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Antonelli issued an emotional first response after winning his first-ever Formula 1 grand prix in China
Motorsport photo Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was left "speechless" as he broke down in tears after claiming his maiden Formula 1 win at the Chinese Grand Prix, and recounted a hair-raising off-track excursion towards the end of the race. Fresh from being F1's youngest-ever grand prix polesitter, Antonelli emerged victorious from a long battle between Mercedes and Ferrari at the Shanghai International Circuit, reclaiming his lead after an early challenge from the fast-starting Ferraris. Read Also: F1 Chinese GP: Kimi Antonelli takes maiden win as Lewis Hamilton scores first Ferrari podium Mercedes' true pace advantage emerged towards the latter half of the race on worn tyres and Antonelli was able to cruise to a win while team-mate Russell first had to dispatch Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc .
Antonelli brought his car home five seconds ahead of Russell to claim his maiden grand prix win and was overcome with emotion after the finish. "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," the 19-year-old said before breaking down in tears.
“I'm super happy. I said yesterday I really wanted to bring Italy back on top and we did today. " Antonelli survived a late scare when he locked his tyres at the hairpin and went straight on, costing him several seconds on Russell.
The Italian had been pushing on old tyres before that, with his lock-up a reminder to dial things down and just bring the car home, as his race engineer suggested. "I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with a flat spot," Antonelli acknowledged. "But it was a good race.