All posts tagged: shanghai international circuit

Teen sensation Kimi Antonelli emotional after maiden F1 win at Chinese GP

Teen sensation Kimi Antonelli emotional after maiden F1 win at Chinese GP

Published by Webster

3 min readMar 15, 2026 06:41 PM IST 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli became the second-youngest driver in the history of sport to win a Formula One race as he led Championship-leading teammate George Russell in a Mercedes one-two finish in the Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in Shanghai on Sunday. The Italian is now the second teenager ever to win a Formula One race, and the second-youngest after the four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who claimed his first victory with Red Bull at the age of 18 in 2016. An emotional Antonelli struggled to hold back tears after securing his maiden F1 win. “I’m speechless. I’m about to cry, to be honest,” he said in his first interview as a race winner. “Thank you everyone. Thank you so much. You made me achieve one of my dreams,” he added over the team radio after taking the chequered flag. Antonelli, who joined Mercedes’ junior program at just 11 years old, has vindicated team principal Toto Wolff’s decision to replace all-time great Lewis Hamilton with the young …

Max Verstappen Wins Chinese Grand Prix To Extend Title Grip

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Max Verstappen rounded off a dominant weekend with victory in the first Chinese Grand Prix for five years on Sunday to extend his world championship lead a day after romping to sprint victory. The three-time world champion controlled the race on its return to the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time since 2019 to finish 13.7 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez third. He was only denied a 100 percent points-scoring weekend when Fernando Alonso picked up the bonus for the fastest lap around the 5.451 kilometre track on the outskirts of the Chinese megacity after a late switch to fresh tyres. It was another all-conquering display from Verstappen, who won his fourth grand prix this season to add to his sprint victory. Only a rare brake failure in Melbourne denied Verstappen the chance of a clean sweep in all five races in 2024, as he marches inexorably towards a fourth consecutive world title. “It felt amazing, all weekend we were incredibly quick,” said Verstappen, who recorded his …

Max Verstappen Blasts Past Lewis Hamilton To Win Chinese GP Sprint

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Max Verstappen overcame early electrical gremlins to blast from fourth on the grid to an emphatic victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race Saturday, 13 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman charged past the seven-time world champion Hamilton’s Mercedes on lap nine of the 19-lap dash. Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez was third after a thrilling battle with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. “The first few laps were hectic,” said Verstappen after claiming the eight points on offer for the winner of the first sprint of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit. “The wind is changing a lot which makes it difficult to drive. “Once we sorted (the battery) out we were OK,” Verstappen added as he extended his championship lead to 25 points over Perez. Leclerc and Sainz ended up fourth and fifth after swapping places numerous times in the dramatic tussle for the minor places with Perez and Alonso. Aston Martin’s Alonso came out worst as he went wheel-to-wheel …

‘All-Or-Nothing’ Lando Norris Takes Sprint Pole In Rain Chaos At Chinese GP

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A fearless “all or nothing” lap from McLaren’s Lando Norris in wet and wild conditions Friday denied Lewis Hamilton pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race. Hamilton thought he had claimed Shanghai pole in his Mercedes when Norris’s lap of 1min 57.940sec on intermediate wet tyres was deleted for exceeding track limits, only to be dramatically reinstated a minute later. Fernando Alonso in an Aston Martin showed his experience and guile to come third in the treacherous conditions with championship leader Max Verstappen fourth. It was a second career sprint pole for Norris. “It was tricky, you are always nervous going into a session like this,” said the Englishman. “You just have to risk a lot, push and build tyre temperature and what not. “You only get three laps. The first two I aborted on both, so it was all or nothing.” Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez was sixth, splitting the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who survived a big spin. “It was just like driving on ice,” said Verstappen, …