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).

George Russell

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, Team Principal & CEO

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.

Race Result