Andrea Kimi Antonelli made history as he topped Qualifying for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, to become the youngest GP pole-sitter in F1.
Antonelli had already become F1’s youngest pole-sitter in any format after he took pole for the Miami Sprint in May 2025 in his rookie season, but the Italian at 19 years, six months and 17 days is now the youngest pole-sitter for a Grand Prix after he topped Qualifying.
The Italian youngster in just his second F1 season is joined on the front row by his teammate, George Russell, whilst Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc qualified on the second row for Ferrari.
Q1
Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas was first on track and laid 1m 36.968 as the initial benchmark time which was quickly usurped by several drivers, with Russell setting the pace on 1m 33.262 once everyone set a lap time.
Alex Albon, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Bottas, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez meanwhile found themselves in the bottom six, but Hamilton swiftly moved himself up the order and dropped Williams’ Carlos Sainz into the elimination zone.
As the checkered flag fell, the elimination order didn’t change as Sainz and Albon qualified 17th and 18th respectively, ahead of; Alonso, Bottas, Stroll and Perez.
Leclerc meanwhile topped Q1 with 1m 33.175 from Russell.
Q2
Antonelli was first out on track and set 1m 32.950 as the initial benchmark but his Mercedes teammate, Russell posted 1m 32.523 to set the pace at the end of the opening runs.
Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and Gabriel Bortoleto found themselves in the elimination zone, and none escaped as Hulkenberg fell 0.002 seconds shy of tenth-placed Isack Hadjar and Colapinto improved to 12th but a further 0.003s behind the German.
Ocon qualified 13th ahead of Lawson, Lindblad and Bortoleto who spun on entry into the final corner to ruin his and Lindblad’s final laps.
Antonelli meanwhile topped Q2 with 1m 32.443 from Leclerc by 0.043s, with Russell a further 0.037s behind the Monegasque.
Q3
Antonelli and Russell were first on track but the latter grinded to a halt on the inside of Turn 3 with no battery, but he was quickly able to get his car restarted in cruise mode to crawl back to the pit lane.
Antonelli meanwhile proceeded to set 1m 32.322 as the benchmark time from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris who managed to hook together their laps to displace Ferrari as Mercedes’ nearest challengers for pole, as Leclerc and Hamilton found themselves fourth and fifth.
Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, Oliver Bearman, Pierre Gasly and Russell filled the rest of the top ten, although Russell hadn’t set a lap time.
Once the checkered flag fell, Antonelli extended his lead to 1m 32.064 which nobody could beat, as Russell recovered to qualify second in a Mercedes front-row lockout, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc who locked out the second row for Ferrari.
McLaren locked out the third row as Piastri qualified fifth ahead of Norris, whilst Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen, Hadjar and Oliver Bearman rounded out the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1m 32.064 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.222 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.351 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.364 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.486 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.544 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.809 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.938 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | + 1.057 |
| 10 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.228 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1m 33.354 |
| 12 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.003 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.184 |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.411 |
| 15 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 0.430 |
| 16 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 0.611 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1m 34.317 |
| 18 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.455 |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.886 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 1.119 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.678 |
| 22 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 2.589 |
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