Kimi Antonelli – F1 Driver, Won Chinese Grand Prix

19 YEAR OLD F1 DRIVER KIMI ANTONELLI WINS THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX

Kimi Antonelli beat his predecessors George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to win the Shanghai Grand Prix on the afternoon of March 15th, becoming the second youngest driver in F1 history to win a race.

Winning the race at the age of 19 years and 202 days, the Mercedes driver is only 18 years and 228 days short of the record set by Max Verstappen at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Yesterday, in qualifying, Antonelli also broke the record for the youngest driver to win pole position, previously held by Sebastian Vettel at 21 years and 73 days old, at Monza, Italy in 2008.

Antonelli Celebrates His Victory On The Podium At The Shanghai Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli struggled to hold back tears and choked up as he spoke after the race. The young Italian driver said: “I can barely speak, and I’m about to cry. Thank you so much to the Mercedes team for helping me achieve this dream.” “I am extremely happy to be the first Italian to win in 20 years.”

The race started poorly for Antonelli personally and for the Mercedes team, despite them occupying both pole positions. Kimi Antonelli lost his lead on lap 1, as both Ferrari drivers started faster than expected. Lewis Hamilton took the lead from third place. Charles Leclerc climbed to third, just ahead of Russell, and even nearly overtook Antonelli to take second place at the Turn 1-Turn 4 combination early in the race.

However, after a few minutes, the two W17s started to warm up and regain their speed. Antonelli counterattacked to regain the lead on the straight on lap 2, while Russell took a little longer to move up to second, overtaking Leclerc on lap 3 and Hamilton on lap 4. The two W17s stayed close together at the front until the safety car was deployed on lap 10 following an incident with the AMR26. by Lance Stroll (Aston Martin).

What Caused Russell’s Victory To Vanish?

The appearance of the safety car dashed Russell’s chances of winning. Taking advantage of the safety car’s speed control, the top four cars all pitted for hard tires. Upon returning to the track, Antonelli remained in the lead, while Russell dropped to fourth behind Franco Colapinto (Alpine) and Esteban Ocon (Haas) – two drivers who hadn’t changed tires when the safety car appeared.

Restarting after the safety car withdrew at the end of lap 13, Russell’s W17 unexpectedly lost traction with its new hard tires. Taking advantage of Russell’s loss of speed, Hamilton and Leclerc quickly broke away from the first corners to overtake the second W17. Meanwhile, Antonelli easily escaped Colapinto and Ocon to maintain his lead.

Kimi Antonelli Pulled Far Ahead Of His Rivals On Lap 53 Of 56 Grand Prix Races

Russell then quickly overtook Ocon and Colapinto, but was stuck behind the two Ferraris for the next 14 laps. A fierce internal battle between Hamilton and Leclerc gave Russell the opportunity to overtake the two SF26s on laps 27 and 30. However, being stuck behind the two Ferraris, when he climbed to second place, the British driver was more than 7 seconds behind his teammate Antonelli.

In the second half of the race, Russell constantly accelerated and set the fastest lap to try and catch up with his teammate. But after each time the gap narrowed slightly, Antonelli quickly responded with impressive laps to increase the gap, at times by more than 9 seconds. Towards the end of the race, at Turn 14 on lap 53, a front-wheel lock-up by Antonelli at the end of the long straight allowed Russell to close the gap by another 2 seconds. After that, the Italian driver gradually reduced his speed to ensure safety.

Antonelli completed the 56 laps of the Shanghai Grand Prix in 1 hour 33 minutes 15.607 seconds, 5.515 seconds faster than his teammate Russell. He became the first Italian driver to win a Formula 1 race since Giancarlo Fischella (Renault) won at Sepang (Malaysia) in 2006 – a race that took place five months before Antonelli was born.

How Do Two Ferrari SF26s Compete Against Each Other?

While the two Mercedes cars finished without any anticipated internal battle, the two Ferrari SF26s competed fiercely from start to finish. Hamilton and Leclerc engaged in a series of overtaking maneuvers that kept the audience on the edge of their seats. Ultimately, both Ferraris finished safely, with Hamilton securing the overall victory. Leclerc was thrilled after the race: “It was a really exciting competition. It’s been a long time since I’ve smiled so broadly after finishing fourth.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton was also pleased with his performance, which marked his first podium finish since the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2024. “This was one of the most exciting races I’ve ever been in. When racing with Charles, I think there was a moment when we touched, but it was very light, like a kiss, so it was okay.”

Two Ferrari SF26s Created A Dramatic All-Ferrari Race

However, the British driver also admitted that third place was not what he had hoped for. “We wanted to be at the top like our rivals. But we have a great foundation to develop on, and for now, we just need to give it our all to improve,” Hamilton added.

Further down the field, a number of strong drivers had to retire due to problems with the new generation of engines. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) seemed poised to finish sixth after a grueling race with his RB22, but a chassis issue forced the Dutch driver to retire after taking the car to the pit area on lap 47.

“It’s terrible. If someone likes this kind of racing, they really don’t understand what racing is all about. You overtake your opponent, then run out of battery, and on the next straight your opponent overtakes you again. To me, that kind of racing is nothing short of a joke,” Verstappen continued, criticizing the new changes in F1.

Another Veteran Driver, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Why Did He Retire?

Another veteran driver, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), also retired on lap 49 after struggling with the vibrations from the Honda engine in his AMR26 from the start of the race. “Today was tough. We detected more vibrations than any other run in China. So, physically, I couldn’t hold out any longer. My hands and feet started to go numb, so it wasn’t pleasant at all,” the veteran Spaniard lamented.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s two MCL40s didn’t even start despite securing fifth and sixth place. Defending champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri were unable to participate in the race due to faults in their McLarens. Norris’s car couldn’t even leave the garage to go to the starting area when McLaren discovered an electronic system fault, requiring the MCL40’s floor to be removed for inspection.

Initially, McLaren believed they had fixed the problem, but then encountered other issues. “It’s frustrating,” Norris said. “The problem is with the engine. The team members are trying their best to find a solution as soon as possible.”

Piastri discovered a similar problem with the car after putting it on the starting grid. Ultimately, McLaren had to move the MCL40 off the grid and back to the pit area. This was the second consecutive time Piastri had to retire before the race officially began. In the previous race, the Australian driver was unable to compete in Melbourne due to an accident while putting the car on the starting grid.

Chinese Grand Prix Results

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