Kimi Antonelli became the second youngest driver to win a Formula 1 race as he sailed to victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.
There were already issues for some drivers before the race had even started as Bortoleto, Albon, Piastri and Norris all would fail to take part each due to their own separate mechanical issues, with this being the first time that McLaren had suffered a double DNS since the 2005 United States Grand Prix.
With 18 drivers lining up for the starting lights, Ferrari would once again make good use of their advantage at race starts as Hamilton launched into the lead going into turn 1, while Leclerc climbed into 3rd between Antonelli and Russell.
Further back, Verstappen bogged down on his race start, falling outside of the points paying positions in the process, while Hadjar had to pit at the end of the first lap after contact while battling Bearman.
Alpine saw themselves have a successful first lap too, with Gasly and Colapinto occupying 5th and 6th respectively throughout the early portion of the race, with Colapinto seeking his first points in F1 since 2024.
The Mercedes cars would start to make their way back past their Ferrari competitors on lap 3, as Antonelli would overtake Hamilton to regain the lead while Russell would pass Leclerc for third, before then overtaking Hamilton just moments later.
The Mercedes drivers would begin to slowly pull away at the front of the pack until lap 10 when Lance Stroll would park his Aston Martin on the outside of turn 1, which would bring out a safety car.
Differing tyre strategies meant that some drivers were out of order, with the likes of Colapinto and Ocon, who each started on hard tyres, briefly finding their way into 2nd and 3rd place respectively as the leaders on mediums pitted for new tyres, some having to double stack.
When racing resumed it was clear that the Ferrari drivers were able to heat their new hard tyres up than their competitors, and Hamilton was able to quickly dispatch Colapinto and Ocon to reclaim second place, while Leclerc would overtake Russell before they each returned to fighting for the podium.
Due to how early the safety car came out, questions were raised as to whether the leaders would have to nurse their tyres or even make a second pit stop, but that didn’t stop Hamilton challenging Antonelli for the lead, though the 19 year old was steadfast in maintaining his lead.
Antonelli would soon begin to pull away though, and Hamilton’s attention would soon pivot to having to fight Leclerc, the two doing so over a number of laps with plenty of position changes, all the while Russell waited patiently behind.
Russell would finally find his opportunity to strike on lap 27 as he overtook Hamilton to climb to third place, before finally retaking 2nd from Leclerc on lap 30. However, due to all the battling, the gap to Antonelli ahead was now 7.5 seconds, making it a tall order for Russell to take the win at this point.
Hamilton and Leclerc would continue to fight, now for the final spot on the podium, and as it seemed like Leclerc would start to pull away, a lock up at turn 14 would drop the Monegasque behind Hamilton once again, and though he would try to continue fighting for a little while longer, Hamilton would prove to be too quick today.
Further back, Ocon would receive a 10 second penalty after a clumsy attempt at overtaking Colapinto would lead to each of them spinning and getting some minor damage.
Alonso would retire on lap 33 due to losing feeling in his hands due to vibrations caused by his Honda power unit.
Max Verstappen had been trying to chase Ollie Bearman for 5th place throughout the middle portion of the race, but the four time world champion’s race would end prematurely due to technical issues with his Red Bull, having to effectively crawl back to the pits after losing a lot of power.
Despite losing some time due to a lock up in the dying laps of the race, Antonelli was able to drive a measured race on course to his first win in Formula 1, and the first win for an Italian driver since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s podium was his first in a Grand Prix for Ferrari, having won the Sprint in China 12 months ago.
Carlos Sainz was able to score Williams’ first points of the season with a 9th place finish, doing so while having to hold off Colapinto in the dying laps, who himself scored his first points for Alpine.
The next race will be the Japanese Grand Prix, which will take place at Suzuka Circuit on Sunday, March 29.
