The Chinese Grand Prix took place last weekend at the Shanghai Race Hub. Kimi Antonelli started on pole breaking Sebastian Vettel’s record for the youngest driver to achieve a pole position. George Russel started behind him on the front row, with Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top three. Here is a recap of the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix.
DNS’ and DNF’s
The Grand Prix got off to an absurd start with multiple drivers being unable to start the race. This included both Mclaren drivers with Lando Norris being asked to go back to the garage before the race started. Oscar followed shortly afterwards with both suffering different electrical faults to do with the power unit. This means that Oscar has yet to start a race in 2026. Even the safety car has done more laps than him.
Alex Albon also failed to start the race for Williams due to hydraulic issues. Garbriel Bortoleto did not start the race either due to similar issues being reported with his car.
The race was proving to be an interesting one considering four cars were out before they were ever actually in the race. There was a total of three drivers that did not finish the race.
Lance Stroll was the first driver out of the race due to crashing on lap 10. This brought out the safety car. The next retiree was Max Verstappen which was a huge shock to many. He was a slow-moving vehicle and was asked to retire the car on lap 46. Our final retiree of the Grand Prix was Fernando Alonso who reported having no feeling in his hands or legs due to vibrations from the car. Aston Martin will want to solve that issue quickly!
Racing in China
Antonelli did a great job starting from pole— having to fight off two fast starting Ferrari’s couldn’t be easy. Hamilton managed to overtake him in the first lap, but Antonelli quickly gained his position back. Both Ferrari’s stayed behind Kimi but not for long as Russel managed to overtake both and get up to P2 during lap 4.
While all of this was going on the midfield was also getting heated. Perez managed to spin during the first lap and Lindblad had a bit of a moment also. Hadjar went spinning causing Ollie Bearman to quickly swerve to avoid a crash with the Red Bull.
The midfield seemed to be having a great time during the race with Colapinto and Ocon even being P2 and P3 after the safety car. Colapinto ended the race in P10 achieving his first point this season. Other midfielders gaining points included Sainz, Lawson, Gasly and Bearman.
Honourable mention to Ferrari for providing an exciting and clean battle between their drivers.
First win
The race concluded with Kimi Antonelli achieving his first win in Formula one. It was a 1-2 finish for Mercedes as George Russel finished second with Lewis Hamilton rounding up the top 3.
This was a very special moment for Kimi Antonelli who was absolutely ecstatic and some tears of happiness were shared. Many would agree the win was well deserved after his performance in the race. Winning your first race at only nineteen is a huge accomplishment.
He was joined on the podium by his race engineer Bono who used to be Hamilton’s race engineer. This was a heartwarming moment to witness since it was Hamilton’s first podium for Ferrari as well.
Featured image credits: Liauzh via Wikimedia
