Kimi Antonelli became emotional after securing his first ever F1 win at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. The Mercedes driver was unable to get any words out and broke into tears of joy during the post-race interview after getting out of his car.

Antonelli had already made history by becoming the youngest ever F1 pole sitter when he grabbed pole position for the Chinese GP on Saturday. Now, the young Italian has converted that pole into his first-ever race win, becoming the second-youngest ever F1 race winner behind only Max Verstappen. He also became only the second teenager ever to win an F1 race.

After getting out of the car following the race, Antonelli was unable to control his emotions. As he got up for his post-race interview with David Coulthard, the 19-year-old was unable to get his words out and broke out in tears after achieving what he described as one of his life’s biggest goals.

His teammate George Russell consoled him while the crowd at the Shanghai International Circuit erupted in a huge cheer to support the youngster.

It wasn’t exactly easy for Kimi Antonelli at the race start, as the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc once again made rapid starts from the second row. Hamilton took the lead from him, while Leclerc also challenged him in the first few corners.

However, once Antonelli took the lead back from the 41-year-old, he never looked back and checked out into the distance at the front of the pack. In the end, he secured the win with a comfortable 5.5-second margin over Russell in second.

With this result, Antonelli now moves within four points of his Mercedes teammate Russell in the drivers’ standings, with it increasingly looking like the drivers’ title fight could become an all-Mercedes affair in 2026.

Kimi Antonelli reflects on the potential drivers’ championship battle with George Russell

Following his first F1 win at the Chinese GP, Kimi Antonelli reflected on the potential of going up against George Russell for the 2026 drivers’ title. The driver said it will not be easy to beat the Briton, but that he will take it race by race to see where he ends up.

Speaking in the post-race interview, Antonelli explained:

“I mean, we’re just at the beginning [of the season], we will keep pushing. George is an incredible driver, he’s very strong on all aspects. So, it’s gonna take a lot to beat him.”

“It’s such a great opportunity to be working with him as well. I’ve been learning a lot from him and, yeah, looking forward to the rest of the season. I always focus race by race, and we’ll see where we end up at the end of the year.”

During the interview, Antonelli also explained that he wanted to “bring Italy back to the top” with his race win. He became the first Italian since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2006 to win an F1 race.