kmy antonelli He enters the world championship battle after becoming the second youngest winner in Formula 1 history with victory in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix – as Lewis Hamilton First podium of his Ferrari career.
Antonelli produced a composed drive to take away pole position at the Shanghai International Circuit at the age of 19 years and 202 days. sebastian vettel Enter the all-time list and the record books behind only max verstappen.
“I’m speechless. Honestly, I feel like crying,” said an emotional Antonelli. “I said yesterday that I really want to bring Italy back to the top, and I did it today. In the end I had a heart attack, but it was a good race.”
george russell Finished runner-up, 5.5 seconds behind his Mercedes teammate – a result that would serve as a warning to the British driver not to have everything his own way in his bid for his first world crown.
Behind the all-conquering Silver Arrows, Hamilton, who briefly led, finished third after a fascinating duel charles leclerc In the second scarlet car, to end a 477-day wait for a podium and in his first car in Ferrari colours.
20-year-old British driver Ollie Bearman impressed to finish fifth for Haas.
world champion lando norris‘The afternoon was over before it even started as he was out of the race due to an electrical problem.
A nightmare day for McLaren, oscar piastri Also failed to participate in the race due to a mechanical problem. After him, even Verstappen could not reach the checkered flag. broke down From sixth position with 10 laps remaining.
Antonelli took advantage of Russell’s gearbox failure in qualifying to take his first pole.
Hamilton started third, but he overtook both Antonelli and Russell at the first corner in his fast-starting Ferrari.
Hamilton’s lead did not last long and Antonelli overtook the seven-time world champion on the next lap, before Hamilton soon dropped to third when Russell overtook him.
But the face of the race changed on lap 10 when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin broke down. Out came the safety car, and the leaders came in for fresh tyres.
The safety car opened at the end of lap 13. Antonelli was leading and never looked back, while Hamilton turned back the years as he danced through the field, overtaking Russell before passing Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto, both drivers on older rubber, and taking second place.
Antonelli was Hamilton’s next target, but it wasn’t long before he was looking backwards rather than forwards. Hamilton was demanding more power from his Ferrari engine, and a few moments later, Leclerc overtook him.
At the start of lap 25, the scarlet cars passed each other side-by-side through the starting turn. Leclerc held the position, but Russell had now joined the fight. Over the next two laps, Hamilton and Leclerc swapped positions three times in a breathless duel, and it would be the Monegasque who would hold on to second place.
Indeed, Hamilton was suddenly fourth, Russell had overtaken him, and then two laps later the Mercedes man had passed Leclerc. Antonelli was 7.6 seconds ahead – too large a gap for Russell to bridge.
So the focus turned back to Ferrari and the battle for the final spot on the podium. Hamilton called on Ferrari to “give me something”, complaining about the lack of battery power. However, on lap 35, he had squeezed enough juice from his machine to overtake Leclerc.
Hamilton tried to keep Leclerc at bay, but the scarlet yo-yoing continued and Hamilton dropped to third on lap 39, but he moved into the lead again at the start of the next lap.
“It really is quite a fun battle,” Leclerc said, but it was Hamilton who would have the last laugh as he finished third to secure his first podium finish since the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 23, 2024.
Antonelli had a heart-touching moment when he accelerated at the last corner with three laps remaining and lost two seconds. But the Italian teen kept his courage up to take the loot.
Antonelli told his team: “You made me achieve one of my dreams. Thank you.”
