Andrea Kimi Antonelli dominated the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix to claim his maiden victory in F1.
Antonelli lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton initially off the line but repassed the Brit for the lead at Turn 14 on Lap 2 and proceeded to cruise to his maiden F1 victory unchallenged, which saw him become the first Italian winner in F1 since Giancarlo Fisichella at 2006 Malaysian GP.
Speaking post-race about his maiden win in F1, Antonelli paid tribute to Mercedes and family for their support in allowing him to become a winner.
“This win is a fulfilment of one of the dreams I’ve had ever since I first drove a go-kart. I want to say thank you to my amazing family and the incredible team at both Lauda Drive and Morgan Drive.
“I couldn’t have done this without any of them, and it means so much to take my first victory in F1. It was a very special moment for all of us.”
George Russell completed Mercedes’ one-two finish with a Lap 29 pass on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who eventually finished fourth behind Hamilton, as the latter returned to the podium for the first time since he finished second at the 2024 Las Vegas GP.
Oliver Bearman recovered from a wide moment on the first lap to avoid Isack Hadjar’s spinning Red Bull to finish fifth ahead of; Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar, Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both failed to even start the race due to power unit issues alongside Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, whilst a hydraulic issue kept Williams’ Alex Albon out of the race.
Russell retained his lead of the drivers’ standings but Antonelli cut his deficit to his own teammate down to just four points, with Leclerc, Hamilton and Bearman completing the top five.
Antonelli made a clean start but couldn’t hold off a powerful start from Hamilton as the seven-time champion took the lead, but the Italian repassed his Mercedes precedessor into Turn 14 on Lap 2 for the lead.
Isack Hadjar meanwhile spun at Turn 13 as he tried to pass Bearman for eighth which ruined his race and forced the Brit wide, which left Bearman 13th in the order upon rejoining the track.
Just behind Antonelli and Hamilton, Russell slipped to fourth behind Leclerc but managed to recover two positions on his Ferrari rivals by the end of Lap 4 for second.
The order soon settled into a holding pattern until the safety car was deployed on Lap 10 after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll spun at Turn 1 with a later suspected battery-related issue, which triggered a wave of pit stops.
Colapinto, Ocon, Lindblad, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez however stayed out on the hard tyres, with Colapinto and Ocon elevated to the podium positions in second and third behind Antonelli.
Racing resumed on Lap 14 and Hamilton swiftly cleared Russell then Ocon for third on the restart, before he then passed Colapinto into Turn 8 a lap later to take second.
Leclerc that same lap cleared Ocon for fourth which became third a lap later with a pass on Colapinto who had stayed out on the hard tyres.
Up front, Hamilton launched a futile attack to try and catch Antonelli which cost him rear tyre grip as Leclerc passes him into Turn 14 on Lap 24 for second.
Hamilton however repassed the Monegasque two laps later, only for Leclerc to repass him a further lap later as the pair squabbled over position, which allowed Russell to pass Hamilton for third at Turn 14.
Russell then cleared Leclerc for second on Lap 29 which left Mercedes free to cruise to another one-two finish as Antonelli became the second-youngest Grand Prix winner in F1 behind Max Verstappen.
Hamilton meanwhile pounced on a deep-braking moment from Leclerc at Turn 14 on Lap 35 but was repassed four laps later, but he had enough battery power to pass Leclerc on the inside of Turn 1 at the start of the next lap to retake third which he held to the checkered flag.
F1 now heads to Japan for the third round of the season from 27-29 March, ahead of a five-week break due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix in April because of the Middle East war.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 56 | 56 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | 56 | + 5.515 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 56 | + 25.267 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | + 28.894 |
| 5 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 56 | + 57.268 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 56 | + 59.647 |
| 7 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 56 | + 80.588 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 56 | + 87.247 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 55 | + 1 Lap |
| 10 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 56 | + 1 Lap |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 55 | + 1 Lap |
| 12 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 55 | + 1 Lap |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 55 | + 1 Lap |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 55 | + 1 Lap |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 55 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 46 | Power |
| RET | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 33 | Vibrations |
| RET | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 9 | Spin |
| DNS | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 0 | Power Unit |
| DNS | Lando Norris | McLaren | 0 | Power Unit |
| DNS | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 0 | Mechanical |
| DNS | Alex Albon | Williams | 0 | Hydraulic |