Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli wins first F1 in China; Russell second

The 19-year-old converts his pole position into a historic win to consolidate Mercedes’s hold early in the F1 season.Published On 15 Mar 2026An emotional Kimi Antonelli has won a Formula One grand prix for the first time in China ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who made his maiden podium for Ferrari.The 19-year-old Antonelli converted being the youngest pole-sitter in Formula One history into victory on Sunday after both McLarens dramatically failed to start the Shanghai race.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Three members of Iranian women’s football team pull Australia asylum bidslist 2 of 4Bahrain and Saudi Arabia F1 race cancellations confirmed due to Iran warlist 3 of 4Indian Wells: Medvedev stuns Alcaraz after Dubai exit amid Middle East warlist 4 of 4MotoGP postpones Qatar Grand Prix due to Middle East conflictend of list“Thank you, everyone. Thank you so much. You made me achieve one of my dreams,” Antonelli said over the radio after taking the chequered flag.“I’m speechless. I’m about to cry to be honest,” he said in his first interview as a winner in ⁠front of the Shanghai circuit crowd before doing just that.It was ⁠a nervous finish for the Italian, who locked up and went wide with three laps to go, cutting his lead over Russell to 7.4 seconds and finishing 5.515 clear.Antonelli wipes away tears before a pit-side interview after winning the Chinese GP [Jade Gao/AFP]It was Mercedes’s second successive one-two after Russell led Antonelli in the Australian opener last weekend.“I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack ⁠towards the end with the flat spot [on his tyres],” ⁠said the first Italian winner since Giancarlo Fisichella for Renault in Malaysia in 2006. “It was a good race.”Formula One Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali, also Italian, congratulated Antonelli before the podium celebrations and the playing of the Italian ‌national anthem.Antonelli, centre, celebrates on the podium with second-placed Russell, left, and third-placed Hamilton [Hector Retamal/AFP]Antonelli briefly lost the lead at the start, but once he got back in front, the teenager controlled the pace to cruise home to the chequered flag. Charles Leclerc was fourth in the second Ferrari.