Antonelli scores first F1 win at Chinese GP

After becoming the youngest F1 pole sitter in F1 history, Kimi Antonelli converted that historic pole into his first-ever F1 win at the Chinese GP. Australian GP winner George Russell followed his teammate across the finish line, handing Mercedes a second consecutive one-two finish.

Hamilton, meanwhile, defeated his teammate Charles Leclerc to grab the final spot on the podium – the seven-time world champion’s very first with Ferrari.

1. Antonelli wins, 5.515sec ahead of Russell
2. Hamilton, Leclerc P3 and P4
3. Both McLarens, Verstappen retire

Antonelli leads Mercedes 1-2 at Chinese GP

Ferrari has been acing the starts, with the Italian team reportedly using a smaller turbo. Hamilton launched from P3 on the grid to take the lead on the opening lap, but Anotnelli re-claimed the lead before the end of the second lap. The 19-year-old held on to that advantage for the rest of the race, making a one-stop strategy work. He had a brief scare after locking up and running wide at Turn 14 with just four laps to go. But he held on to finish 5.515sec clear of Russell.

“This win is a fulfilment of one of the dreams I’ve had ever since I first drove a go-kart,” Antonelli said. 

He added, “The race itself wasn’t easy. I lost a position at the start and had to fight back to get ahead. We then had to manage the Safety Car restart, which wasn’t easy on the Hard compound. It was difficult to get the tyres working, but fortunately, we were able to before we were under threat from those behind.”

Hamilton scores first Ferrari podium

The race saw plenty of Mercedes vs Ferrari battles. But the Mercedes duo eventually pulled away, leaving Hamilton and Leclerc to scrap it out for the final podium position. Hamilton emerged on top in this battle, securing his first podium finish since joining Ferrari last year.

“Overall, it’s been a very positive weekend for us; we’ve learned a lot and improved the way we optimise the car. Today was one of the most enjoyable races I’ve had in years, with hard but fair battles, especially with Charles. Racing in front of this fantastic crowd made it even more special,” said Hamilton.

“We still have work to do, but we’re on the right path, and I’m hugely grateful to everyone back in Maranello as we push to take the fight to Mercedes even more in the weeks ahead.”

Oliver Bearman scored a strong P5 finish for Haas, followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who finished in the points for the second race in a row. Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson finished P7, ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Isack Hadjar, Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.

Double disaster for McLaren

McLaren didn’t even make it to the race start, with both cars suffering separate power unit electrical issues. 

“Nothing had changed between Saturday’s Qualifying and the fire-up in the garage pre-race, but as we prepared Lando’s car to leave the garage, an electrical problem was discovered on the power unit. We tried to fix it alongside our partners at Mercedes HPP, but there was no way to do so, which resulted in the first prevention of a Formula 1 Grand Prix start in his career,” explained McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella.

Oscar Piastri has faced a disastrous start to his 2026 F1 season, with this marking his second DNS (Did Not Start) in as many races. “Then, on the grid, we found another electrical issue on Oscar’s power unit which couldn’t be resolved, resulting in the car being required to return to the garage for further investigation. They look to be separate electrical faults on the power unit occurring at the same time, an extremely unfortunate coincidence which meant there was simply no way to start the race with either car,” Stella added.

It was also a difficult race for Red Bull, with the team struggling for pace all weekend. Max Verstappen was running in P6 when an ERS (Energy Recovery System) cooling issue forced him to retire with 10 laps to go. This left Hadjar as the sole Red Bull driver still in the race, and he crossed the line P8 to salvage some points for the team.

2026 F1 championship standings

Russell currently holds the overall lead in the drivers’ championship, but he’s just four points ahead of his teammate Antonelli. Leclerc in third overall, 17 points behind Russell.

Up next on the 2026 F1 calendar is the Japanese GP, scheduled for March 27-29.

2026 F1 Chinese GP results