A tearful Kimi Antonelli celebrated a breakthrough first win of his Formula 1 career on Sunday after leading championship-leading teammate George Russell in a Mercedes one-two in China from pole position.
The 19-year-old Italian driver became the second-youngest race winner in the sport's history after four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who took his first victory with Red Bull at 18 in 2016.
Lewis Hamilton finished a distant third, the seven-times world champion's first podium since he joined Ferrari last year and first since Las Vegas 2024, with teammate Charles Leclerc fourth after a lively battle between the two.
McLaren's reigning world champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri both failed to start due to problems with their cars.
"Thank you everyone. Thank you so much. You made me achieve one of my dreams," said Antonelli over the radio after taking the checkered 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 before finishing 5.515 clear. It was Mercedes' second successive one-two in two grands prix after Russell led Antonelli in the Australian opener last weekend.
Russell, who won the Saturday sprint with Antonelli fifth, saw his championship lead cut to four points from 11, with the Briton on 51 to Antonelli's 47 with Leclerc third on 34 and Hamilton 33.
"I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with the flat spot [on his tires]," said Antonelli, the first Italian winner since Giancarlo Fisichella for Renault in Malaysia in 2006.
"It was a good race." Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali congratulated his compatriot, who was the youngest driver to start a full grand prix on pole, before the podium celebrations and the playing of the Italian national anthem.
Oliver Bearman was fifth for Haas ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson. Isack Hadjar took eighth for Red Bull, after teammate Verstappen retired from the race, with Carlos Sainz ninth for Williams and Franco Colapinto finally back in the points for Alpine in 10th after failing to score last year.
The race started with just 18 cars and both McLarens in the team garages. Norris' problem was detected well before the start but Australian Piastri, who has yet to complete a race lap this season after crashing on his way to the grid in Melbourne, was wheeled off.
REUTERS
