The 2026 Chinese language Grand Prix delivered the sort of Sunday that makes you keep in mind why you began watching this sport. A 19-year-old Italian received his first Method 1 race. Lewis Hamilton . And the reigning world champion by no means even made it to the beginning grid. Two races into essentially the most sweeping regulation overhaul in F1 historical past, the 2026 season already has its first star, its first feel-good story, and its first real disaster.
Listed here are our winners and losers from the 2026 Chinese language Grand Prix.
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Winner: Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes
Nineteen years previous. First Method 1 victory. . And he did it the laborious method: dropping the result in Lewis Hamilton off the road, combating again by way of two aggressive Ferraris, after which managing a 56-lap race in Shanghai and not using a assist internet or a veteran teammate holding his hand by way of it.
Antonelli has been the topic of huge hype since Mercedes put in him within the seat Hamilton vacated. Hype has a method of crushing younger drivers who aren’t prepared for it. He regarded prepared. There was one terrifying second late — — however he held it collectively, saved the hole, and crossed the road 5.5 seconds away from George Russell. Antonelli is the second youngest race winner in F1 historical past, behind solely Max Verstappen. For American followers simply stepping into this sport, keep in mind the identify. You’re going to be saying it lots over the subsequent decade.
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Loser: McLaren
mclaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri
There’s no comfortable solution to body this. Each vehicles didn’t begin. Not one. Each.
Lando Norris by no means made it to the grid. Oscar Piastri, who has now , was wheeled again into the storage earlier than the formation lap with a separate electrical failure on every automotive. Two totally different issues, two totally different vehicles, similar catastrophic outcome.
McLaren received the constructors’ title final yr and arrived in Shanghai as one of many groups able to making this a four-way championship combat. Proper now, they’ve zero factors by way of two races and a reliability disaster that ought to genuinely alarm everybody in Woking. The 2026 energy unit laws are clearly inflicting complications throughout the paddock however no one’s complications have been this unhealthy.
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Winner: Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari F1
He’s been ready 26 races for at the present time. His first podium in a Ferrari crimson go well with lastly got here in Shanghai, and he earned it the best way you’d need the best driver of his technology to earn it — wheel to wheel, aggressive, alive. Hamilton led the race within the opening laps after an excellent launch from third on the grid. He scrapped with Russell for the lead, swapped positions a number of occasions, and when the mud settled, he was third behind the 2 Mercedes drivers who merely had the sooner bundle on the day.
The intra-Ferrari battle with Leclerc within the closing stint was the sort of racing that made individuals fall in love with this sport within the first place. Hamilton stated afterward it was one of the crucial gratifying races he’s had in years. At 40 years previous, in a brand new group, in a brand new period, he nonetheless needs it. Don’t let anybody inform you this Ferrari chapter is already over.
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Loser: Max Verstappen and Crimson Bull
Ten laps from the top, Verstappen was operating sixth and quietly salvaging one thing from a messy weekend. . He limped across the circuit for many of a lap earlier than parking it, accumulating his second retirement in two races, which isn’t what a four-time world champion racing for a group with severe reliability considerations wanted heading into Japan.
The larger image right here is genuinely worrying for Crimson Bull. The brand new Ford energy unit reportedly got here into 2026 with restricted working batteries. Verstappen has been vocal about his frustration with the automotive’s habits by way of corners, and the hole to Mercedes in qualifying has been stark each weekends. He’s not out of this championship dialog (he by no means actually is), however Crimson Bull wants solutions earlier than Suzuka, and so they want them quick.
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Winner: George Russell | Mercedes
George Russell leads the drivers’ championship by one level after Sunday’s race and loss to his 19-year-old teammate. Take into consideration that. Two races, two podiums, one win, one second place, and the quickest automotive on the grid by a transparent margin.
Russell has been methodical, exact, and completely skilled by way of the opening two weekends of what was at all times going to be a chaotic new period. Antonelli beating him on Sunday doesn’t diminish what Russell is constructing right here — it really makes the Mercedes storyline higher. Two drivers able to successful races, separated by a single level within the standings, teammates who will finally need to reckon with one another. Russell knew what he was signing up for when Mercedes introduced Antonelli in. Proper now, he’s dealing with it precisely proper.
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