Kimihika Sizzles in F1, Surprises Fans and Pros with a Thrilling Victory!
Mercedes and Ferrari stay at the top of the field for the second straight weekend, but with their drivers flipped, bringing us a new second youngest GP winner in Kimi Antonelli and a first for Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli Wins 1st GP, Hamilton Gets 1st Ferrari Podium HECTOR RETAMAL - Getty Images Kimi Antonelli's route to his first career Grand Prix victory was made easier when his teammate George Russell made a mistake on the lap 14 restart of the Chinese Grand Prix Sunday afternoon. Antonelli led every lap of the Chinese Grand Prix thanks to the early VSC, turning the race into a one-stop for most of the contenders, with the Ferraris fiercely racing each other. Russell fell to fifth on the lap 14 restart caused by the lap 11 spin of Lance Stroll, putting him in a position to battle his way back up from fifth to finish the race where he started in second, ahead of the two Ferraris.
This is the second week in a row in which the Mercedes finished 1-2, and the Ferraris followed in 3-4, this time with the drivers switched. With Lewis Hamilton finishing ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc, Hamilton earned his first podium in a Grand Prix for Ferrari at the same circuit he grabbed his first Sprint win for the Italian team last season. The two Ferraris spent the race battling each other, switching positions in a fight for as high as P2.
Their battle around the midpoint of the race, while thrilling, was a double-edged sword, as it allowed Antonelli to pull out to more than an eight-second lead, while Russell caught them and ultimately passed them both for second. Only 15 of 22 cars finished the race, with four failing to start, including both McLarens , which were found with different problems shortly before lights out. Alpine and Haas were the class of the midfield today, running both drivers in the points for the majority of the race.
Oliver Bearman was the biggest winner of the two manufacturers, finishing fifth ahead of Racing Bulls Liam Lawson. Lawson saw himself in trouble early as he and Max Verstappen pitted right before the VSC came out for Stroll, gifting the rest of the field the chance at an eight-second quicker pit stop. With the majority of the field following either an early or late one-stop strategy, Lawson's early loss was easy to make up.