Mercedes prodigy Kimi Antonelli has won the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix after a commanding driver with teammate George Russell finishing in second.
After a tight battle between teammates, Lewis Hamilton snatched a podium finish with Charles Leclerc in fourth.
It’s easy to forget Mercedes racer Kimi Antonelli is still only 19 years old.Credit: Getty Images
The two Ferrari drivers gave the sold-out Shanghai crowd their money’s worth, with some sensational overtakes throughout the race, with the seven-time world champion ultimately victorious and claiming his first GP podium with Ferrari.
However, it was a disastrous day for McLaren, with both cars ruled out of the Chinese Grand Prix before the race even started, with McLaren identifying electrical issues with the cars.
“Unfortunately, we identified separate issues on both cars which prevented them from starting the Chinese GP, with Oscar’s being removed from the grid shortly before the formation lap,” the team said on social media.
After the race, Lando Norris faced the media and said the team realised there was an issue “about an hour” before the race.
“They [the team] know it’s an issue we can’t fix for now, and they need to look further in to it,” Norris said.
Lando Norris watches on Credit: AP
The race had several causalities, with seven drivers retiring before or during the race.
Besides the double McLaren DNS (Did not start), Williams driver Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto were also unable to start.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll stalled earlier and Fernando Alonso retired, citing vibration problems with the car. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was forced to retire his car after electronics issues.
