Image source, Getty Images

The heavyweight fight at the front during the early laps has been between George Russell and Ferrari and the Mercedes man has given us his thoughts on using the new overtake mode, which replaces the drag reduction system (DRS) and gives a driver a burst of extra electrical energy when they are within a second of the car in front at the detection point, which is typically the final corner.

"With the overtake mode, the driver behind can use the boost button up to I think 330km/h, where the guy in the front can only use it to 290km/h," Russell said.

"It seems to work quite well. It isn't DRS, but it works in a similar pattern for the speed delta.

"It's been quite interesting, quite fun, and I think even some diehards maybe aren't disliking it as much as they did maybe a week ago. We just still need to give it a chance."

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Mercedes have been in imperious form and they are definitely the class of the field. It might be a struggle off the line, but then their race pace should be the best, and I expect a fight between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Can Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc hang on to the back of them and use their battery pack wisely to ensure they are there at the end of the race? That's what I'm excited to see.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Harry Benjamin, former McLaren Formula E driver Sam Bird and F1 correspondent and Andrew Benson are back to take us through the Chinese Grand Prix.

To tune in this morning, click the 'listen live' tab at the top of this page, ask your smart speaker to "play BBC Radio 5 Live" or, if you're heading out the door early today but still want to follow along, you can listen via the BBC Sounds app.

McLaren are working flat out to try and get Lando Norris ready for this 56-lap race but with the pit lane now closed, if they do manage to fix it in time, the world champion will be a pit-lane starter along with Alex Albon, after Williams made some suspension changes to his car while in parc ferme.

Red Bull have also been busy tinkering with Max Verstappen's car on the grid but team boss Laurent Mekies has just told Sky Sports the Dutchman should be OK.

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull's Max Verstappen starts down in P8, he said: "I've had better weekends, but we will try and do the best we can. I think realistically maybe we can fight for one more spot and that's what we will try to aim for."

On the start: "Let's try and not lose too many places because all the starts that I've done this season I've always been P20, so let's at least target a better start."

Image source, Getty Images

The of new era of engines, chassis, fuel and tyres may have only just begun but Max Verstappen is probably thinking Sunday, 6 December can't come soon enough, such are the issues the Dutchman and Red Bull are facing in 2026.

Four-time world champion Verstappen finished outside the points in the sprint race and will line-up eighth on the Shanghai grid, sharing a row with the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, with team-mate Isack Hadjar just behind in ninth.

Verstappen told Sky Sports he expects a tough grand prix today, as the car has no balance and every lap is a fight. "Every lap is just survival for me," he added, "I'm not enjoying it at all, it's just very inconsistent."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The early laps of the race may well feature yet another yo-yoing battle between the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers, as has marked out the early stages of both races so far this season.

But a pattern appears to have emerged in the first two races - a grand prix and a sprint.

The pattern is this: Ferrari's strong starts and superior cornering speed puts them in the mix in the early laps, and the new hybrid engine with their "boost" and "overtake" modes leads to switching of positions for a while.

But the longer the race goes on, the more Mercedes' inherent advantage pays off.

Lewis Hamilton said: "Definitely feeling thirsty on power when we're behind them. It's really, really hard to keep up and you could tell they just have more grunt, they're just pulling for longer.

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton is starting on the second row in third, he said: "It's so hard to beat the Mercedes. I think ultimately just on pure pace we won't be able to beat them, but maybe tactically.

"The good thing is there's the two Mercedes and then there's Charles [Leclerc] and I, so hopefully we can tag team and try to apply pressure to them both.

"Maybe through strategy we're able to pull something out of the bag, so I feel good about today."

Image source, Getty Images

The second row of the grid has been booked by the all-Ferrari contingent of Lewis Hamilton in third and Charles Leclerc in fourth.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton put the pressure on George Russell during the sprint event, swapping places with his ex-Mercedes team-mate as the two fought for the lead.

Russell won out and Hamilton ended his 19 laps in third place but the Scuderia's power off the line was eye-catching once again. In Melbourne, Leclerc went from fourth to first at lights out, jumping both of the Silver Arrow drivers before a cat-and-mouse chase for P1 with Russell.

Hamilton was 0.351 seconds away from Kimi Antonelli's pole time and said Ferrari have "made a step forward" this weekend.

Image source, Getty Images

The season is in its infancy but lights out has been Kimi Antonelli's slight weak spot so far, with the Italian teenager losing places off the line from second place in both Melbourne and yesterday's shorter sprint race. He's starting from the best seat in the house today but another sluggish getaway will leave him vulnerable to team-mate George Russell and the two Ferraris behind.

Like Russell in qualifying, Antonelli had some front wing problems during his final run on Saturday and he told Sky Sports understeer was also an issue during his pole-winning lap.

"The wind is going to rotate [on Sunday], so should be a lot better for the understeer. But I really want to speak to the engineers about the car because this level of understeer was very unusual and it felt like something was broken."

Alex: Fortunate enforced April break for a lot of teams. Catch their breath and work on closing that gap. Also, the reduced number of races is 22? Too much of a good thing, must be crazy for teams.

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell has been the quickest man on track so far in 2026, taking a comfortable victory in Australia seven days ago from pole position and repeating that achievement in the China sprint race on Saturday.

But his qualifying was a race against time to get out on track and set a lap before the curtain fell on Q3. Russell was looking at a 10th-place start in Shanghai after issues with his front wing, the battery and tyre temperature but the Mercedes rocketship eventually carried him up to P2 and on to the front row.

Russell's winning performances in Melbourne and the sprint yesterday means he leads the very early drivers' championship by 11 points from team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli's maiden pole position also came with an added bonus, as he's now entered the F1 history books as the youngest polesitter for a full grand prix.

The Italian teenager, who is 19 years old, has beaten the previous record holder Sebastian Vettel, who claimed pole at the Italian Grand Prix in 2008 at aged 21 for Toro Rosso.

Following four-time world champion Vettel in the list is Charles Leclerc (2019), Fernando Alonso (2003), Max Verstappen (2019) and Lando Norris (2021), who were also 21 when they grabbed their first front-row spots.

Antonelli said if his team-mate George Russell didn't have problems in qualifying, then the order would probably be different but hey, take what you can get.

Work has been happening in the McLaren garage on Lando Norris' car but the world champion should be ready to compete with the rest of the field in Shanghai.

"We had identified an issue on the electronics side, which is why we had removed the floor and checked a number of parts," say McLaren.

"We believe we have rectified the issue and the team are now in final preparations for the race."

Pit lane is open but Norris isn't heading out just yet.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekends in April have been cancelled as a result of the war in the Middle East.

Formula 1 has concluded after "careful evaluations" that it is not safe to hold either race because of the ongoing conflict across the region.

The Bahrain event at Sakhir was scheduled for 10-12 April, while the Saudi event in Jeddah would have taken place a week later.

The races will not be rescheduled or replaced, so the F1 season will be reduced to 22 races and there will be a five-week gap between the Japanese Grand Prix on 27-29 March and Miami on 1-3 May.

Cancellations of the race weekends mean the sport will take a commercial hit of well over £100m as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pay two of the largest hosting fees on the circuit.

That money is split between the 11 teams and F1 itself, according to the sports complicated revenue structure.

Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

Hello, folks. A slightly easier alarm call for us this morning for today's 56-lap Chinese Grand Prix. The Shanghai International Circuit is packed with fans who are ready to cheer on the second race of this 2026 season.

Yesterday's qualifying session saw Mercedes claim the front two spots, just like in the Melbourne opener last weekend. However, with issues hampering George Russell in Q3, it was his team-mate Kimi Antonelli who secured his maiden pole position in Formula 1 and making a bit of history, too.

Russell didn't give up the fight, though, and the Briton managed to bank a lap that was good enough for P2, ahead of the Ferrari duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Lights out is at 07:00 GMT.

Some big news has been confirmed overnight and we won't be going racing in April...