March 19, 2006 - March 15, 2026Exactly twenty years passed before an Italian driver won a Formula 1 Grand Prix again. Andrea Kimi Antonelli broke the wait, the Bolognese talent of the Mercedes won the Chinese GP bringing the tricolour back to the top step of the podium.
The last Italian success dates back to March 19, 2006, when Giancarlo Fisichella won the Malaysian Grand Prix. Antonelli, at the time, was not yet bornIt was a record-breaking day for the Bolognese born on August 25, 2006. Antonelli – whose middle name is not a tribute to the late former Ferrari champion Kimi Räikkönen – at just 19 years old is became the second youngest winner in the history of Formula 1, behind only the cannibal Max Verstappen. But not only that.
His was a perfect weekend: pole position record on Saturday, victory on Sunday and also the fastest lap in the race. A feat that an Italian pilot hadn't achieved this since 1953, when Alberto Ascari managed the same combination in the British Grand Prix. At the checkered flag, the young Mercedes driver couldn't hold back his emotion and gave way to tears.I'm very happy, I wanted to bring Italy back to the top and I succeeded.".
Antonelli crossed the finish line ahead of his teammate George Russell, completing the Mercedes one-two, and ahead of the Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, third at the finish line and his first official podium with Ferrari in a long race (last year he had won the Sprint race in China). The Briton took third place at the end of a splendid duel with fellow Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. The protagonists of the 2025 World Cup are out insteadMax Verstappen retired, while the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri didn't even manage to start.
Wolff's gamble and the symbol of a new generation
The triumph in Shanghai also represented the winning a bet. Toto wolff He had believed in Antonelli since the youth categories, protecting him and accompanying him on the path that led him up to the Mercedes seat vacated by Lewis Hamilton.
For the Austrian team principal the the day also had a symbolic valueLooking at the top three of the race – Antonelli, Russell and Hamilton – Wolff said he briefly thought it was an “impossible Mercedes hat-trick,” momentarily forgetting the seven-time world champion’s move to Ferrari.
Curiosity. On the podium in Shanghai he returned to to resound the Mameli anthem together with the German one, but with the opposite meaning to the era of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari: this time it was Mercedes that brought an Italian to victory.
Ferrari on the rise: Hamilton on the podium
If Mercedes continued to show dominance, the Ferrari confirmed itself as the second force on the track. And it arrived in Maranello finally a smile for Lewis Hamilton too.
The British had to battle for a long time with Charles Leclerc in one of the most spectacular duels of the raceThe two Ferrari drivers exchanged positions several times, overtaking and counter-overtaking, even coming close on the track, before Hamilton managed to prevail and secure the third step of the podium.
“It was incredible: we were wheel to wheel, one of the best races ever in terms of battle,” said the seven-time world champion, also congratulating Antonelli on the victory. b finished fourth after a hard-fought race, while team principal Frederic Vasseur he acknowledged the superiority of the Mercedes at this stage: “We need to work, because they are ahead.”
If the first two forces of the championship now appear well defined, behind them there is still a lot of uncertaintyRed Bull had a complicated weekend, with Max Verstappen forced to retire in the final stages when he was in sixth position and increasingly intolerant of the new hybrid single-seaters, divided between thermal and electric components.
The McLarens' failure to start was sensational.Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's cars failed to even start due to mechanical and electrical problems. This is only the second time in the Woking team's history that both cars have failed to start a Grand Prix: the previous one was the controversial 2005 United States GP, which was marred by the Michelin tire crisis.
Behind the first four, therefore, we can see above all the growth of a new generation of pilots. The fifth place went to Oliver Bearman with the Ferrari-powered Haas, followed by the tenacious Pierre Gasly, who brought the Alpine team driven by Flavio Briatore back to the top. Also scoring were Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar – who saved Red Bull's honor – Carlos Sainz, and Franco Colapinto.
F1: Two Grands Prix cancelled due to Middle East tensions
Meanwhile, an important news has also arrived decision on the season calendarAfter the Shanghai race, the World Championship will restart in two weeks with the Japanese Grand Prix, but the program will take a longer break than expected.
The FIA has in fact made official the The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix scheduled for April have been cancelled due to tensions in the Middle East.The two races will not be replaced, leaving a gap in the calendar before the championship resumes.
