Chinese Grand Prix: Why second race of F1's new era in Sprint weekend tipped for 'completely different story' to Australia
Formula 1's teams and drivers expecting a different type of weekend to Melbourne at 2026's second round as the Sprint format makes its first appearance of the year; watch every session of the Chinese GP Sprint weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday
Tuesday 10 March 2026 19:00, UK
Formula 1's new era of rules and racing is back in immediate action this weekend for the season's second round in China as both the sport's participants and fans continue to get to grips with the wholesale changes introduced for 2026.
Shanghai also stages the first of this season's six Sprint events, the alternative - and often unpredictable - format which features a single practice session before the pressure of competitive sessions.
Add in a different track layout with different requirements for F1's new-look cars and power units and the expectation is that, for all that was seen as good, bad or indifferent about last weekend in Australia at a season-opener that split opinion, nothing can be taken for granted by teams and drivers just yet so early into the sport's new ruleset.
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"China will be a completely different story," said Ferrari's Frederic Vasseur, whose team along with race winners Mercedes made the strongest starts to the new campaign last week in Melbourne.
"In terms of energy [deployment], it's almost the opposite [to Australia].
"Conditions will be probably much colder in China. And we'll have the Sprint format - it means much less time to adapt the strategy.
"It will be a completely different exercise."
Why challenge of China will prove different to Australia
The Shanghai International Circuit will become the fourth track that F1's all-new 2026 cars and engines have run on after pre-season testing in Barcelona and Bahrain was followed by last week's season-opener at Albert Park.
All four tracks are fairly unique in terms of respective layout and the demands they place on the cars - that's not new - but Shanghai is closer to Bahrain in that, unlike Barcelona and Melbourne, it is not considered an 'energy-starved' circuit - in other words, a track on which cars struggle to replenish the power unit's battery through braking.
There are bigger braking zones in China than Albert Park, which will help drivers build up their battery in a more natural way, while there are also fewer straights where stored electrical energy can be deployed to varying degrees by drivers through the field.
After engaging in a form of racing with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the opening 10 laps last Sunday that he described as "yoyoing", Melbourne victor George Russell said: "The interesting thing with these regs is every track we go to, they're not always going to be like this.
"You know, we're going to Shanghai next where you've got one big, long straight, so the majority of drivers will be using their energy on that one straight.
"You don't need to divide it up between four like you do in Melbourne."
The Shanghai lap only really features two straights of note although, at a mammoth 1.1km, its backstraight is one of the longest on the whole calendar.
"It should be a much more straightforward race in terms of how you deploy the energy," said Kimi Antonelli, Russell's Mercedes team-mate.
"[Australia] was very probably the hardest race to start the season because it's just so difficult on energy with so many straights one after the other. I think it was a massive learning for us drivers, for the team."
'A huge challenge for everybody' - how will first 2026 Sprint spice up weekend?
An added challenge of the Shanghai weekend - and the chance of surprises in the competitive order even compared to Melbourne - comes in season's first use of the Sprint format.
Unlike Australia, when teams and drivers had three hours of practice running to try and fine-tune not only their new energy deployment strategies for that track but also the usual crucial tasks of car set-up and tyre management, the Sprint schedule means there is just 60 minutes of preparation time before the weekend's first competitive session - Sprint Qualifying - begins.
That new demands for 2026 will place an even greater premium than usual on teams hitting the ground running on Friday morning.
"I think it's going to be super crucial to be straight on top of everything, which will be extremely difficult," said Ferrari's Leclerc, who finished third behind the Mercedes drivers in Melbourne.
"I mean, that's what we've tried to do for this [Melbourne] weekend and even coming to the race we were not on top of everything.
"So, to have a Sprint race so early on in a season like this will be a huge challenge for everybody. It's going to be very tricky."
And as Vasseur pointed out: "It was much easier when we started in Bahrain [testing].
"We were doing six days to be used to deal with the same track and to improve lap after lap. When you do 150 laps a day after six days, you have tonnes of opportunity to fine-tune.
"[China] will be different. We'll do FP1, 20 laps, and we'll have to go for the strategy of the qualy and the rest.
"This exercise will be difficult."
Even without the challenge of new regulations, Sprint events are never easy for teams to ace even in years of static rules. That was certainly underlined by Ferrari's own rollercoaster weekend in Shanghai last season.
What remains Lewis Hamilton's best 24 hours in red - pole position in Sprint Qualifying followed by victory in the Sprint race itself - was followed by double Ferrari embarrassment on the Sunday when separate technical infringements due to miscalculations on how the race would unfold saw both their cars disqualified (from fifth and sixth places after what had already been an underwhelming race day for the team).
Ferrari will not be the only ones hoping to avoid such pitfalls this time on one of the season's most full-on weekends.
Sky Sports F1's Chinese GP schedule
Thursday March 12
5am: Drivers' Press Conference
8am: Paddock Uncut
Friday March 13
1.05am: F1 Academy Practice
3am: Chinese GP Practice (session starts at 3.30am)*
5.30am: Team Bosses Press Conference*
6am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6.45am: Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 7.30am)*
Saturday March 14
2.25am: Chinese GP Sprint build-up*
3am: CHINESE GP SPRINT*
4.30am: Ted's Sprint Notebook*
5.30am: F1 Academy Race 1*
6.30am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
7am: CHINESE GP QUALIFYING*
9am: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday March 15
2.35am: F1 Academy Race 2*
5.30am: Chinese GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
7am: THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
9am: Chinese GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
10am: Ted's Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 heads to Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
