A tearful Kimi Antonelli celebrated a breakthrough first win of his Formula One career on Sunday (March 15, 2026) after leading championship-leading teammate George Russell in a Mercedes one-two in China from pole position.
The 19-year-old Italian driver became the second-youngest race winner in the sport’s history after four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who took his first victory with Red Bull at 18 in 2016.
Lewis Hamilton finished a distant third, the seven-times world champion’s first podium since he joined Ferrari last year and first since Las Vegas 2024, with teammate Charles Leclerc fourth after a lively battle between the two.
McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri both failed to start due to problems with their cars.
“Thank you everyone. Thank you so much. You made me achieve one of my dreams,” said Antonelli over the radio after taking the chequered flag.
“I’m speechless. I’m about to cry to be honest,” he said in his first interview as a winner in front of the Shanghai circuit crowd, before doing just that.
It was a nervous finish for the Italian, who locked up and went wide with three laps to go, cutting his lead over Russell to 7.4 seconds and finishing 5.515 clear.
It was Mercedes’ second successive one-two in two races after Russell led Antonelli in the Australian opener last weekend.
“I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with the flat spot (on his tyres),” said the first Italian winner since Giancarlo Fisichella for Renault in Malaysia in 2006. “It was a good race.”
Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali, also Italian, congratulated Antonelli before the podium celebrations and the playing of the Italian national anthem.
Oliver Bearman was fifth for Haas ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson.
Isack Hadjar took eighth for Red Bull, after teammate Verstappen retired from the race, with Carlos Sainz ninth for Williams and Franco Colapinto finally back in the points for Alpine in 10th after failing to score last year.
Published - March 15, 2026 01:20 pm IST
