The 19-year-old converts his pole position into a historic win to consolidate Mercedes’s hold early in the F1 season.Listen to this articleListen to this article | 3 minsinfoBy AFP and ReutersPublished On 15 Mar 202615 Mar 2026Click here to share on social mediashare2Shareplus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoAn 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 itemsend 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. Advertisement Hamilton, as he had done in Saturday’s sprint, got a great start and had taken the lea …
