Formula 1 returned to Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the season, and the opening practice session gave drivers just one hour to get to grips with the newly resurfaced circuit.

The session began with Oliver Bearman leading the way out of the pits, followed closely by a train of cars. Both Aston Martins ran with special decals in tribute to Eddie Jordan, who passed away on Thursday.

Bearman set the first time, but it didn’t last long. George Russell was quickly into the 1:35s, showing good early pace on medium tyres. Meanwhile, there were small issues across the field as Alex Albon went off into the gravel and said something felt loose under the pedals, and Liam Lawson also had a bit of a moment. On the positive side, Yuki Tsunoda said the grip levels were much better than last year.

As drivers settled in, the McLarens of Norris and Piastri looked sharp, taking turns at the top. Lewis Hamilton then jumped ahead with a 1:33.2. Piastri reported his car felt a bit twitchy at high speeds, something to watch for during the rest of the weekend.

Halfway through the session, Russell led with a 1:32.3, half a second ahead of Leclerc. Hamilton, Antonelli, and Verstappen followed. But it wasn’t all smooth. Verstappen had a slide, Pierre Gasly had incorrect switch settings, and Carlos Sainz said his car was bouncing and oversteering.

Leclerc spun into the gravel while chasing Russell’s time, and Hamilton also ran wide into the pits. At Mercedes, rookie Antonelli said his tyres were already blistering. Jack Doohan’s session ended early when his Alpine lost power, he reported "no power steering, car’s switched off" and was told to stop the car, and a red flag came out with just over 10 minutes left.

After a short delay, the session resumed with just eight minutes to go. Everyone went out on soft tyres, trying to squeeze in a final push. Russell made a small mistake at Turn 2, and the Ferraris and McLarens took advantage. Leclerc went quickest, then Norris put in a final lap to go top with a 1:31.504, which was nearly half a second ahead of the Ferrari driver and even despite he lost four tenths on his previous fastest time in the first sector,

Piastri was third, followed by Hamilton and Russell. Nico Hulkenberg surprised many by going sixth for Sauber, ahead of Albon and Alonso. Antonelli and Tsunoda completed the top 10.

Bearman showed promise in 11th, while Verstappen ended up down in 16th after not finishing his soft tyre run. Doohan’s stoppage meant he was last on the timing sheet.

With little time and changing conditions, it’s still hard to read the full picture but Norris and McLaren once again looked strong heading into the rest of the weekend.