Kimi Antonelli Claims Maiden Formula 1 Victory at Chinese Grand Prix: “I’m About to Cry”

Kimi Antonelli wrote his name into the history books at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, becoming the first Italian Formula 1 winner in 20 years with a composed and controlled drive in Shanghai. The 19-year-old Mercedes driver held off his team-mate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to take a victory that left him emotional, grateful, and already looking ahead to what comes next.

Speaking immediately after the race, the feeling had clearly not yet settled in.

“Thank you so much. Yeah, I’m speechless. I’m about to cry, to be honest. But yeah, thank you so much to my team because they helped me to achieve this dream.”

The significance of being the first Italian winner since 2006 was put to him directly, and Antonelli acknowledged the weight of that moment while also admitting the race had not been entirely without nerves.

“Yeah, I’m super happy. I said yesterday that I really wanted to bring Italy back on top, and we did today. Even though I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with a flat spot, it was a good race.”

His start had not been clean. Covering the inside too aggressively, he allowed both Ferraris to slip by, handing the lead temporarily to Hamilton. Asked whether his maturity in stepping back from that battle and trusting his pace was the decision that won him the race, Antonelli reflected on what went wrong and what ultimately went right.

“Yeah, it was difficult. It was not an easy start and probably I covered a bit too much on the inside and gave too much room to the Ferrari. But at the end the pace was good and we managed to bring it home.”

In the formal press conference, Antonelli described just how much the day had meant, paying tribute to a team that had backed him from the junior ranks all the way to the top step.

“Yeah, I’m super, super happy. Such an incredible day and very grateful for achieving my first win. The team did an incredible job. The car is super quick and it’s allowing us to fight for wins. I’m really happy because they also helped me to achieve one of my big dreams. Yeah, just super, super happy.”

He was asked whether he had retained confidence in his race pace even after losing the lead at the start, and he gave an honest account of a driver still working through the early lessons of grand prix racing.

“Yeah, I mean, the start is still our weak point and to be fair I didn’t go with great confidence because my two previous starts were really bad, so I didn’t know what to expect. But obviously, I covered a little bit too much on the inside and left too much space on the outside, so probably need to review that. But pace was still good, especially I felt good on the Hards, even though at the end I relaxed a bit too much and did a mistake which put a bit of pressure. But still managed to bring it home.”

The question of what lesson he would take away from his first win drew a thoughtful response. Antonelli identified the danger of easing off before the job is done as the most important thing the day had taught him.

“There’s so much that I’ve learned, but first of all it’s never to relax too much because today it went well, but it could have been worse. So just always try to stay on point and keep the focus because today at the end I opened the room for mistakes and the mistake happened. I just need to make sure it doesn’t happen again. And then of course also just trying to focus on doing things right, procedure-wise, warm-up, bringing the tyre into the stint. I think it was a massive lesson. Also today was very cold and it was a good lesson to see what was the best way to keep the tyres in a good window.”

With the magnitude of the result still sinking in, he was asked whether he planned to pause and celebrate. His answer was grounded and warm.

“Well, I’m flying home tonight, but definitely tomorrow I will take time to celebrate. Also, I think it will take a little bit of time to realise what has just happened. But yeah, super happy and of course massive thanks to the team, all the boys and girls in Brackley and Brixworth, and of course massive thanks to my family. Looking forward to the next one.”

With his first win secured and his team-mate Russell pushing hard throughout the season, the question of a championship campaign was raised. Antonelli was measured, acknowledging Russell’s strength while speaking to the value of learning from him week to week.

“Yeah, I mean, we’re just at the beginning. We keep pushing. George is an incredible driver, very strong in all aspects, so it’s going to take a lot to beat him. But it’s such a great opportunity to be working with him as well because I’ve been learning a lot from him. Looking forward to the rest of the season now. I always focus race by race and then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the year.”

The podium also placed Antonelli alongside Russell and Hamilton, two drivers with strong personal ties to Mercedes. Asked what it meant to share that moment with them, he spoke with a warmth that went beyond the result itself.

“I mean, first of all, it’s incredible to be sharing the podium with George and Lewis because George came through the junior academy like me and he’s part of the family. Lewis has made history with Mercedes and obviously it’s great for Mercedes. Yeah, I think it was a very special moment for all of us.”

There was also the matter of the incident involving Isack Hadjar, which Antonelli had attempted to address in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s session. Asked whether the two had cleared the air ahead of the race, he confirmed they had spoken during the drivers’ parade.

“Yeah, I did today in the drivers’ parade and it’s all good. Of course, yesterday it was definitely my mistake because I ran into him, of course not on purpose, and I damaged his race. So, I take my responsibility and after the race of course I went to apologise. He was in the heat of the moment. We know how Isack is sometimes, especially in the heat of the moment, so I wasn’t too bothered by it because today it was all fine again.”

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Written by

Jarrod Partridge

Jarrod Partridge is the Co-Founder of F1 Chronicle and an FIA accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following Formula 1. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered F1 races at circuits around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every race report, driver profile, and technical analysis he writes.

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