Published: March 15, 2026 at 5:15 pm
From pole to finish, it has been a dream run for Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli who claimed his maiden Formula 1 victory in the Chinese Grand Prix, beating teammate George Russell even as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton claimed his first Grand Prix podium for the Scuderia after a thrilling intra-team battle on Sunday.
“I’m speechless. I’m about to cry, to be honest. Thank you so much to my team, because they helped me to achieve this dream,” said Antonelli after the race. “I’m super happy. I said yesterday I really wanted to bring Italy back on top and we did today, even though I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with the flat-spot. It was a good race.”
Mercedes’ Antonelli becomes F1’s youngest ever Grand Prix polesitter in China
Having become the youngest Grand Prix polesitter on Saturday, Antonelli was only briefly headed at the start of Sunday’s race in Shanghai, losing the lead to Hamilton who got the jump on both Mercedes from P3.
Antonelli was never headed again after re-taking the lead
Re-taking the lead before the end of the second lap, the 19-year-old Italian was never headed again, retaining first after his only pit stop under the sole Safety Car period early in proceedings.
Despite a nervous moment after running deep at the Turn 14 hairpin with four laps remaining, Antonelli finished 5.5 seconds clear of Russell to become the second youngest winner of a Grand Prix.
Russell, who had won Saturday’s Sprint, fought back to second having found himself behind the squabbling Ferraris at the mid-point of the race after struggling for grip on the Safety Car restart, the Briton still in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship.
Hamilton takes his first rostrum for Ferrari
Hamilton took his first rostrum for Ferrari in a Grand Prix at the same venue where he claimed his only victory last season in the China Sprint 12 months ago.
The seven-time World Champion had to fight teammate Charles Leclerc hard for the position, the pair running side-by-side at several points throughout the race as the Monegasque finished fourth.
Lewis Hamilton briefly took the lead at the start before Kimi Antonelli moved back in front. Pics: formula1.com
Best of the rest was Ollie Bearman for Haas, who came fifth having had to take avoiding action on the opening lap as Isack Hadjar spun through the long right-hander of Turn 13.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly claimed points for the second weekend in a row with P6, from the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Hadjar (Red Bull), as the top 10 was completed by Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Franco Colapinto, the second Alpine having been hit into a spin by Esteban Ocon at one stage.
Hulkenberg misses out on points
Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg missed out on the points in P11, followed by Arvid Lindblad after the Racing Bulls driver suffered a spin on his own at Turn 14.
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The final classified runners included the Cadillacs of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, the latter having spun at Turn 3 on the opening lap after contact with his teammate, while Ocon finished between the pair in P14 after serving his penalty.
Verstappen retires after just 10 laps
Max Verstappen failed to reach the chequered flag, retiring just 10 laps from the end after running P6 with an issue for his Red Bull, with both Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll also retiring – the latter’s stranded car causing the only Safety Car period.
Reigning champions McLaren endured a miserable day, as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri failed to start due to two different electrical problems on the power unit side, while Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Williams’ Alex Albon also failed to start due to car problems.
F1 will take a short break before returning for the Japanese Grand Prix from March 27-29.
