Kimi Antonelli won the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday, March 15, leading a Mercedes one-two to take his first career Formula 1 win at the age of 19.
Antonelli started from pole position and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton at the start before regaining it and dominating the race to the finish. The result makes him the second youngest race winner in Formula 1 history, behind Max Verstappen, who was 18 when he won his first race with Red Bull in 2016.
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It is Mercedes’ second consecutive 1-2 finish to open the 2026 season, with Antonelli’s team-mate George Russell finishing second after battling both Ferraris in the closing stages. Hamilton claimed third place on the podium in his first season with Ferrari since leaving Mercedes.
McLaren went to the sidelines
Reigning world champion Lando Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri both missed the start after McLaren identified separate technical problems with their cars in the minutes before the race.
Piastri was taken off the grid after a radio report indicated an electrical problem. Norris did not leave the pits at all, he should have started sixth. “Unfortunately, we identified separate issues with both cars that prevented them from starting at the Chinese GP,” McLaren said.
It is the second time Piastri has failed to start a race in 2026, having crashed before the start in Australia last week. Norris, the defending world champion, now faces an early deficit in the championship standings.
Races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were cancelled
Formula 1 confirmed on Sunday that next month’s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not go ahead due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The announcement came hours before the checkered flag in Shanghai.
The cancellations throw the rest of the 2026 calendar into uncertainty, with the sport yet to confirm whether alternative dates or venues will be sought.
(more to follow)
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Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
15 March 2026 14:38 IST
