19-Year-Old Wins Chinese GP As McLarens Fail To Start

Teenager Kimi Antonelli took his first Formula 1 victory as he led team-mate George Russell home in a Mercedes one-two at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old Italian became the second youngest grand prix winner in history, a day after becoming the youngest pole-sitter, with a controlled drive after briefly losing the lead at the start to Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari.

Only Max Verstappen, who won for the first time aged 18 at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, has taken the chequered flag in F1 at a younger age than Antonelli.

Antonelli fought back tears and struggled for words during his post-race interview as the enormity of the moment sunk in.

Russell’s second place ensures he keeps the championship lead, by four points from Antonelli, after a race compromised by losing positions following an early safety car.

Behind them, Hamilton and Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc staged a gripping duel for the first two-thirds of the race.

They swapped positions multiple times at various points in the race before Hamilton finally secured his first podium finish for Ferrari since joining them at the start of last season.

Antonelli lost the lead at the start as the Ferrari drivers both made their expected fast getaways.
Hamilton took the lead from third on the grid and Leclerc moved into third ahead of Russell, and narrowly missed out on passing Antonelli for second through the long complex of corners that starts the lap.
“The start is still our weak point. I didn’t go with a great confidence because my two previous starts were really bad,” said Antonelli.
“Obviously I covered a little bit too much on the inside and left too much space on the outside. So I probably need to review that.”
Antonelli reclaimed the lead down the back straight on lap two, while Russell took a little longer to move into second place, passing Leclerc on lap three and Hamilton on lap four.
The two Mercedes ran together at the front until a safety car was triggered by the retirement of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, which stopped in the run-off area at Turn Two.
Russell’s chances of victory unravelled in the next few laps. The four leading cars all stopped for fresh tyres together, but while Antonelli retained the lead, Russell lost positions to the Alpine of Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon’s Haas, who had not stopped.
Russell then had a sticky restart. His tyres were too cold, and he had a series of snaps through the final corners before the restart and the first corners of the lap and he lost positions to both Hamilton and Leclerc.
Russell soon cleared Ocon and Colapinto but was stuck behind the Ferraris for a further 14 laps.
By the time Russell was past and into second place on lap 29, Antonelli was nearly seven seconds ahead.
Russell pushed on trying to close the gap, but his own fastest lap was answered by one from Antonelli, underlining that the youngster had an answer for everything Russell could throw at him.
There was a minor scare for Antonelli when he had a heavy lock-up at the end of the back straight with three laps to go, but he kept things under control to lead Russell home by 5.5 seconds.
Reacting to the team’s success, and Antonelli’s inspired drive, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: “It is rare I am overwhelmed, but I am at the moment.
“The win has maybe come earlier than I expected. Last year we said that it’s going to be a very difficult year with many ups and downs and mistakes.
“Then, bam, second race. He has controlled it in the front, he has driven very well today, so he’s probably a little bit better than the trajectory I thought.
“He was actually quite calm and jovial before the race but then, on the grid, you see the eyes.”

BBC