Formula One F1 – Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China – March 14, 2026 Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli celebrates after qualifying in pole position REUTERS
SHANGHAI, March 14 (Reuters) – Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli became the youngest Formula One driver to take pole position for a full grand prix after qualifying fastest for Mercedes in China on Saturday.
The 19-year-old qualified 0.222 seconds faster than championship-leading teammate George Russell, who secured the Mercedes front row lockout after earlier car trouble.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was third fastest.
Antonelli was already the youngest pole sitter in any format after leading qualifying for last year’s Miami sprint but in Shanghai on Saturday he demolished Sebastian Vettel’s previous grand prix record that the German set as a 21-year-old in 2008.
“It was a pretty clean session, so I’m really happy,” said Antonelli.
“I saw he (Russell) had the issue and tried to keep my focus to stay calm and deliver a good lap.”
Russell got in only one lap after coming to a halt on track early in the final phase and complaining over the radio that there was no battery and he could not shift gear.
The Briton managed to get the car going again and returned to the pits where mechanics worked flat out to get him back out before the chequered flag.
“Definitely damage limitation,” said Russell, who won the earlier sprint to go 11 points clear at the top.
“Q2, the front wing broke, we were wrapping our heads around that. Then obviously went out in Q3, car stopped on track, car wasn’t restarting, couldn’t change gear.
“Starting the last lap I had no battery, no tyre temp, no nothing. But the team have done a really great job to get us into this position, it could have been much worse.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc qualified fourth with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and reigning champion Lando Norris fifth and sixth.
Pierre Gasly qualified seventh for Renault-owned Alpine with four-times world champion Max Verstappen eighth for Red Bull and the Dutch driver’s new teammate Isack Hadjar ninth.
Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 for Ferrari-powered Haas.
Williams, Aston Martin and newcomers Cadillac were the teams whose drivers failed to progress from the opening phase.
Cadillac’s experienced Finn Valtteri Bottas outqualified Aston’s Lance Stroll while Williams continued to struggle with an overweight car.
“Terrible!” Williams driver Alex Albon shouted in frustration over the car radio after qualifying in 18th position.
Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by Toby Chopra and Peter Rutherford
