Sport and Health

Antonelli wins. Mercedes confirms its position. Ferrari returns to the forefront.

17 March 2026

Curated by Andreas Grandi

A nineteen-year-old from Bologna takes his first Formula 1 victory in Shanghai—twenty years after the last triumph by an Italian driver. Hamilton finally steps onto the podium with Ferrari. The conflict in the Middle East cancels two races from the calendar.

Formula 1 in Shanghai Kimi Antonelli, 19 years old, from Bologna, won the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix Sunday, March 15th, at the Shanghai circuit. At the end of the race, Antonelli was visibly moved: "I'm speechless. I've always hoped to bring Italy back to the podium, and today I achieved it."

It is worth remembering that the last Italian driver to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix was Giancarlo Fisichella, in Bahrain, in April 2006.

But back to Shanghai. In second place is his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, 5,515 seconds behind.

Third is Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari, who reached the podium for the first time — after 25 races with the Maranello team.

Fourth is Charles Leclerc, also in a Ferrari, 28,894 seconds behind the winner.

Shanghai's daily news

For some teams, the problems began before they even started. Both the McLarens of Norris and Piastri, as well as Bortoleto's Audi and Albon's Williams, remained in the pits.

The race therefore started with only fifteen of the twenty registered cars.

Starting from third place, Hamilton immediately took the lead, overtaking both Mercedes cars on the first lap.

Ma Antonelli, the youngest polesitter in the history of Formula 1 (19 years and 202 days), recovered the deficit on the British baronet and then continued with his Mercedes to victory.

Following the retirement of Lance Stroll's Aston Martin, the Safety Car was deployed in Shanghai, the car race officials deploy to slow down the field and allow the marshals to intervene without stopping the race.

Formula 1 in Shanghai Ferrari took advantage of this to call both of its drivers into the pits: first Leclerc, immediately after Hamilton.

While this strategy allowed Russell to gain an advantage over Hamilton, it also started a duel for third place between the two Ferrari champions, Hamilton and Leclerc.

We also remember Max Verstappen's race. It ended on lap 45 when the ERS—Energy Recovery System, the electrical architecture that manages the accumulation and distribution of hybrid power—in his Red Bull suffered a cooling system failure, forcing the Dutch champion to retire.

Chinese GP results — the quartet of winners

Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
George Russell (Mercedes) — +5.515 sec.
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — +25.267 sec.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) — +28.894 sec.

Changes to the 2026 season calendar

On the occasion of the Chinese GP, Formula 1 announced the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix (10-12 April) and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (17-19 April).

Neither of these two matches will be made up.

The F1 2026 event schedule therefore drops from 24 to 22 races.

Indeed, the hostilities that erupted in the Gulf region on February 28 make it impossible to guarantee the security and logistics necessary to organize a Formula 1 event.

The 2026 championship calendar is about to enter a five-week break between the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka (27-29 March) and the one in Miami (1-3 May).

At the moment, no announcements are planned for the Qatar GP (November 29) and Abu Dhabi GP (December 6).