Formula One has always been more than just a sport – it’s a theatre of speed, skill, and spectacle. And nowhere is that more evident than in its recent boom in the United States of America, where the Netflix hit series ‘Drive to Survive’ has turned F1 into a cultural phenomenon.

The country now hosts three races, with two more just across its northern and southern borders. Alongside the tracks, celebrities, influencers, and industry insiders have flocked to F1 events, while Apple reportedly invested $250–300 million in a Hollywood movie about the sport.

Yet even before the newfound glitz and glamour, drivers had long been striking the right pose. One of them happened in this country not too long ago, when Sebastian Vettel got out of the RB9 and bowed down to it at the 2013 Indian Grand Prix after sealing his fourth world title.

Then there’s Daniel Ricciardo and his ‘shoey’, Michael Schumacher slamming the steering wheel hard enough to break it, Fernando Alonso’s emotion-filled scream while standing on top of the Renault R25 and so on. Some were planned, others spontaneous, but each is etched into the sport’s folklore.

Enter Kimi Antonelli. Devoted fans knew what celebration to expect from him, yet it slipped amid the chaos of his maiden F1 win in China earlier this month.

“To be fair, I forgot to do it after my first win. I wanted to do the Usain Bolt celebration. I really like Usain Bolt because he’s like the fastest man on earth and I really wanted to do it. I love his celebration, I did it in Formula 2 as well but I just forgot it in the moment,” he said before the Japanese GP.

That, in a nutshell, encapsulates the youthful exuberance of Antonelli, a teenager whose best laid plans took the backseat as raw emotions took centre stage. Normal service resumed at Suzuka, with Antonelli channelling his inner Bolt after a comfortable victory. For fans, this was just a glimpse of the rising star who is comfortably navigating the cut-throat nature of motorsport’s pinnacle.

Fulfilling destiny

Despite the brief dalliance with football when he was younger, it was motorsports that was in Antonelli’s destiny, thanks to his early interest in karting as well as his father’s established roots in the Italian F4 championship, among others.

Then there’s also the small matter of where their house is located: the Antonellis live in an area of Bologna called ‘Motor Valley’ where Lamborghini, Ducati, Maserati and Ferrari are all based nearby, in addition to the Imola and Modena race tracks.

At age five, Antonelli took the wheel of a go-kart (called Delfino) at the track in Forli and never looked back. Even as a child, F1 was the ultimate ambition.

“At Hockenheim in 2014, I couldn’t get into the paddock because I was too little. My Dad decided to hide me inside a stack of tyres and wheel me through on a trolley. We put an umbrella on top to make it harder to spot me!” he told Mercedes before his F1 debut.

“I got through and into the pit lane, and my dad’s friend got me a pass. I had a look around for an hour and it was such a cool experience – but we always laugh at the story of the trolley.”

That said, when the call came from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff to step up to F1, Antonelli understandably thought it was a joke. For he had not even made his Formula 2 debut by then. But for Wolff, it was no laughing matter, especially since he was picking a rookie to replace seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

“In the car, Kimi is just a monster. When the visor is down, that boy just delivers. It is very rare to see kids win everything they’ve ever participated in. In F1, these have become the great champions, the likes of Max Verstappen, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna. Kimi has the same great potential,” Wolff told Netflix.

Antonelli was always earmarked internally as Hamilton’s replacement at the Silver Arrows. The latter’s move to Ferrari accelerated the timeline.

Clean slate

The 2026 regulation shake-up allowed Mercedes to challenge Red Bull’s dominance and halt McLaren’s recent success. The W17 became arguably the best car on the grid, and Antonelli, alongside George Russell, was perfectly positioned to capitalise. Pre-season predictions had tipped Russell for the championship, a notion reinforced by his early win in Melbourne and his Sprint victory in China, where a collision forced Antonelli to battle tooth and nail just to finish fifth.

While Russell basked in the headlines, the younger, less-experienced Italian quietly turned heads. Fans and pundits alike took note of the raw talent Antonelli was displaying, proof that Mercedes had a genuine star in the making.

Antonelli broke through spectacularly, claiming pole position and, despite a tricky start that left him briefly shuffled by Ferrari, fought back to secure his first F1 victory. Before the ink was dry on the record books and before critics could assemble their doubts, he demonstrated in Japan that he was no one-off.

A hint of luck played its part in both wins: Russell’s qualifying woes opened the door in China, while a well-timed Safety Car smoothed the way for Antonelli to register back-to-back triumphs. Some might call it “champion’s luck.”

After the roller-coaster of his rookie 2025 season, Antonelli now appears more composed and level-headed, fully capable of holding his own at the front of the grid.

“Experience does a lot. Obviously, last year I’ve gone through a lot and it taught me massively more than what I anticipated, and for sure it’s helping so far this year. Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do, but I definitely feel much more in control of the situation.”

While being the youngest person to lead the drivers’ championship doesn’t make him the favourite to seal the title, the last two races have at least shown that we have a title fight on our hands – even if it is between two teammates. Like a deja vu for Mercedes and Wolff.

As for Antonelli, he knows that there’s a lot to improve and a month’s break comes right in time to aid the same.

“Luckily, I’ve got three weeks, so now I can practice some clutch drops just to get a better feel with it, because definitely it’s been a weak point so far this year and you need to improve that because you can easily win or lose races with that,” he said after the Japanese GP.

Chasing a high bar

Not many teenagers bother about their legacies beyond the glamour of triumph. Antonelli, if the early signs are anything to go by, is an outlier here too.

Like a plethora of drivers, he looks up to Senna. He may never have seen the three-time F1 champion race live, but has spent countless hours watching and rewatching Senna’s performances, and studying everything the legendary driver accomplished both on and off the track.

Senna’s influence is evident even in Antonelli’s choice of car number. The Brazilian used the number 12 for three seasons with Lotus, with which he got his first F1 win (Portugal 1985). He stuck to that number at McLaren, where he won his first world title in 1988.

“It is also the number I first used in single-seaters. From F4, I started to use ‘12’ straight away and it worked pretty well. Hopefully, I can carry that on in F1. I was also 12 years old when I joined the Mercedes junior programme, so there is that too.”

Antonelli’s admiration goes beyond driving prowess. He hopes to emulate Senna’s character and empathy as much as his skill.

“Spa when he jumped out the car to turn off the engine because he saw the driver wasn’t conscious. He was really special. He wasn’t afraid to show his origins. Brazil was in a difficult situation in those years, but he was always proud to be a Brazilian and show that,” Antonelli, then in the F2 circuit, said.

“He’s not only a good driver but also a person. He was a really empathetic person. My dream is to reach F1 and to achieve a little part of what he achieved during his career. So he’s my first influence and inspiration.”

Senna set a benchmark so lofty that only a select few have ever come close, and fewer still have surpassed it. It’s far too soon to say how close Antonelli might get to matching the Brazilian’s legacy. Yet, if the first two races of the season are any indication, he already carries himself with a composure well beyond his years.

On the asphalt where legends are born, Antonelli has begun writing his story and the opening chapters are impossible to ignore. Under the helmet and behind the wheel, he carries more than speed; he carries curiosity, joy, and the quiet audacity to dream. He is a reminder that F1 is as much about the soul of the driver as the machinery beneath him.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hit out at Red Bull driver Max Verstappen for his complaints against the new car regulations in the Formula 1 2026 season, as the four-time world champion struggles to make an early impact. The biggest rule change requires a 50-50 power split between the internal combustion (ICE) and electrical energy.

The 28-year-old Verstappen has been one of the most impacted drivers as he was forced to retire at the Chinese Grand Prix and came sixth in the opening Australian GP.

“It’s terrible,” an angry Verstappen said after the race in Shanghai on Sunday. “If someone likes this, then you really don’t know what racing is like. Not fun at all. Playing Mario Kart. This is not racing and I would say the same if I would be winning races because I care about the racing product.”

Wolff hits out at Verstappen over car complaints

Mercedes, meanwhile, are leading the charts, winning both races and also securing the second spot in Melbourne and Shanghai. Their 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli secured his first F1 race win at the Chinese Grand Prix.

And Mercedes chief Wolff has hit out at Verstappen over his complaints, saying that Max’s reactions are more a result of his frustration and a poor Red Bull car rather than the changes in the rules. He added that new engines have also been producing entertaining races.

“Max is really, I think, in a horror show,” Wolff said. “When you look at the onboard he has in qualifying, this is just horrendous to drive.”

“From an entertainment perspective, I believe what we’ve seen between Ferrari and Mercedes was good racing, many overtakes. We were all part of Formula One when there was no overtaking. Sometimes we’re too nostalgic about the good old years, but the product is good in itself. We saw quite some racing in the midfield also and that is the positive.”

Lewis Hamilton has also agreed with his former boss Wolff, as he said that the Chinese Grand Prix was “the best racing I’ve ever experienced in Formula One”.

Hamilton and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc were involved in an intense race in Shanghai with overtaking and some exciting wheel-to-wheel driving.

For the unversed, F1 was willing to make some adjustments to the rules to address the complaints from some of the drivers, but after a successful Chinese GP, there’s no guarantee any major change would be brought in.

In any case, no change would be made before the Japanese Grand Prix, which will take place in two weeks. They could be implemented at the Miami Grand Prix in May, as
no races are taking place in April due to the war in West Asia.

The calendar for the Formula 1 2026 season faces a massive change as no race may take place in April. That is because the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix could be cancelled over the weekend due to the conflict in West Asia. Multiple news agencies, including Reuters, said that an announcement may come by Monday at the latest, with a March 20 deadline looming for freight that has to be transported to Bahrain for logistical reasons.

Sky Sports television, which has the broadcasting rights in Britain where most of the 11 teams are based, said it understood the races would be called off by Sunday night. US and Israeli attacks on Iran are continuing while Iranian drones and missiles have hit some West Asian capitals, including Bahrain’s Manama, where most team personnel would be staying in hotels.

Formula One
is racing in China this weekend for the second round of the season after the opener in Australia last weekend.

No F1 race in April 2026

Sources have indicated previously that neither West Asian race is likely to be replaced or rescheduled, leaving April an empty month for the series and the championship reduced to 22 rounds.

Bahrain was scheduled for April 12 with the Saudi race in Jeddah on April 19.

The Japanese Grand Prix, round three, is on March 29 with the next race then in Miami on May 3.

“I think we follow the guidance of the FIA and Formula One, as we always do. They’ve always led us in the right direction,” Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley told reporters after practice at the Shanghai circuit.

“Nobody’s going to compromise on anything that would put teams into an uncomfortable situation.”

There was no immediate comment from Liberty Media-owned Formula One or the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA).

The World Endurance Championship (WEC) has already postponed what would have been its season-opener in Qatar on March 26-28, with the first race now scheduled for Italy’s Imola circuit on April 19.

The Qatar round at the Lusail circuit outside Doha, which also hosts Formula One in November, has been rescheduled for October 24 as the penultimate round before the finale in Bahrain on November 7.

MotoGP is due to race in Qatar on April 12 with that round also likely to be cancelled.

With agency inputs

Mercedes driver George Russell won the opening Australian Grand Prix Circuit of the Formula 1 2026 season as local hero Oscar Piastri suffered a disastrous start, crashing during the warm-up lap. Piastri sent the home fans into a shock as the 24-year-old, who finished third in the 2025 F1 drivers’ standings, lost control of his McLaren car while coming out of Turn 4 at the circuit in Melbourne.

Turn 4 at the Albert Park is one of the fastest parts of the track. And this is where Piastri lost control of his car as it spun and hit the barriers, suffering severe impact and ruling the driver out of the race.

Russell wins Melbourne GP, Piastri crashes 

Thankfully, Piastri did not suffer any physical damage, but he would certainly have been bitterly disappointed at not finishing the home race.

His partner and 2025 world champion, Lando Norris, finished the Melbourne Grand Prix in fifth position, missing out on the podium in the first race of the season.

Oscar Piastri has crashed and is OUT of the Australian Grand Prix before it begins 😮#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/5prGby7dNC

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2026

It was double delight for Mercedes as youngster Kimi Antonelli came second on Sunday, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was third. Lewis Hamilton would be somewhat happy that he finished fourth.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen finished sixth in the Red Bull.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were also at the top in the qualifying as they made it a Mercedes 1-2.

F1 live streaming: The F1 2026 races in India are being streamed live on the FanCode app and website.

More to follow…

As talks of Formula 1’s potential return to India build up after recent developments involving the Adani Group and the Sports Ministry, former F1 driver Karun Chandhok outlined a game plan for what it would really take to get the sport back and keep it here.

For Chandhok, it starts with vision. Not just a race weekend, but an experience built as a festival that draws crowds well before the cars even hit the track, much like global events where tens of thousands turn up days in advance for concerts and build-up activities.

“What can you do to create this event to pull in a crowd to make it a big event. They want it to be a festival. They don’t want to race around an empty stand. Silverstone, for example, we have 60,000 people coming on Thursday when there’s no car just to watch a concert before the Grand Prix,” said Chandhok, only the second Indian ever to race in the F1.

How will India return to F1 calendar?

In India for the Red Bull India Moto Jam, Chandhok stressed that the real pitch is not merely about hosting cars on track, but about alignment off it – particularly between the private sector and the government, something that proved problematic during India’s previous stint on the calendar at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) between 2011 and 2013.

“The big pitch, to be honest, is making sure that the private and government sectors are aligned. Because historically, they had issues here. Showing that there’s good collaboration with the government and whatever the issues were, they won’t be a problem. My father ran the operations at Jaypee. I was coming to BIC when it was an empty site,” said Chandhok, who drove Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull R8 at the Buddh International Circuit on Thursday.

“I remember when the freight arrived, custom clearance was an issue, the spare parts didn’t get cleared, all these hurdles need to be cleared. F1 is a circus. People come, seven jets arrive, freight comes, they hold their event, and then they leave. There’s no messing around; we can’t do this and that. You have to call this undersecretary or someone, it doesn’t work”

Drawing from international examples, Chandhok highlighted the importance of ease of access – particularly visa processes – if India wants to position itself as a seamless global sporting destination.

“Why not create visa on arrival exemption? When we used to do the Russian Grand Prix. It’s not easy to get a Russian visa. The Russian embassy people would come to Silverstone during the British Grand Prix and they would set up a camp there to provide visas even before the race. There has to be e-visa, there has to be ease.”

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As for Formula 1’s stance, Chandhok revealed that the door is not shut, but the path is layered and complex.

“F1 is open to coming back to India. They are open to a dialogue. But that is step No 1. There are various layers in terms of funding, regulations, regulatory support and government support. The infrastructure on track needs to be upgraded and there has to be a spot on the calendar. There are four blocks. Until there’s a clarity on how these four blocks can be built and then put together, I can’t give you an answer. This is the process of getting the race together.”

Encouragingly, he believes the new possible custodians of the Greater Noida circuit understand both the appetite and the financial realities involved.

“The good news is that people who own the track are making the right noises. You need the appetite to do something. They understand what it is going to cost. So many people have called F1 and said they want to host a race, but they don’t understand the financial model. But these guys do understand. By acquiring Jaypee, they (Adani) will have that historical data.”

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Why doesn’t India produce F1 drivers?

While the possible return of F1 to India dominates the headlines, how the country can have more drivers in the sport remains a major concern. Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok, after all, are the only Indians to have ever raced in Formula 1, with no one from India competing in an F1 race since 2012.

When asked how India can break its drought, Chandhok had a blunt and uncomfortable truth to share.

“There’s a reason we have 1.4 billion people and only two F1 drivers,” he said. “The primary reason is money. We are in a country where one sport is so dominant, and like a big vacuum cleaner, it just sucks up so much of the sponsorship money.

“One telecom company said to me, ‘Why should we sponsor you for Rs 50 lakhs when I can buy VVS Laxman’s bat for that money?’ It’s quite hard to answer that.”

Ultimately, as he said, talent alone is not enough. In India, producing a Formula 1 driver requires a rare convergence of timing, funding, opportunity and institutional support. The stars must align within a narrow window, and without a robust ecosystem to sustain that alignment, raw speed and potential often fade before they reach the global stage.

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