Race Report: History Made as Kimi Takes First Win in 1-2

• Kimi Antonelli became the second youngest Grand Prix winner as he claimed his maiden F1 victory in today’s Chinese Grand Prix.

• Teammate George Russell came home second as the team brought home another 1-2 to begin the season.

• It was an all-Mercedes front-row with Kimi on pole and George alongside, both drivers starting on the Medium tyre.

• As in Australia, the fast-starting Ferraris got the best launch with Lewis Hamilton taking the lead and Charles Leclerc jumping up to P3, with Kimi second and George fourth.

• Kimi and George kept cool though and cycled through to P1 and P2 ahead of the Ferraris before a Safety Car intervention neutralised the field.

• Opting to take a cheap stop, both drivers swapped to the Hard compound but found it difficult to switch on the tyre in the cool conditions.

• That enabled the Ferraris to once again put pressure on our duo and George found himself once again having to battle back past both Hamilton and Leclerc.

• He was able to do that after several laps whilst Kimi stretched his legs at the front.

• Both drivers managed their cars and their tyres to the end, Kimi thus securing his first win in F1, George taking P2, and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the podium in P3.

• The team was represented on the podium by Head of Race Engineering and Kimi’s race engineer, Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington.

• George continues to lead the Drivers’ World Championship with Kimi four points behind in P2.

• The next race for the team is the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka (27-29 March).

Kimi Antonelli

What an incredible day! This win is a fulfilment of one of the dreams I’ve had ever since I first drove a go-kart. I want to say thank you to my amazing family and the incredible team at both Lauda Drive and Morgan Drive. I couldn’t have done this without any of them, and it means so much to take my first victory in F1. It was a very special moment for all of us.

The race itself wasn’t easy. I lost a position at the start and had to fight back to get ahead. We then had to manage the Safety Car restart which wasn’t easy on the Hard compound. It was difficult to get the tyres working but fortunately we were able to before we were under threat from those behind.

This has been a great way to close the first double-header of the season but there is lots of work ahead. We aren’t taking anything for granted and will make sure we work hard ahead of Japan and arrive in Suzuka in the strongest position we can.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

Well done to Kimi on his first win! His first test in an F1 car was less than two years ago and to win today shows how far he has come in a short space of time. He has always had the raw speed but both he and the team have worked hard to refine that and he continues to grow. Today is another step on that journey and we are all so pleased for him.

We're also delighted to take home our second 1-2 to begin the season. It's not been an easy weekend; we've had quite a few problems on the cars and we were really lucky to get George out in Q3 yesterday. Nevertheless, it has been a great example of how this team never gives up. Despite the setbacks, we’ve raced hard and come away with a maximum number of points.

We've got a week to regroup now before we head to Japan. There is lots of work to do and we know further challenges ahead. We will focus on that but as we leave Shanghai and finish this first double header, it's great to be able to enjoy the results of the last two weeks after the work that has gone into producing and racing the W17 across both Lauda Drive and Morgan Drive.