Ferrari had to try to seize the opportunity. The second qualifying session of the 2026 Formula 1 season once again highlighted the same limitations of the Ferrari SF-26 in terms of energy management when compared to the Mercedes package. This was already evident during the opening round of the championship and it appeared once again in Shanghai, confirming that the Italian team still had some work to do in that area. Precisely for this reason, considering instead the excellent launch capability of the Ferrari cars and the strong traction characteristics that the SF-26 has shown off the line, the start of the Sprint race represented a major chance to gain several positions and then try to defend them over the relatively short distance of 100 kilometers. In a Sprint race format, where the number of laps is limited and strategy options are reduced, gaining track position early can make a decisive difference. At the end of the Sprint race, both Ferrari cars managed to secure a place on the podium, delivering a positive result for the Maranello team.
So let’s take a detailed look at what happened during the first Sprint race of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Ferrari explosive start and fight for the lead
Everything was ready on the starting grid at the Shanghai International Circuit. The two Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, had been carefully briefed by the Maranello engineers regarding several parameters related to the race start procedure. Concentration inside the cockpit was extremely high because the opening meters of the short race were expected to be decisive for the final outcome. During the installation lap, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc worked extensively on bringing temperature into the front axle and the front tyres, which are known to cool down very quickly during these preparation laps. Maintaining tyre temperature is crucial in the opening corners, especially at a circuit like Shanghai where the long straight and slow first corner can punish drivers who do not have enough grip.
After a few final adjustments to the engine mappings for the opening corners of the Shanghai circuit and some last checks on energy deployment settings, the drivers simply had to wait for the lights to go out. As expected, Lewis Hamilton made a lightning start and immediately attacked the cars ahead. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion managed to take the lead halfway through the opening lap, showing once again the strong launch performance of the Ferrari SF-26.
George Russell, however, was able to regain the top position along the long straight of sector two thanks to the strong energy deployment of the Mercedes power unit. Yet Lewis Hamilton was not prepared to give up the fight and reclaimed the lead again on the second lap with a confident overtaking move around the outside of Turn 1, a maneuver that demonstrated both commitment and excellent car control.
Charles Leclerc also made an excellent start from further back on the grid and quickly moved into the fight at the front. The Monegasque Ferrari driver positioned himself right behind George Russell and remained within striking distance during the opening phase of the Sprint race. From that moment onward, energy management became the key factor that would influence the race.
The following lap produced a similar situation: the Ferrari number 44 of Lewis Hamilton regained first place after having lost it once again along the long straight in the second sector. Meanwhile, after a difficult and rather slow start, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli began trying to recover positions by overtaking the two McLaren cars driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The familiar yo-yo effect continued to dominate the battle at the front of the field. Ferrari and Mercedes repeatedly exchanged positions for the race lead, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell overtaking each other multiple times. This intense duel continued until lap six, when George Russell unfortunately managed to hold onto the first position more consistently while the two Ferrari SF-26 cars of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton continued to chase him closely.
Ferrari struggles to match Mercedes pace
After the initial exchanges, Mercedes soon stabilized its race pace and demonstrated that it had a slight but clear performance advantage in terms of overall efficiency and energy deployment. Charles Leclerc opened a radio discussion with the Ferrari pit wall because he had noticed that his teammate Lewis Hamilton was beginning to struggle slightly with pace. In fact, the Monegasque driver appeared to be somewhat faster during that phase of the race.
With the approval of the Ferrari pit wall, Charles Leclerc overtook Lewis Hamilton and attempted to increase his pace in order to reduce the gap to the race leader. At that moment, George Russell was still leading the Sprint race with roughly a two-second advantage over the Ferrari number 16 driven by Charles Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton did not give up and immediately attempted to reclaim the position from his Ferrari teammate with an overtaking attempt on the inside of Turn 1. However, the maneuver did not succeed because Charles Leclerc defended the position effectively and closed the door at the right moment, maintaining second place behind George Russell.
Another potential threat was emerging behind them in the form of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. By lap ten the young Italian driver had already overtaken the two McLaren cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and was now directly behind the Ferrari pair. However, the Mercedes driver was carrying a ten-second time penalty that still had to be served during the race.
While the Ferrari team was attempting to optimize the engine mappings related to hybrid energy deployment and electrical energy release, Andrea Kimi Antonelli managed to overtake Lewis Hamilton. The British Ferrari driver had pushed his tyres heavily during the opening laps while fighting George Russell for the lead and was beginning to suffer from tyre degradation. This allowed the Italian to move up into fourth place.
Once again, the strength of the Mercedes energy deployment system became evident. The German cars appeared to have a stronger and more efficient hybrid deployment, which gave them a superior overall race pace compared to the Italian machines from Ferrari. Only two laps later, Andrea Kimi Antonelli also managed to overtake Charles Leclerc, further demonstrating the competitiveness of the Mercedes package during this phase of the Sprint race.
Leclerc tries to respond but struggles at the restart
The turning point of the race arrived on lap fourteen when race control decided to deploy the Safety Car following the retirement of Nico Hülkenberg. The German driver had been forced to stop his car on track due to a technical issue, which required the intervention of the marshals.
Ferrari reacted immediately to this situation by bringing both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton into the pit lane and switching to the soft tyre compound. Mercedes and McLaren made the same strategic decision, as teams expected only a few laps of racing once the track was cleared.
After the pit stops, McLaren driver Lando Norris managed to take advantage of Ferrari’s double stop sequence and moved ahead of Lewis Hamilton. At that moment the order at the front saw George Russell leading the race, followed by Charles Leclerc in second place, Lando Norris in third and Lewis Hamilton in fourth.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, dropped down to seventh place after serving his ten-second time penalty in the pit lane. The key question at that moment became whether the race would restart quickly and how the teams would manage the available hybrid energy during the final laps of the Sprint race. Only three laps remained before the end of the mini race, and the marshals were taking quite some time to remove Nico Hülkenberg’s stranded car from the first corner of the circuit.
Fortunately for the spectacle, the race resumed one lap later. Unlike the standing start at the beginning of the race, the Ferrari cars did not enjoy the same advantage during the rolling restart behind the Safety Car. Charles Leclerc experienced noticeable wheelspin during the acceleration phase and was therefore unable to get close enough to George Russell to attempt an immediate attack for the race lead.
Lewis Hamilton, however, managed to recover third place by attacking Lando Norris aggressively into Turn 1. The British Ferrari driver completed the overtake around the outside of the corner, successfully moving back ahead of the McLaren and effectively placing himself back into a podium position.
Charles Leclerc then tried to close the gap to the leading Mercedes of George Russell and gradually reduced the deficit. By the penultimate lap of the Sprint race he had managed to bring the gap down to less than one second, raising hopes of a possible final-lap challenge.
On the final lap the Monegasque activated the overtake mode of the Ferrari power unit, attempting to extract the maximum possible performance. However, despite the effort, he remained too far behind to attempt a decisive overtaking move on George Russell. The Mercedes driver therefore secured victory in the first Sprint race of the 2026 Formula 1 season, followed by Charles Leclerc in second place and Lewis Hamilton in third.
Regardless of how the race unfolded, the two Mercedes W17 cars continued to demonstrate a significant advantage in terms of hybrid energy deployment and overall efficiency on the straights. However, it must also be noted that Ferrari’s setup for the Sprint race was far from optimal, a factor that undoubtedly affected the overall performance of both SF-26 cars driven by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Fortunately for the Maranello team, the parc fermé restrictions are no longer in place under the 2026 Formula 1 regulations. This means the Maranello team will be able to make several adjustments before the second qualifying session of the Shanghai weekend. The Ferrari engineers will therefore have the opportunity to refine the setup of the SF-26 cars and attempt to improve the race pace over the full 300-kilometer Grand Prix distance, beyond simply addressing the challenges related to hybrid energy management.
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