Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix – Copybet
The 2026 Formula 1 world championship continues in Shanghai this weekend with the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, 15 March.
The action got off to an entertaining start as George Russell led home a Mercedes one-two with teammate Kimi Antonelli a close second in Australia.
There was fighting for places throughout the field in the first race held under new regulations as drivers got to grips with the energy deployment tools at their disposal in the slightly smaller and lighter cars than they had last season.
There's little time for drivers to assess the conditions of this week's track in Shanghai, however, as it is the first of six sprint-race weekends this season, so there is just one practice session before sprint qualifying on Friday, with the sprint race and grand prix qualifying on Saturday and the grand prix itself on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton won the sprint race in 2025 for his only success in a Ferrari to date, while Oscar Piastri of McLaren won the grand prix 12 months ago.
Chinese Grand Prix
The two long straights of the Shanghai International Circuit should give the Mercedes a chance to showcase the performance of their new power unit again but Ferrari's new car is more nimble around the bends and we could see a cat-and-mouse game between the teams in the early laps of the race.
Ferrari had excelled with fast starts in pre-season testing and that was the case once more in Australia as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both made ground on the first lap.
The impression was that Mercedes could have put more distance between themselves and their rivals as the race went on, though, and with only seven days between races and just one session to set up the cars, their rivals are going to be hard-pressed to catch up.
The race for the final spot on the podium looks open and Hamilton is a value bet at 7/2 to claim his first podium finish of the season.
The seven-time champion was fourth in Melbourne but was closing in on teammate Leclerc at the finish and after a tough first season with Ferrari he seems much happier with his 2026 car.
Chinese Grand Prix
There were five British drivers in the first eight in Australia, and the fourth of those - after Russell, Hamilton and world champion Lando Norris - was Oliver Bearman, who steered his Haas to seventh place.
That performance at Albert Park was no fluke as Haas, who use the Ferrari engine, had looked strong in testing and Bearman made up five places in the race after qualifying 12th.
The 20-year-old secured his first points finish for Haas in Shanghai last season when he was eighth and after showing plenty of pace in the opener, he can be fancied for a second points finish of the year.