Category: Motor Racing

Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli has achieved a third successive pole at the Miami Grand Prix, resisting the challenge from Max Verstappen.

Antonelli’s first effort in Q3 was enough to keep his rivals away, with Verstappen’s final effort taking him second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The qualifying session got underway at 4.00 P.M. local Miami time in hot conditions, with ambient temperatures of 34C and track temperatures well into the 50s.

Verstappen led the early running in Q1 ahead of Antonelli, Norris and the Ferraris, before Antonelli took command with a time of one minute, 28.653 seconds lap.

At the bottom of the order, the usual suspects Aston Martin and Cadillac soon proved out of touch with the rest of Formula 1’s midfield. There was also trouble for Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, who after a delayed start with a power unit issues, leaving Gabriel on the side of the track. It was the second issue in as many sessions after teammate Nico Hulkenberg did not make the start of the sprint race.

With six elimination spots in Q1, that meant just one car would be drop out, with Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad taking P17 after the first runs. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was under threat as the McLaren driver used tyres for his final run. He then suffered from a poor first sector leaving him on the edge in P16.

Antonelli initially led Hamilton in Q2, with Norris now the McLaren driver finding himself in a spot of trouble. Norris aborted his first run after going off the track at Turn 6 but found enough time to take seventh, half a second up on the P10 cutoff.

As Verstappen went to the top with one minute, 28.116 seconds, both Alpines advanced to Q3 at the top of Formula 1’s midfield, with Franco Colapinto again ahead of Pierre Gasly as he was in sprint qualifying. It was the Alpine driver’s first Q3 appearance since Azerbaijan 2024.

Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated in P11 by a significant four-tenth margin, followed out by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson. The four cars from Haas and Williams were also eliminated.

In the deciding top ten shootout Antonelli set the beach mark with a time of one minute, 27.798 seconds, the first lap that improved on Lando’s sprint pole. Thanks of a rapid first sector, that effort was three tenths up on Leclerc and Verstappen. They were followed by Norris and Russell, with just half a tenth separating positions two to five.

Antonelli was one of several drivers who was unable to improve on the second attempt, but his first Q3 run was good enough to claim his third successive Grand Prix pole. Verstappen came closest on his final Q3 flying lap to jump Leclerc into second, revealing the Red Bull’s progress in Miami after a troubled start to the season.

Behind Leclerc, sprint race winner Norris beat Russell to the second row in fourth and fifth respectively, with Hamilton sixth. Piastri was a subdued seventh in the second McLaren, while Colapinto grabbed his best-ever qualifying result in eight. Hadjar and Gasly rounded out the top ten.

What an amazing qualifying result from Kimi Antonelli. So much confidence in the Mercedes and this is his third consecutive pole position. It will be fascinating if the Miami Grand Prix will run as there’s a threat of thunderstorms on race day.

Miami Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.798
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:27.964
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.143
4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.183
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.197
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.319
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.500
8 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:28.762
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:28.789
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:28.810
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:29.439
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:29.499
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:29.567
14 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:29.568
15 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:29.772
16 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:29.946
17 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:30.133
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:31.098
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:31.164
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.629
21 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.967
22 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:33.737

Lando Norris achieved McLaren’s first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season by winning the Miami Grand Prix sprint race in a 1-2 for the defending constructors’ champions.

The defending drivers’ world champion finished 3.7 seconds clear of teammate Oscar Piastri, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium after the 19-lap race around Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

This was the first non-Mercedes victory of the 2026 championship after the Silver Arrows won the opening three Grands Prix, plus the Shanghai sprint, but was unable to bring many updates to Miami.

That is in contrast to several upgrades that McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all brought, which was represented in sprint qualifying as Norris beat Kimi Antonelli to pole with Piastri completing the top three.

Leclerc and Max Verstappen respectively rounded out the top five, while George Russell only taking sixth.

The reigning world champion made a solid start but it was another poor getaway for Antonelli, who dropped behind Piastri and Leclerc into fourth with Russell and Lewis Hamilton jumping Verstappen.

Antonelli did fight back, trying to force his way past Leclerc into turns eight and eleven yet the Ferrari driver held firm and made an observation: “Kimi is so bad at wheel-to-wheel, I feel like we’re going to crash.”

In typical 2026 style that battle would have kept going in ‘yo-yo’ fashion, but tweaks were made for Miami with the super clipping limit increased to 350kW to decrease the reliance on energy management.

So, instead of keeping with Leclerc, Antonelli actually fell back and was overtaken by teammate Russell on lap eight at Turn 17, though the Mercedes driver regained fourth the following lap.

That was at Turn 11, just seconds before Verstappen overtook Hamilton over the white lines at corner exit.

The Red Bull driver therefore handed sixth back to the seven-time world champion, before finally completing a ‘legal’ move on Hamilton at Turn 17 during lap 10.

By this point, these were the only wheel-to-wheel battles happening, as the top three had moved clear with a comfortable Norris 2.7 seconds ahead of Piastri who led Leclerc by 1.3 seconds.

The Ferrari driver tried to close on Piastri but it was too little, too late, particularly when he went deep at Turn 11 on the penultimate lap. This meant that, in typical sprint race style, drivers largely maintained position across the final laps.

Norris therefore completed a controlled win from pole ahead of Piastri and Leclerc, while Kimi crossed the line in fourth and 2.5 seconds behind Charles.

However, the Mercedes driver was handed a post-race five-second penalty for track limit infringements, dropping him to sixth behind fourth-placed Russell and Verstappen in fifth.

Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly respectively completed the points positions, the Alpine driver continuing a strong start to 2026.

As a result of the penalty, Antonelli’s championship lead over Russell has dropped to seven points, while Leclerc remains third ahead of Hamilton and fifth-placed Norris.

So congratulations to McLaren with this 1-2 finish. The Papayas are back! Very promising pace for the constructors’ champions. Qualifying for the main Miami race is next.

Miami Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 29:15.045
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +3.766s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +6.251s
4 George Russell Mercedes +12.951s
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +13.639s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +13.777s*
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +21.665s
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +30.525s
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +35.346s
10 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +36.970s
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +48.438s
12 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +56.972s
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +57.365s
14 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +58.504s
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +59.358s
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +76.067s
17 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +76.691s
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +77.626s
19 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes +88.173s
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +89.597s
Nico Huldenberg Audi DNS
Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford DNS
*Five-second time penalty for track limits

Lando Norris will start the Miami sprint race in pole position after defeating championship leader Kimi Antonelli in an upgraded McLaren race car.

The defending champion topped what turned into a single-lap SQ3 shootout at the Miami International Autodrome, beating the early 2026 dominator Mercedes.

The session at the Miami Autodrome was the first competitive outing following a tweak in the rules to help drivers push flat out instead of excessive energy management, although the stop-start circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium was not the most representative venue to evaluate the success of the FIA’s intervention.

It was also the first qualifying session following an enforced five-week ‘spring break’, which most teams put to use to introduce upgrades. While 2026 leader Mercedes did not bring any updates for now, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all rolled out significant upgrades to their respective race cars.

In SQ1 McLaren’s Norris topped the times, just 0.010 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton behind. The Mercedes duo of Antonelli and George Russell were fifth and sixth, a first indication that the Silver Arrows might have to pay a short-term price for being out of sync with its upgrade plan.

There was disappointment for Liam Lawson, as he struggled for brake temperature after a compromised warm-up, with the Racing Bulls driver eliminated ahead of Esteban Ocon.

Cadillac duo Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were out in P19 and P20 respectively, the slowest of the twenty cars to set a competitive lap time. And that’s because Aston Martin’s nightmare with Honda continued, with neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll able to set a proper fast lap.

Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon had just aboutm making it through SQ1 but then tumbled at the next stage. As Leclerc led from Piastri with one minute, 28.333 seconds lap, Audi drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg were also eliminated in SQ2, with Bortoleto missing the cut by just 0.021 seconds to Pierre Gasly. Arvid Lindblad also followed Lawson out the door in P15.

In the top ten shootout of SQ3, drivers waited until the end of the session for a single-lap run, with Norris confirming McLaren’s progress to take a sprint pole. At the venue of his maiden Grand Prix win in 2024, the reigning world champion established a lap in one minute, 27.869 seconds as the cars moved to soft tyres.

Championship leader Antonelli was just over one tenth off in second, narrowly bumped the second Papaya of Piastri off the front row. Leclerc was fourth, with Max Verstappen also showing some progress in the Red Bull in P5.

Russell was only sixth, ahead of Hamilton and an impressive Franco Colapinto, with Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top ten.

So congratulations to Lando Norris in getting pole position for the sprint race in Miami. Very encouraging to see McLaren making a positive step in terms of performance with the defending champion in P1 with Oscar Piastri in P3. It will be fascinating what will happen in the sprint race considering the new, tweaked regulations.

Miami Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.869
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.091
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.108
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.239
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:28.461
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.493
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.618
8 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.320
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:29.422
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.474
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:29.994
12 Nico Huldenberg Audi 1:30.019
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:30.116
14 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:30.216
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:30.224
16 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:30.573
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:31.043
18 Esteben Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:31.245
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.255
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.826
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:41.311
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda No time

The sport’s governing body, the teams and manufacturers have all agreed on adjustments to the 2026 Formula 1 regulations. The changes mainly concern energy management, with the aim of making qualifying more on the limit and increasing safety.

After two discussions with technical chiefs, the most recent meeting was significant in terms of progress especially on the agenda on how the technical regulations could be improved based on the opening three rounds, and ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

Both the FIA and Formula 1 had made it clear beforehand that major changes were highly unlikely, also because both the governing body and the commercial rights-holder do not consider the racing itself to be issue – despite some complaints about “yo-yo” racing.

The two topics that are highlighted in a statement shared by the FIA after the meeting: qualifying needs to be more on the limit again, and safety must be improved, especially after the closing speeds played a major role in Oliver Bearman’s crash in Japan, Suzuka.

The proposals agreed are as follows and will be implemented from Miami apart from the race start changes that will be tested in Miami and adopted following feedback and analysis.

Qualifying – promoting performance

Adjustments to energy management parameters, including a reduction in maximum permitted recharge from 8MJ to 7MJ, aimed at reducing excessive harvesting and encouraging more consistent flat-out driving. This change targets a maximum superclip duration reduced to approximately 2-4 seconds per lap.

Peak superclip power increased to 350 kW, previously being 250kW, further reducing the time spent recharging, and reducing driver workload on energy management. This will also be applied in Race conditions.

The number of events where alternative lower energy limits may apply has been increased from 8 to 12 races, allowing greater adaptation to circuit characteristics.

Race – improved safety and consistency of performance

The maximum power available through the Boost in race conditions is now capped at +150 kW (or the car’s current power level at activation if higher) limiting sudden performance differentials.

MGU-K deployment is maintained at 350 kW in key acceleration zones (from corner exit to braking point, including overtaking zones) but will be limited to 250 kW in other parts of the lap.

These measures are designed to reduce excessive closing speeds while maintaining overtaking opportunities and overall performance characteristics.

Race starts – enhanced safety mechanisms

A new “low power start detection” system has been developed, capable of identifying cars with abnormally low acceleration shortly after clutch release.

In such cases, an automatic MGU-K deployment will be triggered to ensure a minimum level of acceleration and mitigate start-related risks without introducing any sporting advantage.

An associated visual warning system is being introduced, activating flashing lights (rear and lateral) on affected cars to alert following drivers.

A reset of the energy counter at the start of the formation lap has also been implemented to correct a previously identified system inconsistency.

Wet conditions – improving safety and visibility

Tyre blanket temperatures for intermediate tyres have been increased following driver feedback in order to improve initial grip and tyre performance in wet conditions.

Maximum ERS deployment will be reduced, limiting torque and improving car control in low-grip conditions.

The rear light systems have been simplified, with clearer and more consistent visual cues to improve visibility and reaction time for following drivers in poor conditions.

This is a step in the right direction and hopefully these tweaks will improve the spectacle in particular in qualifying, where the sense of speed or drivers pushing the limit is back as in not the case in the first three sessions of the year – in which it was lift and coast…

In addition to the energy management, safety is still an important factor in this new regulations.

Max Verstappen’s racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase will join McLaren as chief racing officer in 2028.

Following the news that GP will be going to McLaren, Red Bull subsequently confirming the eventual exit from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Lambiase joined Red Bull from Force India in 2015 and has been Max Verstappen’s race engineer ever since Max joined the team from Toro Rosso in May 2016. Together, they won four drivers’ world championship from 2021 to 2024, while Lambiase took on additional responsibilities as head of race engineering, then head of racing.

At McLaren, Lambiase will report to team principal Andrea Stella. “The role of the chief racing officer already exists within the team’s structure with overall leadership of the race team. These duties are currently managed by Andrea Stella in addition to his role as team principal,” the outfit explained in a press release.

“The team’s ability to attract and secure top talent, like Lambiase, and previously Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay,” it continued, referring to two longtime Red Bull engineers previously poached by McLaren, “alongside the retention and promotion of highly-talented people already within the team, is a testament to the strategic vision and culture that are integrally embodied in the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team under the leadership of Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, who are also both on long-term contracts.”

Interestingly, while Red Bull said Lambiase was going to leave the team “in 2028, when his current contract expires”, McLaren states it looks forward to “welcoming Gianpiero Lambiase when his existing contract ends, no later than 2028”.

This is interesting news that GP is leaving Red Bull. Nearly all the top figures that has shaped the championship success at the outfit is no longer there especially Christian Horner and Adrian Newey, it will be fascinating if Max will quit following his race engineer switching sides to join rival McLaren.

Kimi Antonelli achieved his second career victory in Formula 1 and becomes the new championship points leader. The timing of the safety car helped the Mercedes driver to gain track position over Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

As was the case in the previous two races, the Ferraris made an excellent getaway, but this time it was not enough to take the lead as the McLarens were just as quick off the grid too. Piastri went first ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, as Mercedes drivers Antonelli and Russell dropped to sixth and fourth respectively from the first row.

However, it took just a single lap for Antonelli to make his way past Lewis Hamilton in fifth, then Russell overtook Norris for third on the following lap and Leclerc for second on lap four – those three overtakes going into Turn 1.

Russell started pressuring race leader Piastri on lap seven. He dove down the inside in the chicane on the following lap, but Oscar strike back on the next straight.

Antonelli finally found a way past Norris to take fourth on lap 11, with the top six drivers still within six seconds. Kimi overtook Charles into the chicane on lap 15, but had a wild move exiting the corner and was repassed.

Norris was the first frontrunner to pit on lap 16 as he tried to attempt to undercut Leclerc and Antonelli. Piastri also pitted earlier than Russell, preserving his lead. And yet seconds after Geroge’s pitstop, an accident involving Oliver Bearman turned the race fortune.

Surprised by the closing speed relative to Franco Colapinto going into Spoon Curve, the Haas driver ended up losing control on the grass and suffered a 50G crash, with the safety car neutralising the race. Ollie was diagnosed with a right knee contusion.

Antonelli and Hamilton were yet to change tyres and enjoyed a free pitstop in this safety car situation, moving up to first and fourth, with Piastri and Russell between them.

This also meant that everyone had pitted at the halfway point of this Suzuka race, so it was a straight contest to the chequered flag.

As the green flag was waved on lap 28, Hamilton grabbed third from Russell straight away, while Antonelli increased the gap to Piastri – it reached five seconds in just eight laps.

Russell put pressure on Hamilton but never found a way past, then was overtaken by Leclerc on lap 37. The trio kept battling for the final step on the podium, with Leclerc going around the outside of Hamilton in Turn 1 on lap 42 and Russell repeating that overtake on the following lap.

The seven-time world champion was losing pace and only held off Norris until lap 51, shortly after Russell passed Leclerc for third in the chicane – but the Ferrari driver fought back in Turn 1.

Antonelli eventually outpaced Piastri by 14 seconds and scored his second consecutive Grand Prix victory, becoming the youngest multiple Grand Prix winner in history at 19 years and seven months old – Max Verstappen was 20 when he achieved it.

Kimi also takes the lead of the drivers’ championship from teammate Russell as the sport takes a five-week break following the cancellation of Bahrain and Jeddah.

Behind the top six, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took a remarkable seventh-place finish – holding off Red Bull’s Verstappen, who felt like he was “driving without power steering”, so heavy his steering was.

Esteban Ocon and Arvid Lindblad established themselves at the bottom of the top ten early on, ahead of Isack Hadjar, but those three drivers pitted before the safety car period and therefore lost out.

As a consequence, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto gained the last two points-scoring positions, but the Audi driver dropped to P13 in the second half of the race, with Ocon retrieving P10.

Other than Bearman, the only retirement was Lance Stroll due to a suspected water pressure issue. At least Fernando Alonso made it to the finish this season with Aston Martin finishing in P18.

So congratulations to Andrea Kimi Antonelli with his back-to-back victories. Scoring his first in China and now his second in Japan is a fantasic achievement. To become the new championship leader is a bonus and it will be fascinating if Kimi can build this winning feeling at Miami.

Japanese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28:03.403
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +13.722s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +15.270s
4 George Russell Mercedes +15.754s
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +23.479s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +25.037s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +32.340s
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +32.677s
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +50.180s
10 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +51.216s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +52.280s
12 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +56.154s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +59.078s
14 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +59.848s
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +65.008s
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +65.773s
17 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +92.453s
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
20 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes +2 laps
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari DNF

Andrea Kimi Antonelli achieved his second career pole position in Formula 1 by beating his Mercedes teammate George Russell at Suzuka, the scene of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Antonelli asserted his dominance on his Mercedes colleague George Russell so far this weekend, with youngster quicker than his elder in the last two free practice sessions as well as Q2 – by six tenths – and Q3 – by three.

The racing order was mostly unsurprising in Q1. Ferrari and Mercedes led McLaren at the front, while the Williams, Cadillac and Aston Martin cars are in the drop zone – like they did in both qualifying sessions in China – with five minutes remaining.

Late improvements by Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon allowed the former to jump to P15, with Oliver Bearman out in Q1 with a shocking P18 – the Haas driver currently stands in a remarkable fifth place in the drivers’ championship, but adding to his points tally will be a difficult this time around.

The troubled Aston Martin team ended up last and will line up in P21 and P22 on struggling Honda’s track, some three seconds off the pace…

Oscar Piastri then set the early pace in Q2, leading the Mercedes by three tenths, before Charles Leclerc, then Antonelli went even faster.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly established themselves as the two midfield cars in the top ten from Audi teammate, Nico Hulkenberg.

The Red Bulls, however, were on the limit of elimination. A late effort by Arvid Lindblad earned him P10 for Racing Bulls, kicking Verstappen out of Q3.

“I think there is something wrong with the car mate, it’s completely undriveable suddenly in this qualifying”, Verstappen told his race engineer on the radio. “Jumping on high speed in the rear suddenly.”

This was a disappointing qualifying for the four-time champion, who is the most successful driver at Suzuka. It will be a challenging race for the Verstappen due to the tricky RB22.

The first Q3 run saw Antonelli set the first one minute, 28 seconds lap of the weekend, with one minute, 28.778 seconds, with teammate Russell three tenths down with one minute, 29.076 seconds despite similar times in the opening sector of the lap.

McLaren outperformed Ferrari with Oscar Piastri three tenths ahead of Lando Norris and Leclerc, as Lewis Hamilton ended up one further tenth. The remaining Red Bull of Isack Hadjar was exactly 1.2 seconds off the pace.

Neither Mercedes driver improved on their times in the second Q3 run, despite Antonelli setting the fastest final sector overall. Ditto for the McLarens and Ferraris, in fact, so the order of the top six remained unchanged.

Gasly, however improved to take seventh position away from Hadjar, with the Alpine under one second away from pole position.

Bortoleto and Lindblad will make up the fifth row of the grid.

So congratulations to Kimi Antonelli with yet another pole position. He achieved his first at China in the previous race and Kimi looks strong compared to George. The Japanese Grand Prix is going to be fascinating.

Japanese Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.778
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.076
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.132
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:29.405
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.409
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:29.567
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.691
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:29.978
9 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:30.274
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:30.319
11 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:30.262
12 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:30.309
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:30.387
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:30.495
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:30.627
16 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:31.033
17 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:31.088
18 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:31.090
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:32.206
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:32.330
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.646
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.920

Kimi Antonelli achieved his first win in Formula 1 with a beautiful and mature drive in the Mercedes to score a top result in the Chinese Grand Prix, leading home a Silver Arrows 1-2 with the former Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton taking a podium for Ferrari.

Having becoming the youngest driver to start on pole position, Antonelli withstood the pressure from the Ferraris to finish in first place. Kimi only briefly lost P1 at the start when Hamilton jumped on both Mercedes from P3 with a quick getaway.

Re-taking the lead before the end of the second lap, the 19-year-old Mercedes driver was never headed again, retaining first after his only pit stop under the single safety car early in proceedings.

Despite a nervous moment after running deep at the Turn 14 hairpin with four laps to the chequered flag, Antonelli finished 5.5 seconds clear of George Russell to become the second youngest winner of a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Russell, who had won the sprint race, fought back to second position having found himself behind the battling Ferraris at the mid-point of the race after struggling for grip on the safety car restart, George maintains his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Hamilton took his first podium for Ferrari at the same venue where he claimed his only victory last season in the China sprint twelve months ago.

Charles Leclerc finished fourth, 28 seconds up from the Haas of Ollie Bearman. Involved in an early battle with his teammate Esteban Ocon and the Alpines, Bearman was able to clear Colapinto.

Gasly was sixth for Alpine, picking up a position when Max Verstappen retired with a power unit issue, which moved Liam Lawson up to seventh after the Racing Bull driver also batted away an assault from Isack Hadjar.

Hadjar had locked up his wheels at Turn 13 while battling against Bearman and had to stop at the end of the first lap, but recovered to collect his first points at Red Bull.

Carlos Sainz picked up the first points for Williams with ninth, keeping Colapinto at bay and yet picking up his first point for Alpine.

Colapinto pitted later into the race and came out ahead of the similarly late-stopping Ocon. The two made contact as Colapinto took a wider approach into Turn 3, and Ocon attempted to dive down the inside as the Alpine turned in. Ocon immediately accepted the blame for the incident, and also picked up a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.

Nico Hulkenberg and Arvid Lindblad missed out on the top ten, as Valtteri Bottas was classified ahead of Ocon and Sergio Perez to record Cadillac’s highest finish so far.

Both Aston Martins retired from the race, as Fernando Alonso called it a day after losing feeling in his hands due to the uncontrollable vibrations in his AMR26.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were unable to start with unrelated powertrain issues, with Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto also unable to take their positions on the grid.

So congratulations to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in achieving a top result in the sport with his first pole position followed by race victory in the Mercedes. It was a well deserved victory and hopefully the first of many for Kimi. Kudos!

Chinese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:33:15.607
2 George Russell Mercedes +5.515s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +25.267s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +28.894s
5 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +57.268s
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +59.647s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +80.588s
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +87.247s
9 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
10 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +1 lap
12 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
13 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
14 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
15 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes DNS
Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes DNS
Gabriel Bortoleto Audi DNS
Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes DNS

Kimi Antonelli becomes Formula 1’s youngest driver to start on pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver will start in P1, sharing the front row slot with his teammate and championship leader George Russell. Former Silver Arrows driver Lewis Hamilton is P3 for Ferrari.

While attempting to score back-to-back poles, Russell came to a stop on track and, while he was able to get the car going again, he was unable to change gear. The Mercedes driver had to crawl back to the pits, opening the opportunity to a different polesitter this time around.

Antonelli went fastest in Q3 with a time of one minute, 32.322 secinds, and later improved to one minute, 32.064 seconds to set a benchmark for the other drivers to beat.

Lewis Hamilton was a keen challenger and set a time that was 0.315 seconds off, but Russell was able to get back on track for one final last-minute lap. Thus, Antonelli faced an agonising wait – one that paid off as Russell was only 0.222 seconds slower to lock out the front row for Mercedes.

Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will start on the second row for Ferrari, while the McLarens were both on row three. Oscar Piastri led Norris by 0.06 seconds in the battle for fifth on the grid.

Pierre Gasly interrupted the two-by-two nature of the grid by outqualifying the Red Bulls, as Max Verstappen was almost a second away from pole. The four time champion took eighth, ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman in the Haas.

Nico Hulkenberg missed out on Q2 by just 0.002 seconds, while Franco Colapinto was another 0.003 seconds behind as the two just missed out on the opportunity to prise Hadjar out of the top ten.

Esteban Ocon was P13, but his attempts to improve were denied by a late yellow flag. This also affected Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, who fell out in Q2 too. Lindblad had escaped elimination in Q1 after pitting with an issue, but the rookie was given the all-clear to continue.

The cause of the yellow flag was Gabriel Bortoleto, who looked set to improve from P16 before suffering a spin at the final corner. As the rear locked up, the Audi driver was pitched into a uncontrollable slide towards the barrier – although the gravel trap slowed him down enough to result in only a minor hit with the wall.

Carlos Sainz briefly looked to have made it into Q2 and moved up to P14 after his final lap, but soon dropped back into the elimination zone when Lindblad, Colapinto and Bortoleto all improved on their laps.

Thus, the same six cars were knocked out in both the sprint and the main race qualifying. Alex Albon also dropped out, moaning about his session as “terrible” as struggles continued at Williams.

Fernando Alonso is P19 on the grid, while Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas outqualified Lance Stroll. Sergio Perez, who has been suffering with reliability issues all weekend, will start last.

So congratulations to Andrea Kimi Antonelli with his first career pole position in Formula 1. This is his ‘second’ P1 after achieving a front row slot at the Miami sprint race last year. But this time, the Mercedes earned the number one spot on merit over his rivals.

Chinese Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:32.064
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.286
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:32.415
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:32.428
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.550
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.608
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:32.873
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:33.002
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:33.121
10 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:33.292
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:33.354
12 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:33.357
13 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:33.538
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:33.765
15 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:33.784
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:33.965
17 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:34.317
18 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:34.772
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Marin-Honda 1:35.203
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:35.436
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:35.995
22 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:36.906

George Russell scored his first sprint race win of the season after winning the battle from the Ferraris to be victorious at the Shanghai International Circuit.

It was a rather entertaining sprint event with the Mercedes driver fighting his old teammate Lewis Hamilton for P1. The lead changed several times between the Silver Arrows and the Scuderia.

The Mercedes driver started from pole for the 19-lap sprint and unlike a week ago in Australia, Russell held the lead through the opening corners before conceding the position to Hamilton at Turn 9 – the Ferrari driver had started fourth on the grid.

The pair engaged in a fight for the lead, swapping positions across the early laps until Russell made the decisive move into the Turn 14 hairpin on Lap 5, pulling a gap to both Hamilton and Leclerc.

Leclerc eventually got the better of his teammate, finishing just 0.6 seconds behind Russell, the leading drivers having made a late pit stop following a safety car that was called when Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi needed to be retrieved.

Hamilton recovered to third position having dropped behind Lando Norris, the seven-time world champion was forced to stack behind Leclerc in the pits.

Norris claimed fourth from Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes driver having suffered a poor start from the front row and had to serve a ten-second penalty in the pits after a collision with Isack Hadjar on the opening lap.

Although Antonelli had been passed by Oscar Piastri on the restart, the McLaren driver appeared to have made the move before the start-finish line and was asked to move aside for the Mercedes driver.

Piastri finished sixth as a result, as Liam Lawson claimed seventh ahead of Oliver Bearman. Neither Lawson nor Bearman pitted, which offered track position but left them vulnerable late on to a hard-charging Max Verstappen – who missed out on points.

Verstappen dropped to the back after a very slow getaway, but recovered and yet missed out on the top eight after fighting past Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in the final stages of the race.

So an action-packed sprint race with so many lead changes and yet it is clear the Mercedes and Ferrari are very competitive. Russell continues his winning form by taking this sprint victory. It will be interesting if he can score another top result in the main race next.

Chinese Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 33:38.998
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.674s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +2.554s
4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +4.433s
5 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +5.688s
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +6.809s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +10.900s
8 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +11.271s
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +11.619s
10 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +13.887s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +14.780s
12 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +15.753s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +15.858s
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +16.393s
15 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +16.430s
16 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes +20.014s
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +21.599s
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +21.971s
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +28.241s
Nico Hulkenberg Audi DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford DNF