Mercedes
Antonelli won his maiden Grand Prix to become the second-youngest race winner after an assured display in China. He got away okay, better than his team mate but not well enough to stop Hamilton flying past. Antonelli did well to keep Leclerc behind, and once his tyres were up to temperature he got Hamilton and from there, slowly but surely built a lead. He was untroubled for the rest of the race bar one late lock up on aging tyres, which gave the team a fright.
Russell had a harder time of it, having dropped behind both Ferrari cars at the start. He was in the midst of fighting with them when they all pitted under the Safety Car, which dropped him into midfield traffic. Slowly but surely he used the pace in the car to fight back to second, but was too far back to take the fight to his team mate.
Kimi Antonelli, 1st
“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.”
George Russell, 2nd
“Firstly, huge congratulations to Kimi on his first victory in F1. He drove a great race, and it was brilliant to be up there on the podium with him. I am sure it is a moment he will never forget and to do it with the team scoring a 1-2 is fantastic.
“My own race was not straightforward. I lost positions both at the start and then at the Safety Car restart as we struggled to switch the Hard tyres on. The Ferraris were quick, particularly in the early stages, and we had to get back past them twice. They were fast in all the right places and that made our job a lot more difficult. Happily, we were able to do it each time, but it cost us the chance to fight for the win.
“It has been a great way to start the season, and we are definitely the team to beat at the moment. We have been put under a lot of pressure at these first two races, and we need to keep pushing hard. The package is strong though so I’m looking forward to heading to the next race in Japan.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“This moment was never in doubt for Kimi. Right from his days in karting, we have known that he has all the talent necessary to develop into a Grand Prix winner. His family, along with the team, have done a brilliant job nurturing that talent and today shows that. There have been so many doubters writing him off, saying it was too early, that he doesn’t have the composure necessary, and Kimi has proven them all wrong. This is just the start for him; he will keep his feet on the ground and keep working hard but he can definitely enjoy himself this evening.
“Despite the result, it wasn’t an easy afternoon for the team. The Ferraris kept us honest and George did a good job to battle back and finish ahead of them. It was also great to see Lewis (Hamilton) up on the podium with Kimi, George, and Bono. All four of them are such a big part of this team’s history and it was brilliant to see them all up there together.
“We’ve made a good start to the season but there is much work ahead. We will keep focused, keep pushing on and hopefully can continue to fight for victories as the season progresses.”
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.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team celebrates with his team during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team celebrates with his team during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Ferrari
Ferrari livened up the race from word go, Hamilton taking the lead out of Turn 1 and Leclerc briefly following him through. The Monegasque driver lost out to Antonelli a few corners later, before fighting with Russell for third. Once Hamilton dropped behind the teenager, the two Ferraris were embroiled in multiple battles for the rest of the race. They kept Russell at bay for quite some time, but eventually he did get through. Then it was all about the intra-team fight for the final podium slot, with Hamilton eventually pipping his team mate for his maiden Ferrari rostrum.
Lewis Hamilton, 3rd
“Huge congratulations to Kimi (Antonelli), I’m really happy to share this moment and podium with him. Overall, it’s been a very positive weekend for us; we’ve learned a lot and improved the way we optimise the car. Today was one of the most enjoyable races I’ve had in years, with hard but fair battles, especially with Charles. Racing in front of this fantastic crowd made it even more special. We still have work to do, but we’re on the right path, and I’m hugely grateful to everyone back in Maranello as we push to take the fight to Mercedes even more in the weeks ahead.”
Charles Leclerc, 4th
“It was a really exciting race with a lot of fights. These new cars are really fun to race, it’s all about tactics and energy deployment, and you can really play with that to get ahead of your competitors.
“Lewis was strong all weekend, so it’s not a surprise he’s P3, he deserves it. We had some great fights, and I am sure we will continue to see some more good battles this year.
Congratulations to Kimi (Antonelli) for his first victory. It’s always touching to see raw emotion like that, and he did an exceptional job today, so I’m very happy for him.”
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
“It was a positive weekend overall and I’m happy for Lewis, as this first podium with Ferrari is an important step for him. Of course we are still a long way off Mercedes and we need to work very hard in the coming weeks. We are working on all elements of our package, although it is a bit more difficult on the power unit as it is frozen at the moment, so we need to make progress in different areas.
“Charles also had a positive weekend and the duel between our two drivers was very exciting, to the point that I had to check my heart rate! I trust both of them and I didn’t want to ask them to freeze the positions, because that would have been unfair. They are professionals and today’s battle was good for the team and good for the sport.
“I’m also very pleased for Kimi (Antonelli). He had a strong weekend from start to finish. The first win is always very difficult to get, so he did very well.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and Third placed Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari congratulate each other on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and Third placed Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari congratulate each other on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
McLaren
Norris did not make it out of the pits with the team finding an electrical issue with his car. They frantically tried to fix it as the pit lane exit shut, guaranteeing Norris at best a pit lane start. But in the end the issue could not be fixed and Norris did not start the race. Worse was to come – Piastri, whose car was on the grid, was wheeled back into the pit lane as well with a different issue. That was much closer to lights out, leaving the team no chance to fix his car either. A double DNS for the team, with Piastri yet to start a Grand Prix this season.
Lando Norris, DNS
“It’s disappointing to come such a long way and put in so much effort, not just me but the whole team, and to not start the race. We had an electrical problem on the power unit side that prevented us from starting the car. The mechanics worked as hard as they could to try and fix it, but unfortunately, we couldn’t. What makes it even more frustrating is that Oscar and I seem to have had completely unrelated issues on both cars, so just very unlucky all around.
“We just have to take it on the chin, learn what the problem was, and make sure it never happens again. Everyone in the team is frustrated, our engineers, mechanics and HPP teammates. All of us want to go racing and score points. It’s a shame I couldn’t race in front of the fans here today, especially after all their support. The team are already working hard to find the issue and fix it for next time, and we’ll get our heads down now and make sure we’re prepared for Suzuka in a few weeks’ time.”
“Finally, congratulations to Kimi on the win today. You always remember your first victory. I hope he gets the opportunity to soak it all in.”
Oscar Piastri, DNS
“A tough day for the team. While I made it to the grid, unfortunately, I had an electrical issue on the power unit side, which was different to Lando’s, which we are still investigating. While this is never what we want to happen, this is just sometimes how it goes in racing. Even more frustrating is missing out on another race distance, as we know that time on track is critical in learning how to get the most out of this era of cars. Thank you to the team for all of their efforts this weekend and well done to Kimi Antonelli on his first F1 win – it is a big achievement and something you never forget. Now, we will get our heads down and switch our focus to Japan.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
“A Formula 1 race weekend is built from the effort and energy of many team members, both trackside and in Woking at the factory, not to mention our technical and commercial partners alongside the incredible McLaren Mastercard fans who invest in getting up early or staying up late to support us.
“We are here to go racing, and today we were not in condition to do so because of separate electrical problems on both power units, which is extremely frustrating and disappointing for the team, the drivers, our technical and commercial partners, and of course our fans. We are sorry for that and will make sure we bounce back as one team in Suzuka.
“Nothing had changed between Saturday’s Qualifying and the fire-up in the garage pre-race, but as we prepared Lando’s car to leave the garage, an electrical problem was discovered on the power unit. We tried to fix it alongside our partners at Mercedes HPP, but there was no way to do so, which resulted in the first prevention of a Formula 1 Grand Prix start in his career.
“Then on the grid we found another electrical issue on Oscar’s power unit which couldn’t be resolved, resulting in the car being required to return to the garage for further investigation. They look to be separate electrical faults on the power unit occurring at the same time, an extremely unfortunate coincidence which meant there was simply no way to start the race with either car this afternoon. We’ll investigate together alongside our partners at HPP to understand what happened.
“We move forward as one team, both trackside and in Woking, with our partners at HPP. We’ll learn from today together and make sure it doesn’t happen again before coming back stronger for the next race in Japan. Finally, we would also like to congratulate Andrea Kimi Antonelli on his first Formula 1 Grand Prix victory, a special achievement he will never forget.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren on the drivers parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren on the drivers parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
Haas
Bearman finished as ‘best of the rest’ for the second Grand Prix in a row, this time rising to fifth at the flag following his P7 finish in Australia. But he had a tough afternoon of it, coming oh so close to being taken out by a spinning Hadjar on the opening lap. He pitted under the Safety Car which jumped him ahead of Gasly, and had some very entertaining fights with both his team mate and Colapinto, both of whom started on the hards.
As for Ocon, he rose as high as P3 at one stage, after not pitting under the Safety Car. His one stop eventually dropped him down the order and while he was recovering back towards the top 10, he tried a move on Colapinto throught the first turn as the Alpine driver exited the pits. It was optimistic at best, and caused a collision between the two. As well as being handed a 10-second penalty for the moment, Ocon was forced to pit again to have some debris removed from the side of his car. He held his hands up and apologised to Colapinto after the race.
Oliver Bearman, 5th
“It was a great race, we couldn’t have asked for more, and I just want to keep pushing like this now. On lap one, I was very unlucky with Hadjar spinning in front of me and I thought our race was over, I was put back to P12 at that time. Luckily, the Safety Car came out at the right point for us when we needed to have that pace. We took that luck, and the car was very quick today, I’m super happy.”
Esteban Ocon, 14th
“We were on for a very good race, looking at the pace we had on the hard tyre. It’s the second race in a row that we’ve picked up the Safety Car or virtual safety car at the wrong time while in a points-paying position, so it just didn’t go our way today. I made a mistake with Franco and misjudged the gap, but we had some good fights throughout the race until then, so it’s a shame that it ended that way.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“I’m almost speechless, but what an amazing performance and team effort. We’ve always said, in Melbourne as well, keep it simple. We need to focus on our own race and get the best out of it in case something happens in front, and that’s exactly what we did. Ollie was very unlucky with Hadjar, so having that Safety Car nullified that bad luck, so to speak. I really believe we got that P5 absolutely on merit, and that doesn’t happen overnight. That’s an accumulation of effort from previous years, the parallel development of cars last year, hitting shakedown, and we’re learning every day.
“Esteban also had a very good race, but he was unlucky in his pit stop, where we had a mistake that put him in a position that he shouldn’t have been in, but without that, he would’ve been in the points as well. Double points would’ve been the icing on the cake, but we’ve shown what’s possible, and that’s what we’re going to aim for in Japan.
“I’m so proud to see the daily improvement this team is making together to understand the car and get the most out of these regulations. I’m so happy we can get these results to be able to give them back to everyone who is pushing like crazy.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 14: Oliver Bearman of Great Britain driving the (87) Haas F1 VF-26 Ferrari leads Pierre Gasly of France and Alpine F1 Team, Isack Hadjar of France driving the (6) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22 Red Bull Ford and Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 03 RB Ford during the Sprint race ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 14, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 14: Oliver Bearman of Great Britain driving the (87) Haas F1 VF-26 Ferrari leads Pierre Gasly of France and Alpine F1 Team, Isack Hadjar of France driving the (6) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22 Red Bull Ford and Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 03 RB Ford during the Sprint race ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 14, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Alpine
Alpine had a great race in Shanghai, the only midfield team to score with both cars. Gasly got off the line well and was running fifth until the pit stops, when he lost out to Bearman. Having dropped behind the cars that opted not to stop, the Frenchman had to fight hard to climb back up to finish sixth. As for Colapinto, he was second behind Antonelli for a spell, having started on the hard tyre and thus being one of the cars not to pit under the Safety Car.
He slowly dropped back as fresher-shod cars overtook him, but he made them all work hard for their positions. When he eventually pitted, he collided with Ocon on his lap out of the pits, picking up car damage and dropping places. But Colapinto did well to fight back to P10, picking up his first point for Alpine.
Pierre Gasly, 6th
“It’s a great result for the team today and a solid weekend overall to get both cars in the points. Of course, I’m happy with the result, even though deep inside the competitor in me is a bit annoyed not to get fifth place, which I think was achievable in the end. I felt really comfortable in the car again today, and the pace was there. We were keeping the leading group in sight in the opening stint. With these new cars, we knew it wasn’t a matter of if there was going to be a Safety Car but when. It eventually happened and bunched up the whole field. At the restart for some reason I didn’t have the power or boost and Ollie (Bearman) passed me. With all the fighting with Max (Verstappen) and other cars around me, I lost ground to Ollie and had a big gap to make up. I pushed like every lap was a Qualifying lap, which was enjoyable and I managed to catch him, however, couldn’t get close enough to make a move. It’s a fantastic result and there are still many things to fine tune. Hopefully the pace we showed this weekend we can carry over in the coming races.”
Franco Colapinto, 10th
“What a race and a great day for the team with both cars in the points. I’m happy to score my first points for Alpine, but I’m also equally frustrated and was hungry for more. Some things didn’t go our way today and while getting back in the points is a nice achievement, I know there was more out there, which bodes well for future races. We made an amazing start and made up a lot of places. We were comfortably running in P5 and P6 before the Safety Car was deployed. This neutralised the field and all the Hard tyre runners stayed out, including myself. After that, we ran long and then was unfortunately hit by Esteban (Ocon) exiting the pits. He came to apologise afterwards and it was all fine. We lost a bit of downforce with damage to the floor and didn’t quite have enough pace or laps left to get Carlos (Sainz) at the end. Extra points were literally in our grasp! Well done to Pierre also. There was good teamwork out there today and some enjoyable battles out on track.”
Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor
“To come away with nine points and both Pierre and Franco scoring is a great result for the team. Both drivers did a super job and got a nice reward for the team to take back to Enstone after a tough double-header to start the season. It’s the first double-points scoring finish for the team this season and shows the team can be competitive and regularly fight for points. We know it will be a development race, and the hard work doesn’t stop here. We’ll keep pushing ahead of Japan and the coming races to keep in the right direction. Also, congratulations to Kimi (Antonelli) on his first win in Formula One. It’s the first win from an Italian and a fellow countryman since Fisi with us in 2006.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A526 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Sona Maleterova/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A526 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Sona Maleterova/Getty Images)
Racing Bulls
Lawson started on the medium tyre, Lindblad the hards. And it was the former who was going well early on, only to pit one lap before the Safety Car came out. That was a moment of bad luck for the New Zealand racer, but he was able to fight his way back into the points after some fun battles with his fellow midfield runners. Lindblad had a different race, opting not to pit under the Safety Car. That jumped him up the order and he stayed out the longest on the hards hoping for a second Safety Car. That did not come, so he dropped out of the points when he eventually pitted – and was not helped by one spin under his own steam.
Arvid Lindblad, 12th
“It wasn’t the easiest weekend for us. I had a good start and the race was going okay until the Safety Car came out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the ideal timing for our strategy as it was too early to pit onto the Mediums, so we were forced to stay out on the Hards. It was a different weekend compared to Melbourne. It was built differently, as this was a Sprint event on a new track for me, and with only a few laps completed during practice. There are definitely learnings I can bring forward, as well as things I can improve and look at together with the team before going to Japan.”
Liam Lawson, 7th
“I’m really happy with our result today. To be honest, we didn’t quite expect it, but our pace was strong towards the end. We had a poorly timed Safety Car, and at that moment I thought our race might be over. It turned out to be a really enjoyable race and we managed to pull off a few overtakes. Bringing it home in P7 feels great. Full credit to the team from a strategy standpoint, we did everything right this weekend and securing two point finishes shows how well the team executed. We’ll keep pushing to find a bit more speed for next week and the coming races, and hopefully we can fight even further up the grid.”
Alan Permane, Team Principal
“To come away with a total of 8 points from a weekend where we clearly weren’t quick enough is an exceptional result for the team. It was a very well executed race. We were unlucky with the Safety Car as we pitted Liam the lap before, but he drove a really great race. He was under a lot of pressure at one stage from Hadjar and didn’t put a foot wrong, delivering a solid result. Starting on the Hard tyre, the Safety Car came at the wrong time for Arvid, which comprised his race and all the cars that started on the Hard tyre. A tough weekend for him, but the learning continues. A sprint weekend at a new track was always going to be tricky and especially where he didn’t get much track time in FP1.
“It’s a quick turnaround now, back to Europe for a week before heading out to Japan. It’s a circuit that presents very different configurations and challenges compared to the last two races, and one we’re looking forward to taking on.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 03 RB Ford on track during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 03 RB Ford on track during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Red Bull
Verstappen once again struggled off the line, dropping a handful of places as a result. Hadjar got away slightly better, with both opting for the soft tyre – the only team to do so. But then the Frenchman spun by himself when fighting with Bearman, and had to pit at the end of the first lap to get rid of his flat-spotted tyres.
That left Verstappen as the lead Red Bull, but his race was further hampered when he pitted one lap before the Safety Car came out, the timing not favouring the Dutchman. He did climb back into the points, only to have to retire the car with an ERS issue. Hadjar eventually scored his first points for the team, but could only come home in P8 at the end of a difficult weekend where neither driver scored in the Sprint either.
Max Verstappen, DNF
“It’s been a very challenging weekend for us overall. We unfortunately had to retire today in the race due to an ERS cooling issue, which is not what we like to see. We faced the same problems that we had in Melbourne: we had a lot of degradation and were still struggling with the pace and the grip. We tried a different procedure to help with the start, had a similar issue and lost quite a few positions at the beginning, ending up at the back of the grid. There are quite a few things we need to go away and analyse and learn from in order to improve our overall performance of the car. It is not where we want to be and something we will be looking at in detail ahead of Japan. The team are very talented and working on doing everything they can and I have a lot of confidence in them but at the moment we aren’t where we want to be. We do have a bit of time after this race to work on the car so hopefully we can work on improvements. Finally, congratulations to Kimi on his first race win: the first one is very emotional, and it was only a matter of time that he was going to achieve this.”
Isack Hadjar, 8th
“It’s a shame I wasn’t able to score more points today. I had a good start and had decent initial pace in the early laps. I enjoyed the fight with Ollie, it was good to race, but then the rear snapped out so fast and I lost the car. I had to then come through the pack, but I got some good overtakes and managed to work my way into the points. We got a little lucky with some of the cars ahead, but it’s still nice to get my first points with the Team. At the moment, we’re just lacking pure car performance to be competitive with the teams at the front but we’re understanding how to improve the car and its balance with each weekend.”
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal
“The Chinese Grand Prix proved to be a very tough event for us from Friday onwards. Being on the back foot at the start of a Sprint weekend is the worst possible scenario as there is really little time to catch up and get on top of any difficulties.
“We knew that just getting onto the grid in Melbourne with our own PU was a major achievement in itself and it would have been naïve not to expect we would encounter reliability issues. Today, we had to retire Max because of a coolant fault. However, this was not our only issue as overall, performance wise, our package showed some significant shortcomings.
“However, we have learned so much over the past few weeks and I expect that we can be more competitive from the next round in Japan in a fortnight’s time. After that, the unfortunate but inevitable cancellation of the races in April will give all of us a chance to catch our breath and work as hard as always in Milton Keynes.
“We have a great group of talented people on the campus and I have full confidence that we will get through our current limitations thanks to a massive push from everyone, and improve our package rapidly”.
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing is retired to the garage during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing is retired to the garage during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
Williams
Albon was due to start from the pit lane for the Grand prix, after Williams opted to change the set-up of his car under parc ferme conditions. But they then detected a hydraulics issue, and as such, he did not start the race. Sainz was left to fly the flag for the team, and it all looked to be going wrong for the Spaniard when he pitted one lap before the Safety Car came out. But he recovered back through the field and somehow held off Colapinto late on to finish P9 and score his team’s first points of the year.
Alex Albon, DNS
“There’s not much to take away from today as on the laps to grid we identified a hydraulic problem that resulted in me not being able to start the race. We were hoping we might be able to get back on track at some point to get some laps in and shake down the car again before Japan, but unfortunately we couldn’t fix the problem in time.
“We need to go through our issues and feedback with a fine tooth comb and we need to understand our reliability problems in able to find more performance. As a team it’s important to separate what’s in our control and what’s not and we need to pull together for Japan in just two weeks time. The silver lining is that Carlos was able to bag a few points for the team today, and a big congrats to Kimi on his first win.”
Carlos Sainz, 9th
“It feels good to get some points here in China thanks to a strong start, effective tyre management and good defending at the end of the race against Colapinto. We know we’re not in a position to score points on pure pace at this point in the season, but we got everything else right today and that’s what made the difference.
“We need to be proud of maximising everything and I hope that these points bring motivation to the entire team, here at the track and back in Grove. Everyone is making a huge effort and we need to keep digging deep over the next few weeks to bring more performance to the car. Vamos!”
James Vowles, Team Principal
“Incredible drive from Carlos to bring the car home and secure our first points of the season. Well done to him. He was faultless from start to finish and deserved those points today. With Alex we suffered a hydraulic issue on the laps to grid which meant that ultimately the car was unable to start the race. We clearly aspire to be more.
“We know we’re not where the car needs to be performance-wise and we have plans across the next few months to remedy that. We know what we need to do reliability-wise and those are items that we need to get on top of with immediate effect because we have two top drivers and I believe both could have been in the points today.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Alexander Albon of Thailand and Williams is interviewed during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Alexander Albon of Thailand and Williams is interviewed during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)
Audi
Bortoleto was the fourth non-starter in Shanghai, his car wheeled off the grid with a technical issue. That made it two consecutive weekends that Audi only had one car on the grid. This time it was Hulkenberg who got the honours, starting on the hard tyres. He somehow managed to avoid much of the chaos, pitting late and winding up with too much of a gap to Colapinto to try and fight for a point. But at least the German saw the flag, picking up valuable data for the team.
Nico Hulkenberg, 11th
“It wasn’t the smoothest race, but the main thing for me was finally getting a full distance under the belt after missing Melbourne. These cars are still pretty new territory – especially with the energy management – so every lap is useful right now. There’s a lot to unpack from today. We’ll go through everything next week, tidy a few things up and go again in Japan.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, DNS
“Unfortunately, a technical issue prevented us from even starting the race today. I still want to thank the team for having put in extra work until the very end to try and get me back on track – I really appreciate that. I think this race offered a lot of opportunities: many cars didn’t start or finish, so there was probably a chance for us to score points today. While this was obviously frustrating, it’s something that can happen at the beginning of a new era of regulations.
“There are still some positives to take from these first two races: Melbourne was amazing and here in Shanghai, the weekend was going well up until the race; we were fighting for good positions and had decent pace. Now, with a week’s break before Japan, we’ll be back in the factory working hard with the team and finding more performance in our car for the next race.”
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal
“First of all, congratulations to Emma Felbermayr, who delivered a very confident and assured drive this weekend. After some excellent overtaking on Saturday, she followed it up with a fantastic victory today – her first win of 2026 and the first win for Audi in F1 Academy. Congratulations as well to Kimi Antonelli on a commanding performance to secure his first Grand Prix victory, which is a special moment for him.
“On our side, it was unfortunately a difficult day for Gabi. I would like to apologise on behalf of the team for the issue that resulted in him being unable to start the race. It must be extremely disappointing for him, and it is something we need to understand quickly and address as a team.
“Nico’s race was also challenging. We know that getting the car off the line is still an area we need to improve, and we lost several places at the start. From there, Nico drove a strong race and showed excellent pace and energy management. Unfortunately, a wheelgun failure resulted in a 16-second pitstop, which effectively took him out of contention for the points.
“There is a lot for us to review and improve as we head towards Japan. The team will regroup, learn from the weekend and focus on coming back stronger at the next race.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany driving the (27) Audi F1 Team R26 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Nico Hulkenberg of Germany driving the (27) Audi F1 Team R26 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Cadillac
Cadillac did not have a dream start as their drivers made contact on Lap 1 in what was deemed a racing incident. Perez was on the inside, Bottas squeezed by other cars, and the two collided and spun the Mexican around. Both cars made it to the flag though in an encouraging display, with Bottas finishing two places ahead of his team mate.
Valtteri Bottas, 13th
“A great result for the team to finish with both cars in P13 and P15 in only our second Grand Prix. It’s not something I expected as other teams had multiple issues across the race. From my side, I had a relatively trouble-free race, which put us in a solid finishing position. We were racing and managed to get Aston Martin with some good battles. We’ve clearly made progress in all the areas needed from race one to race two. I’m really proud of this team as we’re heading in the right direction, but we know there’s still work to do.”
Sergio Perez, 15th
“It was a good race today and we can be happy with our performance as a team, getting both cars to the finish in just our second Grand Prix. My race wasn’t straightforward – I had contact with Valtteri at the start, which was on me. I was a bit over-optimistic and didn’t realise he had nowhere to go, which cost me some time. Then, every time I was closing the gap, I had a couple of issues with energy deployment and ended up losing more than 20 seconds overall. But we should be proud of what we’ve achieved over these two race weekends, and I’m looking forward to building on this at the next race in Japan.”
Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal
“We can be very pleased with that result. We saw today that the complexity of the new cars has given some experienced teams significant issues, so to get two cars to the finish at the end of our second-ever race weekend is a great achievement for everyone in our team in Indianapolis, Charlotte, Silverstone and Germany. More than that, we showed a good step forward in pace and overall performance throughout the weekend and were able to race other teams. It’s been a tough couple of weeks and I am very grateful to everyone in the team for all of their hard work. We can leave this first double-header with our heads held high, confident that we have a really good foundation which we can build on going forward.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR26 Honda leads as Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the (77) Cadillac F1 Team MAC-26 Ferrari and Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Cadillac F1 Team MAC-26 Ferrari collide at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR26 Honda leads as Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the (77) Cadillac F1 Team MAC-26 Ferrari and Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Cadillac F1 Team MAC-26 Ferrari collide at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Aston Martin
Aston Martin started both cars on the hard tyre for the race, with Alonso getting a great start despite being on the harder compound. He once again made it up to P10, before dropping back down the field. Stroll stopped out on the side of the track with a technical issue, which brought out the Safety Car on Lap 10 and ended the Canadian’s race. As for Alonso, he also failed to make it to the chequered flag, retiring thanks to the vibrations within his cockpit.
Fernando Alonso, DNF
“I had fun at the start again and it seems this is a strong point of our car as we jumped up to P10. However, from about lap 20 I was struggling with the vibration levels, and we were already one lap down, so in the end we decided to retire the car. The vibrations seemed worse today than on any other day of the weekend, so we need to investigate why that was. It’s clear we need more time to fix everything, but we’ll go again in two weeks’ time in Japan.”
Lance Stroll, DNF
“The car just switched off going into T1. We need to look into it, but suspect it was a battery-related issue. Overall, we’ve done more laps this weekend, collected more data and learned more about the car and the engine so that’s a positive to take from China. We have lots of work ahead of us in all areas and need to push for improvements. It’s not an easy time for the team, but we’re all working together and there is a lot of potential to unlock.”
Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer
“Neither car completed today’s race. Lance’s car experienced a suspected battery issue and stopped on lap 10. Fernando’s race ended on lap 34 when we retired the car due to discomfort from vibrations. That’s something we are working with Honda to improve. We take away a lot of data and learning from this race, which we will apply as we prepare for Japan.”
Gallery2SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR26 Honda leads Lance Stroll of Canada driving the (18) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR26 Honda on track during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 15: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR26 Honda leads Lance Stroll of Canada driving the (18) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR26 Honda on track during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 15, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Pirelli
Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director
“Firstly, I would like to congratulate Kimi Antonelli on his first Formula 1 victory. It has been exactly twenty years since an Italian driver last triumphed in a Formula 1 Grand Prix, and this historic moment occurred today in a race filled with overtakes and plot twists.
“As expected, the one-stop strategy proved to be the most effective in Shanghai, and the teams did not change their approach even when a Safety Car neutralised the race on lap nine. Instead, the pit window for those who had started on Medium was brought forward.
“The final stint on Hards for ten drivers exceeded 45 laps, with tyres that were clearly in the final stages of their wear yet still capable of maintaining decent consistency. In fact, the winner himself set the fastest lap of the race on lap fifty-two.
“Those who had chosen the white-banded compound at the start, on the other hand, had the opportunity to stay out during the neutralisation, gaining a few positions. However, it didn’t take long for rivals with fresh tyres to reclaim the top spots.
“Alpine, Haas and Racing Bulls, for example, are teams that exploited these two strategies to create different opportunities for their drivers. Soft were also used at the start, with the Red Bull drivers taking advantage of the extra grip to attempt an early getaway as the lights went out. We can conclude that all three tyre compounds proved to be valid options for devising effective race strategies.”