The emotion was too strong for teenager Kimi Antonelli when answering David Coulthard’s questions and he couldn’t help but burst into tears, happy with this historic victory in more ways than one.
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Antonelli made history during this 2026 Chinese Grand Prix by winning after 56 perfectly controlled laps. He thus becomes the second youngest winner in the history of the sport, behind Max Verstappen.
This victory also has a strong symbolic significance for Italy: Antonelli becomes the first Italian driver to win in F1 for twenty years, a performance he celebrated with great emotion from the lap of honor.
A victory full of emotion
On the radio with his team, the young Italian did not hide his emotion after the finish: “I am speechless, I want to cry! A huge thank you to my team, they are allowing me to realize my dream.”
Overwhelmed by emotion in the parc fermé, Antonelli recalled the special dimension of this success for his country: “I am very happy, I said yesterday that I wanted to bring Italy back to the top, and I succeeded. I gave myself a little heart attack at the end with a wheel lock-up but it was a great race.”
The Mercedes driver also recounted the first moments of the race, marked by the pressure exerted by the Scuderia Ferrari drivers, including Lewis Hamilton: “I went too far inside and gave too much room to the Ferraris, but the pace was good and we managed to come back at the finish and win.”
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Caution on the title fight
Asked about a possible battle for the championship against his teammate George Russell, the Italian prefers to remain measured: “We are only at the beginning, we will continue to give everything. George is an incredible driver, strong in all areas, and it will be difficult to beat him. But I am learning a lot from him and I am focusing on each race, we will see where we are at the end of the year.”
Starting second, George Russell lost positions at the start to the Ferraris before moving back up to finish second and give Mercedes a second one-two finish in two races this season.
“First of all, my congratulations to Kimi, it’s always a very great moment and he has been very good all weekend. It’s great to be on the podium with him,” he said. “We had another bad start and the Ferraris passed us at the start, but scoring a one-two is very good.”
With this new show of strength, Mercedes confirms its excellent start to the 2026 season, while Antonelli’s first victory could well mark the beginning of a career already promised a bright future in Formula 1.
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