Chinese Grand Prix was won by Kimi Antonelli ahead of George Russell, with Lewis Hamilton completing the podium and securing his first podium finish with Scuderia Ferrari.
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| Photo: Lars Baron |
Formula One moved from Australian Grand Prix to China for the second race of the season and also the first sprint weekend of the year. Mercedes continued their strong form from Melbourne and further strengthened their position at the front of the field. However, this time it was not Russell who took the top step of the podium, but Antonelli.
The sprint part of the weekend did not go particularly well for Antonelli. In the sprint race he dropped from second place right after the start and finished only fifth. But he shone in the second part of the weekend, as he secured his first-ever pole position in qualifying, surpassing Sebastian Vettel as the youngest pole-sitter in Formula 1 history. Another major milestone came in the main race, where he became the first Italian driver to win a Grand Prix in twenty years. The last Italian to achieve this was Giancarlo Fisichella.
"I'm speechless. I'm about to cry to be honest but thank you so much to my team because they helped me to achieve this dream. I'm super happy. I said yesterday I really wanted to bring Italy back on top and we did today," Kimi said after the race.
A big moment was also experienced by Hamilton, who returned to the podium after a very difficult previous season. The last time he stood on the podium was still as a Mercedes driver at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. However, he did not have it easy, as he spent much of the race battling with his teammate Charles Leclerc.
"We've got a lot of work to do to try and keep up but I had so much fun. It's one of the most enjoyable races that I've had in a long, long time, if ever. The fact that the cars are the way they are this year and that battle with Charles at the end was awesome, great wheel-to-wheel battle, very fair and just what we want," Lewis said after the race.
For McLaren, it was the complete opposite of a successful weekend. Neither of their drivers started the race due to technical problems. In fact, Oscar Piastri has not started either of the first two races of the season so far. For the reigning world champions, it is a very bitter start to the year.
Red Bull is also struggling. Since Australia, Max Verstappen has been openly criticizing the new regulations and has been fighting hard with the car on track. He eventually failed to finish the race due to technical issues.
On the other hand, Oliver Bearman from Haas F1 Team deserves great credit after finishing in an impressive fifth place.
Formula 1 now moves from China to Japan, where the third race of the season will take place in two weeks at the legendary Suzuka Circuit.
