Antonelli claims first grand prix win in China

Kimi Antonelli became the first Italian to win a race in two decades after claiming a comprehensive victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Italian teenager started from pole position but was jumped for the lead immediately by Lewis Hamilton, who executed a typically great start from third on the grid. Charles Leclerc, launching from fourth, briefly attempted to demote Antonelli to third, but the Mercedes driver prevailed through the tight Turn 3 to hold the place, while George Russell slotted into fourth.

Hamilton’s lead wasn’t to last, however, and Antonelli launched a perfect move on the brakes at the hairpin on lap 2 to take back top spot. Unlike in the sprint, when the overtaking driver was often caught short on electrical power at the first turn, Antonelli ensured he had enough in reserve to hold position through the first sector, effectively sealing the deal.

Russell was on the move too after his poor start, and he swept past both Ferrari drivers easily at the first turn with the help of his electrical boost to restore the starting order and begin chasing down his teammate by lap 4.

But his recovery was almost immediately thrown off course on lap 10, when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin ground to a halt at the first turn, triggering a safety car. The Mercedes and Ferrari drivers pitted, but many others remained out to assume track position, including Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon, who sensationally restarted the race in second and third ahead of Russell, Hamilton, Arvid Lindblad and Leclerc.

Antonelli perfectly managed the restart, but Russell struggled to warm his tires and was quickly swamped, with Hamilton and Leclerc rushing past him in short order.

“We’ve got no f*** grip,” Russell lamented.

But it took only two laps at racing speed for Russell’s fresh hard tires to come up to temperature, and with warmed-up rubber, he was much more competitive. By lap 16 the Ferrari drivers were filling the podium places with Russell on their gearboxes.

A fascinating stalemate ensued, with Leclerc harassing Hamilton relentlessly for second place, which acted to keep Russell in the mix. The Mercedes, though, appeared unable or unwilling to risk making it a three-way fight.

“They’re just fast in all the right places,” he said as he watched the scarlet cars duel for position.

Leclerc eventually mugged Hamilton on the brakes at the hairpin – “I need more power,” Hamilton had been radioing to his engineer – and a failed counterattack left the Englishman vulnerable to Russell behind, who finally moved into third place on lap 27 with a move at the hairpin.

He took Leclerc just two laps later at the same place, but by then he’d lost 7.7s to Antonelli, who used the battle for second to eke open his advantage. As if to make a point, Antonelli immediately set what was then the fastest lap of the race, stretching his advantage to over 8s.

The rhetorical battle was won, and without another pit stop required, the Italian sprinted home to his first grand prix victory.

“I’m speechless,” he said. “I’m about to cry, to be honest. Thank you so much to my team, because they helped me to achieve this dream.”

“I’m super happy. I said yesterday that I really wanted to bring Italy back on top, and I did it today,”

Antonelli, 19 years old, becomes the second-youngest winner in grand prix history, after Max Verstappen, and the first Italian to win a race since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix, 20 years ago this Thursday.

Though Antonelli was seldom challenged in the race, Russell never seemed as composed in his Mercedes on Sunday.

“Huge congratulations to Kimi,” he said. “He’s been driving really well this year and this weekend especially.

“It was a tough battle … getting the 1-2 again is all we could ask for.”

Hamilton and Leclerc engaged in another memorable battle for the final spot on the podium after Russell had cleared off, with a Leclerc lock-up at the hairpin reigniting the battle.

Hamilton capitalized immediately to take second place on lap 35. Leclerc attempted to get him back around the outside of the first turn, but he couldn’t hold on. The Monegasque took second place at the hairpin on the following lap, but a gutsy down-the-inside move at the tightening first and second turns got the Briton back into second place.

“This is actually quite a fun battle,” Leclerc radioed.

Hamilton used lapped traffic as an opportunity to stretch open a small advantage and secure third place at the flag, his first podium since becoming a Ferrari driver.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to try and keep up,” he said. “But I had so much fun.

“We had a great start. I wasn’t able to keep these guys behind, but to stay in the fight, it was one of the most enjoyable races that I’ve had in a long, long time, if ever.”

Leclerc finished fourth ahead of a superb Oliver Bearman in fifth for Haas, who led the midfield in a grand prix of high attrition.

Neither McLaren driver took the start owing to unrelated electrical problems that forced both cars to be wheeled off the grid – Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto also failed to start the race – and Verstappen retired with a technical problem with just over 10 laps remaining.

The casualty list meant Pierre Gasly was able to finish a fighting sixth at a highly competitive weekend for Alpine, with Liam Lawson following him home for Racing Bulls, backing up his points from the Sprint.

Isack Hadjar was Red Bull Racing’s sole finisher, the Frenchman recovering from a spin after contact with Bearman that left him a spun-out last on the first lap.

Carlos Sainz scored Williams’s first points of the year, albeit from a lap down, while Franco Colapinto scored his first points as an Alpine driver and his first since the 2024 United States Grand Prix when racing for Williams.

Nico Hulkenberg finished 11th ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who was off the road on the first lap and spun himself around later in the race too, and Valtteri Bottas.

Esteban Ocon tipped Colapinto into a spin on lap 33 in a botched move at Turn 1-2 and was subsequently penalized 10s at his second pit stop, while Sergio Perez, who made contact with teammate Bottas early in the race, was the last finisher in 15th.

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