Kimi Antonelli Wins Chinese Grand Prix for His Maiden F1 Victory

SHANGHAI, China. Kimi Antonelli won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday for his first Formula 1 victory, finishing 5.515 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell at the Shanghai International Circuit. Lewis Hamilton was third, his first Grand Prix podium for Ferrari.

The 19-year-old Italian became the second-youngest Grand Prix winner in F1 history, a day after he became the youngest Grand Prix polesitter (opens in a new tab).

"I'm speechless. I'm about to cry, to be honest. Thank you so much to my team, because they helped me to achieve this dream," Antonelli said. "I said yesterday I really wanted to bring Italy back on top and we did today, even though I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with the flat-spot. It was a good race."

A brief Hamilton lead

Antonelli moved across on Russell at the start, and Hamilton used the space to sweep into the lead from third on the grid. Hamilton's lead lasted less than two laps. Antonelli went back in front at the Turn 14 hairpin and was never headed again.

Lance Stroll stopped his Aston Martin at Turn 1 at the end of Lap 10, bringing out the only Safety Car of the race. The leaders all pitted from medium to hard tyres, and Antonelli rejoined in front. Russell struggled for grip on the restart and fell behind both Ferraris.

Hamilton and Charles Leclerc then fought over several laps, running side by side and swapping positions. That duel let Antonelli stretch his lead to seven seconds. Russell eventually passed both Ferraris and closed to under seven seconds, but he was struggling with tyre wear. Antonelli ran deep at Turn 14 with four laps left and still won comfortably.

Russell, who won Saturday's Sprint, kept the lead of the Drivers' Championship. Hamilton's decisive move on Leclerc came at Turn 1 after Leclerc went back ahead on Lap 39. Hamilton finished 25.267 seconds behind the winner, more than three seconds clear of Leclerc. It was Hamilton's first Grand Prix podium for Ferrari, at the same track where he won the China Sprint a year earlier.

McLaren fails to start

Reigning champions McLaren had a miserable day. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both failed to start because of two separate electrical problems on the power unit side. Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi and Alex Albon of Williams also failed to start.

Ollie Bearman was fifth for Haas after avoiding a spinning Isack Hadjar on the opening lap. Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpine, ahead of Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls and Hadjar of Red Bull Racing. Carlos Sainz scored Williams' first points of the season in ninth, and Franco Colapinto took the last point after Esteban Ocon spun him. Ocon received a 10-second penalty and finished 14th.

Nico Hulkenberg was 11th and Arvid Lindblad 12th after a spin. Max Verstappen retired 10 laps from the end while running sixth. Both Aston Martins, driven by Fernando Alonso and Stroll, also failed to finish.

Formula 1 moved on to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix two weeks later.

For more, see Formula 1's race report (opens in a new tab).

This was Round 2 of the 2026 season. It came after George Russell's win in Australia and before Antonelli's win at Suzuka. For the full title picture, see our 2026 F1 standings breakdown.

Sources: Formula 1. More Formula 1 coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Richard Pardon / Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team