Kimi Antonelli takes his first win in China to extend Mercedes’ dominant start to new F1 era 

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, yesterday [AP Photo]

Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s second-youngest race winner with a composed drive to victory for Mercedes in an eventful Chinese Grand Prix yesterday.

The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole position starter and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the start but retook it soon after and was in control after that.

“We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team over the radio amid laughs and whoops.

It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Lewis Hamilton was third for his long-awaited first Grand Prix podium finish for Ferrari.

The only driver younger than Antonelli to win a Grand Prix was Max Verstappen, who was 18 when he took his first victory in 2016.

Russell bests Ferraris in thriller

The new regulations again produced a dramatic fight for position between Mercedes and fast-starting Ferrari as Russell fought his way past Leclerc and Hamilton in a multi-lap battle with numerous changes of position. That allowed Antonelli to build his lead at the front.

Even after Russell had pulled away to secure second place, teammates Leclerc and Hamilton kept up their own fight for third. “This is quite a fun battle,” Leclerc exclaimed over the radio.

Leclerc was fourth with Oliver Bearman fifth for Haas, Pierre Gasly sixth for Alpine and Liam Lawson seventh for Racing Bulls. Isack Hadjar recovered from an early spin to place eighth for Red Bull, ahead of Carlos Sainz, Jr. in ninth for Williams, while Franco Colapinto was 10th for Alpine to score his first point since 2024.

Max Verstappen was running sixth when his car lost power and he had to limp back to the pits in another blow for the four-time champion who has been a leading criticof F1’s new cars.

Double disaster for McLaren

Formula 1 champion Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri were both unable to start after hitting technical problems minutes before the race began.

Piastri was due to start fifth and Norris sixth for Sunday’s race. Norris was in his car in the pits but didn’t leave for the grid, before Piastri was then withdrawn from the grid following a radio message which indicated an electrical issue.

“Unfortunately we identified separate issues on both cars which prevented them from starting the Chinese GP, with Oscar’s being removed from the grid shortly before the formation lap. We will now work to identify each issue,” the McLaren team said.

It’s the second time Piastri has failed to start in 2026 after he crashed before the start of last week’s race in Australia.

F1 is racing hours after it announced next month’s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not go ahead because of the war in the Middle East. MDT/AP