Antonelli claims maiden F1 victory in China ahead of Russell and Hamilton

Mercedes Kimi Antonelli claims his maiden victory in the sport after a mature drive to win the Chinese Grand Prix ahead of team-mate George Russell and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

Rhonan Colquhoun 9:58am 15th March 2026

Antonelli, who claimed his maiden Pole Position yesterday, initially lost the lead to the fast-starting Hamilton but was able to swiftly re-overtake the Seven Time World Champion and never looked back building up a comfortable buffer in the lead.

A LONG WAIT: Antonelli stands on the top step of the podium for the first time and is the first Italian to do so since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2006 - a total of 7302 days ago

A late scare of a lock-up in the penultimate corner with a few laps to go didn't trouble the young Italian who was visibly emotional during the post-race interviews who was overcome by the extent of what he had just achieved.

I'm speechless. Thank you so much to my team, because they helped me to achieve this dream."

After being jumped by both Ferrari's of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the start, Russell patiently waited for the right opportunity to get back-past and secure yet another one-two finish for Mercedes.

Hamilton rounded out the podium to claim his first podium as a Ferrari driver after an hair-raising and tense, but enjoyable, battle with team-mate Leclerc as the two battled hard.

Only 18 out of the 22 drivers started the race with four drivers - the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto and Williams' Alexander Albon - all failing to start the race due to electrical and technical issues.

An early Safety Car was triggered by the retirement of Lance Stroll who parked his Aston Martin on track which forced the drivers who started on the Medium tyre to pit earlier than expected with most unsure if they'd be able to get to the end of the race on the more durable Hard tyres.

Haas's Oliver Bearman claimed fifth with a brilliant drive after a long-battle with team-mate Esteban Ocon and the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto off the Safety Car restart.

Gasly would finish behind Bearman in sixth with Racing Bull's Liam Lawson narrowly finished ahead of the sole Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.

Max Verstappen was set to finish the race in sixth place before his Red Bull developed an issue with just 10 laps remaining in what has been a difficult weekend for the Dutchman and his team.

Williams' Carlos Sainz Jr held onto ninth place to secure his and Williams' first points of the year but the Spaniard was put under late pressure after a late-charge from Alpine's Colapinto.

Colapinto, who had been spun round by Ocon as both drivers battled for position during the halfway mark in the race, claimed the final point in tenth.

Audi's Nico Hulkenberg finished just outside the points in 11th and was followed by Racing Bull's Arvid Lindblad who had suffered a spin of his own at Turn 14.

Ocon, who took responsibility for the incident with Colapinto, was given a 10 second time penalty and finished the race sandwiched between the two Cadillac drivers with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez in 13th, 14th and 15th.

Fernando Alonso was another driver not to see the chequered flag with the Spaniard retiring his Aston Martin as the vibrations became too intense for him to continue.

Antonelli's victory reduces the deficit to Championship leader Russell with just four points separating the two Mercedes drivers. Leclerc remains the closest challenger but only one point ahead of Ferrari team-mate Hamilton whilst excellent results mean that Bearman completes the top five.

15 out of the 22 drivers have now scored a single point while in the Constructors Championship, only Aston Martin and Cadillac are yet to score. Mercedes, on 98 points, hold a 31 point advantage over Ferrari with McLaren still occupying third.