasn’t penalized because Norris said he wasn’t trying to set a “meaningful lap time,” so didn’t lose out.

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