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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Joey Lynch

Formula One: Kimi Antonelli wins Chinese Grand Prix race updates – as it happened

Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes after winning the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit.
Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes after winning the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit. Photograph: Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images

And here’s Giles’s race report:

But that’s about all that’s needed from me today. The championship will be back in action in a fornight’’s time in Japan, before going on something of an extended break due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi GPs.

Be sure to check back for Giles Richards’ full report and wash-up!

Lewis Hamilton on the broadcast.

I have to say a huge congratulations to Kimi, I’m so happy for you Kimi and I’m so pleased to be sharing this moment with him.

I had so much fun, we had a great start but just couldn’t keep these guys behind.

It was one of the most enjoyable races I have had in a long time, if not ever. The battle with Charles was awesome, wheel to wheel but fair. I think there was one moment we did touch but it was subtle - just a kiss so it was okay.

A huge thank you to everyone at Ferrari for getting us into this position, we have a great platform to work off.

How it finished in Shanghai

  1. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes

  2. George Russell Mercedes

  3. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari

  4. Charles Leclerc Ferrari

  5. Oliver Bearman Haas

  6. Pierre Gasly Alpine

  7. Liam Lawson Racing Bulls

  8. Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing

  9. Carlos Sainz Williams

  10. Franco Colapinto Alpine

  11. Nico Hulkenberg Audi

  12. Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls

  13. Valtteri Bottas Cadillac

  14. Esteban Ocon Haas

  15. Sergio Perez Cadillac

DNF: Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing, Fernando Alonso Aston Martin, Lance Stroll Aston Martin, Oscar Piastri McLaren, Lando Norris McLaren, Gabriel Bortoleto Audi, Alexander Albon Williams

Antonelli is in tears during his interview, thanking his team for helping him achieve his dream. That’s so sweet.

I’m speechless, I’m about to cry to be honest. Thank you to the team for helping me to achieve this dream.

I really wanted to bring Italy back tot he top and we did today. Even if I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack with the flat-spot, we did it.

It was not an easy start, I cover too much on the inside and gave too much room to the Ferrari. But we were able to bring it home.

Updated

Big hugs coming from everywhere for Antonelli. From his dad, his teammate Russell, his garage, the man he replaced at Mercedes in Hamilton. A feel-good moment all-around.

Updated

Hamilton gets onto the podium for the first time in the famous red of Ferrari.

“We’ve got work to do, let’s keep pushing but I believe in you.

“Forza Ferrari.”

Kimi Antonelli wins the Chinese GP!

The 19-year-old Italian, after becoming F1’s youngest-ever pole sitter, (effectively) goes from coast-to-coast to win in Shanghai! It’s his first-ever F1 win!

“YES! YES MAN! WE DID IT, WE DID IT, MAN!”

He’s not the youngest to ever do it – an 18-year-old Verstappen retains that honour – but it’s an incredible achievement for the youngster.

Russell comes through in P2, followed by Hamilton, who gets his first-ever podium for Ferrari! Leclerc rolls through in P4, then comes Bearman, Gasly, Lawson , Hadjar, Sainz, and Colapinto.

Updated

Lap 55/56: Antonelli leads from Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Bearman, and Gasly. Lawson is in P7, followed by Hadjar, Sainz, and Colapinto – who is pushing hard to steal P9 off the Williams.

Lap 54/56: Not to jinx things or anything, not again, but Hamilton is rapidly closing in on his first-ever podium with Ferrari – the gap on Leclerc just over three-and-a-half seconds.

Lap 53/56: The live-blogger’s curse! Antonelli goes off at turn 14! He recovers and the gap he had means he has plenty of buffer to recover and maintain the lead but how fast is his heart going right now?

Updated

Lap 52/56: With a nine-second gap between Antonelli and Russell, and then a near-18-second gap to the Ferraris, our top four looks to be locked in. The only thing that might upset things from here.

Lap 51/56: Antonelli leads from Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Bearman, Gasly, Lawson, Hadjar, Sainz, and Colapinto.

Lap 50/56: Antonelli has a nearly ten second lead over Russell and while the Mercedes are still lapping faster than the Ferraris, the loss of some pace is going to open up for some intrigue surrounding tyre wear – Russell’s on the blower raising an issue with them.

Updated

Lap 49/56: Bearman remains in P5, the best of the rest behind the leading cohort of Mercedes and Ferraris. He’s followed by Gasly, Lawson, Hadjar, Sainz, and Colapinto.

Updated

Lap 48/56: Piastri makes his way through the media section; “Not exactly sure what it is, just know it is an electrical issue, something to do with the PU.

“It has been a while since I have watched two F1 races from the sidelines.”

Updated

Lap 47/56: Verstappen joins Alonso, Stroll, Piastri, Norris, Bortoleto, and Albon as DNFs from today.

Verstappen’s post-race comments could very well be box office.

Updated

Lap 46/56: Verstappen is limping, his whole dashboard turning off after he tried to fire out of a corner. He’s going to retire! There’s something obviously very wrong mechanically with the Red Bull, just what isn’t apparent, but that’s his race done.

Lap 45/56: Antonelli leads from Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Bearman, Verstappen, Gasly, Lawson, Hadjar, and Sainz.

Lap 44/56: Lindblad, who has run the entire race on hards so far, comes into the pits. That’s notable as the 44 laps he did on them is an approximation of what the leaders need to get out of theirs to avoid coming in again.

Lap 43/56: Antonelli has re-opened up a healthy gap on Russell atop the grid, the Brit having a bit of a harder time lapping the two Cadillacs than his teammate.

Lap 42/56: A small storyline, both Cadillacs remain out there on the track. Both Bottas and Perez are at the foot of the (remaining) cars but getting both to the line would be a big accomplishment for the new American team.

Updated

Lap 41/56: Alonso has made his way past the media following his retirement, explaining that he had to pull in because he lost feeling in his hands due to the vibrations in his car.

Leclerc is on the radio and… he’s having fun. “This is actually quite a fun battle.” Warra concept. Love it.

Updated

Lap 40/56: Hamilton takes P3 straight back off Leclerc on turn one, leading to the Monegasques to get straight back on his tail once more.

Antonelli has a six and a half second lead from Russell, with a 12 second gap then to the two Ferraris. Bearman is fifth, followed by Verstappen, Gasly, Lawson, Hadjar, and Sainz.

Lap 39/56: A new set of tyres being prepared in the Ferrari garage as Leclerc darts past Hamilton on the penultimate corner.

Lap 38/56: Pontifications on the broadcast about when/if the Ferrari garage is going to get on the blower and request their two drivers maybe calm their farms a little bit, lest one of them, or both of them, run into an issue that ends their race.

Lap 37/56: Antonelli leads from Russell, with a healthy gap now open to the Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc.

Nearly 19 seconds back of the two Ferraris, Bearman and his Haas are in P5, followed by Verstappen, Gasly, Lawson, Hadjar, and Sainz.

Lap 36/56: Leclerc, not having complained about a lack of power like Hamilton, tries to immediately reclaim P3 but his veteran teammate is able to hold him off as the crowd roars in approval.

Lap 35/56: Russell is closing the gap on Antonelli but not really at a pace that suggests he’s going to be overhaul him without something else happening.

Hamilton is on the radio, saying he’s got no power. “Negative, we are looking into it,” is the response from the garage.

He doesn’t need power, though, to overtake Leclerc when he locks up.

Updated

Lap 34/56: Alonso has come into the pits, with Aston Martin’s miserable season continuing as it looks like he’s set to retire.

Doesn’t look like a safety car is going to be needed after the clash between Ocon and Colapinto.

Lap 33/56: Some of our hard tyre drivers are coming in, with Colapinto diving into the pits.

And then Ocon has had a collision with Colapinto after he comes out and there’s damage to his body. Safety car? That would throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

Updated

Lap 32/56: Antonelli sets a new fastest lap of the race, the clear air in front of him and the rocket ship beneath him giving him as leisurely a drive one can hope for in F1.

Lap 31/56: A slight little lock-up from Leclerc allows Hamilton to close the gap slightly on him in the battle for P3.

Lap 30/56: Ocon comes into the pitch, emerging at the back of the gird in his Haas on mediums.

Antonelli remains well in front, unworried and unconcerned with the battle behind him.

Lap 29/56: Russell gets on the radio, telling his garage that the Ferraris are fast in all the right places – frustrating his efforts to overtake them. But he finally finds an opening on a straight and darts ahead.

Antonelli leads from Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Bearman, Verstappen, Gasly, Colapinto, Ocon, and Hulkenberg.

Updated

Lap 28/56: Lindblad has spun out on turn 14, sending him down to the back of the pack.

Amid all the excitement of the three-way dance between Leclerc, Russell, and Hamilton, Antonelli has looked after his tyres and opened up a nearly eight-second gap on the trio.

Lap 27/56: Hamilton goes past Leclerc! And then Leclerc goes past Hamilton with a battery boost! And then here comes Russell to feast upon Hamilton’s depleted battery, moving into P3.

Lap 26/56: Hamilton gets past Leclerc on the lead, only for the latter to dart right back around him on the home straight to reclaim it. They continue to go hammer and tongs on the subsequent corners, with Russell watching on.

Lap 25/56: There’s contact between the Ferraris as Leclerc and Hamilton battle for P2, with Russell eager to feast on the scraps. He’s held off by Hamilton’s inside line, for now, and then perhaps doesn’t have the energy to press for a further overtake as the lap wears on.

Antonelli is four seconds ahead of this excitement, well-placed in his quest to go coast-to-coast from pole.

Lap 24/56: Norris is on the broadcast, stopping by to speak to media after failing to start.

“Just frustrating, it is on the PU side so the guys tried as hard as they could to get things sorted but they were unable to. It’s my first DNS in F1, so it’s tough to take – but that is racing sometimes.”

Lap 23/56: Antonelli leads from Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell, Bearman, Verstappen, Colapinto, Ocon, Gasly and Hulkenberg.

Lap 22/56: Verstappen is under investigation from the stewards for his overtake on Gasly, with the Alpine driver getting on the radio straight after the incident, which looked like it had a bit of contact, to say that it wasn’t a fair overtake.

Richard Woods has emailed in, observing that “The Alpine of Colapinto and the Haas of Ocon” sound like the villains in a Michael Moorcock novel.

Updated

Lap 21/56: Russell has his sights firmly set on Leclerc, who is doing everything he can to hold him off. A second ahead of them in P2, Hamilton is a second-and-a-half back of race-leader Antonelli.

Updated

Lap 20/56: Bearman and Ocon are really battling it out, Haas solidarity be damnded, but Colapinto, despite being on the oldest tyres of anyone out there, retains hold of P5.

Lap 19/56: Antonelli leads from Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell, Colapinto, Bearman, Ocon, Verstappen, Gasly, and Hulkenberg.

It’s a rip-roaring battle down the bottom of the top ten, while the top four are separating themselves.

Lap 18/56: Hamilton is getting on the radio asking for more power, to which his garage replies “We’re on it.”

Word from Aston Martin is that Stroll suffered from a “battery issue” that led to his retirement.

Lap 17/56: Russell moves past Colapinto for P4, with Anontelli, Hamilton, and Leclrec making up the podium in front of him. The young Italian has opened up a gap of nearly a second on the veteran Brit.

Colapinto sits in P5, followed by Ocon, Bearman, Lindblad, Gasly, and Verstappen.

Lap 16/56: Leclerc moves around Calapinto and secures P3, as Hamilton in front of him applies some serious pressure to Antonelli.

Russell has got around Ocon for P5, with Colapinto now in front of him but he’s looked quite a bit of space on Antonelli in front of him.

Bearman moves past Lindblad, with Gasly ninth, and Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten.

Lap 15/56: Hamilton gets around the inside of Colapinto and moves into second, with Antonelli in his sights.

“We’ve got no f***ing grip” Russell says on the radio, who remains in P6.

Lap 14/56: Hamilton is all over the back of Russell and overtakes him as the Mercedes struggles to get past Ocon and Colapinto in front of him. Hamilton then gets around Ocon to move into P3 and put a car between he and Russell.

Leclerc gets around Lindblad and then overtakes Russell for P5! A good re-start for the Ferraris.

Lap 13/56: The safety car is coming in.

Meanwhile, word on the radio for Verstappen (as we watch a miserable looking Piastri, flanked by an enormous bodyguard, zipping up his jacket on the broadcast) is that his tyres need to last him the rest of the race.

Lap 12/56: Hadjar is back at the tail end of the (remaining) grid after not having the best of second pits – previously forced to come in after his bingle on lap one.

Antonelli leads from Colapinto and Ocon – both of whom are on hard tyres and stayed out there – followed by Russell, Hamitlon, Lindblad, Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Gasly, and Bearman.

The safety car is still out there as Stroll’s stricken Aston Martin is lifted off the track.

Lap 11/56: The safety car sees Antonelli, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc all dive into the pits. The 19-year-old comes back out in first-place but it’s now the Alpine of Colapinto and the Haas of Ocon that round out the podium.

Verstappen, burning a pit stop moments before the safety car, will be steaming.

Confirmation that Stroll is out of the race.

Lap 10/56: Verstappen and Lawson dive into the pits. Two-stopper?

Word from the McLaren garage is that Piastri and Norris both experienced completely different electrical issues to knock them out of the race: a ‘terrible coincidence’.

And woop, Stroll has gone off and a safety car has come out.

Lap 9/56: A despondent Piastri is in a hoodie and walking around the pit lane. He looks absolutely gutted: the Australian crashing into the wall and failing to start in Melbourne and now prevented from starting in Shanghai due to mechanical issues.

Lap 8/56: The Mercedes are opening up a decent gap on Hamilton in third-place, now, with the Brit coming under siege from his teammate Leclerc behind him.

Lap 7/56: Hamilton has been on the radio, letting the Ferrari garage that he simply cannot match the pace of the Mercedes ahead of him.

Lap 6/56: Antonelli, Russell, Hamilton, Leclrec, and Gasly make up the top five, with all on medium tyres. Colapinto and Ocon follow on hard, Lawson in P8 is on mediums, Lindblad behind him on a hard, and Verstappen in P10 is on a soft tyre.

Lap 5/56: For all the chaos of the opening laps, we haven’t required the service of a safety car. Can the Mercedes take advantage to jet away from the pack?

The McLarens are out of the Chinese GP

Lap 4/56: The lights are off out front of the McLaren garage, Norris and Piastri are out of the Chinese GP without completing a single lap!

As we settle into a rhythm, Antonelli leads from Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Gasly, Colapinto, Lawson, Ocon, Verstappen, and Lindblad.

Updated

Lap 3/56: Neither McLaren has emerged from the pits, watching on from the side-lines as Russell turns on the jets on the home straight to blast past Hamilton and take P2.

Lap 2/56: Antonelli blasts past Hamilton and re-takes the lead from Hamilton. Russell moves past Leclerc for third, with Gasly, Colapinto, Lawson, Ocon, Lindblad, and Verstappen rounding out the top ten.

Updated

Lap 1/56: The Ferraris are blistering off the line and Hamilton moves into the lead! Leclerc attacks fiercely too and gets past Russell but Antonelli is just able to hold him off.

A brief yellow flag comes out as Perez goes off at turn three but he’s quick to recover.

Hadjar spins out and brings Bearman out with him, too. There’s action everywhere as Hadjar is told to pit.

wtf, Alonso is up to tenth.

Updated

Lights Out!

We are away in China

Confirmation that Bortoleto is out of the Chinese GP.

Norris and Piastri, meanwhile, are having different issues, per the broadcast. No word on what those issues are.

And now Albon is out of his car… are we down to 18?

Updated

The formation lap has begun, without the McLarens of Piastri and Norris, as well as the Audi of Bortoleto, taking part.

Updated

Piastri, who won here last year, is back in the garage, too! The Australian’s car has been pushed back into the pits, placing it alongside Norris’! What’s happening at McLaren?!?! Are either of them able to start?

Updated

Norris has his driving suit on and is moving as if he’s going to compete but there’s still plenty of doubts surrounding his ability to take part.

Red Bull, meanwhile, are downplaying any issues with Verstappen’s car.

“[Verstappen] is going to be alright, we had a small issue with the rear wing coming to the grid, it has been replaced now,” said Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies.

Updated

What’s going to be the best strategy for today? With the added data drawn from the sprint race yesterday, a one-stopper looks to be the way to go according to Pirelli; going from medium to hards between laps 17 to 23.

Ohh boy, some more issues being worked on ahead of this race, joining the electrical repairs being made to Norris’ McLaren.

On the grid, the engine cover has been taken off the Red Bull of Verstappen, with work underway. Elsewhere, word is that Bortoleto’s Audi has been pushed back into the pits.

Can the Ferraris use their fast starts to steal a march on Mercedes today? The ability of the two cars in red to get out of the blocks is one of the few aspects that the Mercedes aren’t dominating in this new, electrical management era.

Leclerc seized the lead heading into turn one in Melbourne last week and Hamilton frequently exchanged the lead with Russell in the early stages of the sprint race.

Of course, keeping the Mercedes at bay when/if they do take the lead is another matter entirely…

Updated

McLaren aren’t having the most restful of lead-ins to races this season, are they? Norris having issues now, a week on from Piastri putting his car into the wall during the reconnaissance laps ahead of Melbourne.

Before we go on any further, though, perhaps we should check in on Max Verstappen, whose tone throughout the 2026 campaign and its new era of rules and regulations thus far bears some resemblance to that old Onion headline reading “Man Who Thought He’d Lost All Hope Loses Last Additional Bit Of Hope He Didn’t Even Know He Still Had”

After Friday’s practice sessions he said “We have never had anything this bad,” after putting the Red Bull through its paces and his efforts to complete a lap in qualifying yesterday as being about “survival”.

Norris’ McLaren is still in the garage and it now doesn’t have a seat in it: mechanics needing to remove it so they could get a look at the electrics of his car. Some frantic work taking place with just over 20 minutes to lights out.

Russell’s issues in qualifying didn’t prevent him from seeing off challenges from the Ferraris to win the first sprint race of the season. That result left the championship standings looking like this.

  1. George Russell, Mercedes, 33

  2. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 22

  3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 22

  4. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 18

  5. Lando Norris, McLaren, 15

  6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 8

  7. Oliver Bearman, Haas, 7

  8. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls, 4

  9. Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 3

  10. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi, 2

  11. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 2

  12. Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1

  13. Esteban Ocon, Haas

  14. Alexander Albon, Williams

  15. Franco Colapinto, Alpine

  16. Carlos Sainz, Williams

  17. Sergio Perez, Cadillac

  18. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

  19. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi

  20. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

  21. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac

  22. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

So Norris hasn’t come out from the McLaren garage to complete reconnaissance laps of the Shanghai circuit, with word that work is taking place on an electrical issue.

Gremlins in the electrics are becoming something of a theme this weekend, previously striking Russell ahead of Q3 and restricting him to just one, off-tune flying lap.

Updated

The grid in Shanghai

Here’s how they’ll begin in 魔都, the Magic City.

  1. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes

  2. George Russell Mercedes

  3. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari

  4. Charles Leclerc Ferrari

  5. Oscar Piastri McLaren

  6. Lando Norris McLaren

  7. Pierre Gasly Alpine

  8. Max Verstappen Red Bull

  9. Isack Hadjar Red Bull

  10. Oliver Bearman Haas

  11. Nico Hulkenberg Audi

  12. Franco Colapinto Alpine

  13. Esteban Ocon Haas

  14. Liam Lawson Racing Bulls

  15. Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls

  16. Gabriel Bortoleto Audi

  17. Carlos Sainz Wlliams

  18. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin

  19. Valtteri Bottas Cadillac

  20. Lance Stroll Aston Martin

  21. Sergio Perez Cadillac

Alexander Albon and his Williams, which is significantly overweight and been giving he and teammate Sainz fits all season, will start from pit lane after breaking parc ferme rules to make changes to his suspension set-up.

Updated

Significant news has broken already today, of course, after it was confirmed that races scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April will not be going ahead to the ongoing conflict between the United States and Israel, and Iran.

It has been confirmed today that, after careful evaluations, due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East region, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April. While several alternatives were considered, it was ultimately decided that no substitutions will be made in April.

Huh, there’s an interview with Leclerc on the broadcast and, apparently, he was born in the year of the fire ox. This apparently means that extreme success and rapid career progression can come in the year of the fire horse, which 2026 is.

Cool. Just looked it up and I’m a metal goat. Sounds like something you’d make an album about.

Updated

As Giles Richards writes in his report on qualifying, however, Antonelli’s history-making drive wasn’t just a triumph for the youngster but, in addition, some level of vindication from his Mercedes principal, Toto Wolff.

Preamble

Howdy y’all, it’s ya boi Joey Lynch, back to take you through all the action from Shanghai as the 2026 Formula One world championship marks its second race of the campaign.

For the first, but probably not the last time, Kimi Antonelli will start from pole today: the 19-year-old becoming the youngest pole sitter in F1 history after going fastest in his Mercedes yesterday. At 19 years, 6 months, 18 days, he (handily) broke Jensen Button’s record as he topped the grid, the Brit having previously taken the mark when he went fastest in Italy back in 2008, doing so at 21 years, 2 months, 11 days.

Adding a bit of a further thrill for the youngster, he became first Italian to go pole since Giancarlo Fisichella went fastest while driving for Force India but at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. A penny for the thoughts of Ferrari fans that neither of those drives came in red.

Despite a few issues that restricted him to just a single flying lap in Q3, championship favourite George Russell will start alongside Antonelli on the front row of the grid, with the all Mercedes lockout up front mirrored on the second-row, where the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will start, and the third-row, where the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will commence.

Plenty to look forward to, including plenty of rancour as the new era of regulations continues to serve as a major talking point. So let’s get to it.

Lights out at 3pm local/6pm AEDT/7am GMT.

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