SHANGHAI — Kimi Antonelli claimed his maiden Formula 1 victory in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old Mercedes driver beat his teammate, George Russell, to the finish.
Having become the youngest Grand Prix polesitter on Saturday, Antonelli was only briefly headed at the start of Sunday’s race, losing the lead to Lewis Hamilton who got the jump on both Mercedes aboard his Ferrari.
Retaking the lead before the end of the second lap, the 19-year-old Italian was never headed again, retaining first after his only pit stop under the sole Safety Car period early in proceedings.
Despite a nervous moment after running deep at the Turn 14 hairpin with four laps remaining, Antonelli finished 5.5 seconds clear of Russell to become the second youngest winner of a Grand Prix.
“I’m speechless,” Antonelli said. “I’m about to cry, to be honest. 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, even though I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with the flat-spot. It was a good race.”
Russell, who had won Saturday’s Sprint, fought back to second having found himself behind the squabbling Ferraris at the mid-point of the race after struggling for grip on the Safety Car restart, the Briton still in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship.
Hamilton took his first rostrum for Ferrari in a Grand Prix at the same venue where he claimed his only victory last season in the China Sprint 12 months ago.
Best of the rest was Ollie Bearman for Haas, who came fifth having had to take avoiding action on the opening lap as Isack Hadjar spun through the long right-hander of Turn 13.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly claimed points for the second weekend in a row with P6, from the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Hadjar (Red Bull), as the top 10 was completed by Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Franco Colapinto.