2026 Chinese Grand Prix Race Review

Linus O'Howell
2 hours ago
4 min read

Antonelli Storms to Maiden Formula 1 Victory in China

History was made today as Andrea Kimi Antonelli became only the second teenager to ever win a Formula 1 Grand Prix with a statement victory in China! George Russell was forced to settle for second, completing another Mercedes 1-2, whilst Lewis Hamilton rounded out the Podium with his first for Ferrari!

The Biggest Talking Points

Before the Race even began, 4 drivers were already out, with Alex Albon, Gabriel Bortoleto, and the two McLarens all failing to make the start due to a number of issues! This was a particular disaster for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with the latter still yet to start a Grand Prix in 2026! Anyway, when the 5 lights went out, it was once again the Ferraris who got off the line better, with Lewis Hamilton leading into Turn 1 as George Russell dropped down to 4th! Whilst Ferrari started well, Red Bull did not, as Max Verstappen once again bogged down at the start, whilst Isack Hadjar went spinning off the track after battling Oliver Bearman! Rather unceremoniously, the two Mercedes blasted their way past both Ferraris to move into first and second respectively, with Andrea Kimi Antonell trying his best to keep Russell out of the 1-second zone! A Safety Car was then called on Lap 9 for the stricken Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, resulting in all of the top drivers coming in early! However, this played perfectly into Kimi Antonelli’s hands, with Russell, Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc all getting stuck in traffic as Franco Colapinto found himself running second (with Esteban Ocon behind in third)!

When the Race got back underway, Antonelli was able to pull away out in front as Russell dropped behind both Ferraris! This proved to be a killer for George, as the Brit took far too long to pass both Lewis and Charles to the point that he never had enough time to catch his teammate! Anyway, what we did get was a great battle between the two Ferraris, with Hamilton and Leclerc again coming close to making contact on numerous occasions! Further down the field, Arvid Lindblad was having a few troubles in his second Grand Prix, whilst Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto came together down at Turn 2/3! Max Verstappen, who was being caught by Pierre Gasly, never got a chance to defend his position as his car failed on him; another terrible session for the 4-time World Champion! The rest of the Race was then filled with pretty large gaps, with a mistake by Kimi Antonelli not being enough to cost him the win, but I did keep an eye on Cadillac to make sure that both drivers finished the Race (after Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez came together on the opening lap)!

The Standout Drives in the Race

I’ve actually only given out two 10’s for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, but the first one is obviously for Andrea Kimi Antonelli! I think we all knew that it was only a matter of time before Kimi Antonelli earned his first Formula 1 victory, but I’m not sure many of us (including Toto Wolff) thought it would happen this early into year 2! I also want to highlight Kimi’s Qualifying from yesterday even more, because him taking advantage of his teammates’ struggles put him in the position to be ahead of Colapinto and Ocon today (when the Safety Car came out)! Anyway, the other driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Oliver Bearman, and once again, what a cracking job from Ollie to finish as best of the rest! P5 for Haas; amazing! Lewis Hamilton also deserves a shoutout for finally appearing on the Podium for Ferrari, whilst as great as he did, I couldn’t quite give Pierre Gasly a Perfect 10 due to the fact that his overtaking struggles following the Safety Car restart cost him P5! Both Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz also did great jobs to score good points for Racing Bulls and Williams respectively, whilst congrats to Franco Colapinto on scoring his first point for Alpine!

Drivers Who Had a Shocker

My generous side from last year has clearly carried over for another year as I haven’t given a single 1 for today’s Race, mostly because no one was absolutely awful (and loads of people didn’t even start the Race)! However, I will say that Arvid Lindblad made one too many mistakes for my liking, whilst Esteban Ocon cost himself a good points finish by crashing into Colapinto! As for teams, Aston Martin continue to be a hazard for both themselves and everyone else, whilst McLaren having a double DNS is pretty shambolic!