Kimi Antonelli celebrated a breakthrough first win in Formula 1 on Sunday after leading championship leader George Russell in a Mercedes one-two finish at the Chinese Grand Prix from pole position.
The 19-year-old Italian became the second-youngest winner in the sport’s history, behind four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who secured his first victory with Red Bull at 18 in 2016.
Lewis Hamilton took third place, marking the seven-time world champion’s first podium since joining Ferrari last year and his first since the Las Vegas 2024 Grand Prix. Teammate Charles Leclerc finished fourth after a competitive battle with Hamilton.
McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri both failed to start due to technical issues with their cars.
“Thank everyone. Thank you so much. You made me achieve one of my dreams,” Antonelli said over the radio after taking the chequered flag. “I’m speechless. I’m about to cry, to be honest,” he added in his first interview as a race winner in front of the Shanghai circuit crowd, before tears flowed.
The finish was tense, with Antonelli locking up and running wide with three laps to go, reducing his lead over Russell to 7.4 seconds. He ultimately finished 5.515 seconds clear.
Mercedes secured their second consecutive one-two finish in as many races, following Russell’s victory over Antonelli in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
“I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with the flat spot on my tyres,” Antonelli said. “It was a good race.” The first Italian winner since Giancarlo Fisichella for Renault in Malaysia in 2006 was congratulated by Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, also Italian, before the podium ceremony and the playing of the Italian national anthem.
Oliver Bearman finished fifth for Haas, followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in sixth and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in seventh. Isack Hadjar came eighth for Red Bull after teammate Verstappen retired, with Carlos Sainz ninth for Williams and Franco Colapinto securing Alpine’s first points of the season in tenth.
KIMI ANTONELLI WINS FOR THE FIRST TIME!! 👏🏆
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 15, 2026
WHAT A DRIVE! 😮💨#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/7qIcxU9pss
