The Bolognese dominates in China and brings Italy back to the top step, the last one was Fisichella. Hamilton third, first time on the podium with Ferrari
The last laps on the Shanghai track before crossing the finish line as the winner Kimi Antonelli he passed them through emotion and emotion. A few tears must have fallen because when the team congratulated him on the radio, the nineteen-year-old from Bologna didn’t respond. And when they gave him the microphone he couldn’t speak: emotions that were too strong, the tears of a boy who was already a champion and who was becoming a man. March 15, 2026 is a historic date for Formula 1 and for Italy: an Italian driver returns to win a Formula 1 grand prix twenty years after Giancarlo Fisichella in Malaysia And he does it as the ruler of the weekend, without any strokes of luck. Antonelli won thanks to a very fast car (probably the fastest as demonstrated by Russell’s second place) and his talent. Second year in Formula 1 Antonelli has already grown a lot and it is not utopian to think that he can seriously think about winning the Drivers’ World Championship. Mercedes are the big favorites and George Russell probably has his most fearsome opponent at home. It was a happy morning for the Italian motorsport world also due to Lewis Hamilton’s third place, the Englishman finishing on the podium for the first time since driving Ferrari. Kimi and Lewis hugged each other for a long time on the podium, the Bolognese is a bit of the mascot of Formula 1, everyone loves him very much. Maybe from today it’s a little less because he will be a very tough opponent to overcome. When he regained his lucidity, Antonelli described his first victory like this: “I said that I wanted to bring victory back to Italy and today we did it, even if there was a thrill at the end… The World Championship? We think race by race. I dreamed that there would be a possibility and fortunately it came true today so I’m over the moon, I’m too happy and this victory gives pleasure, it gives pleasure… I’m really happy“. “What did I like most today? Definitely the start because the previous starts had been terrible, at the start I didn’t have that much confidence. Then the gap wasn’t bad, even if I still lost the position on Lewis. But after that the pace was good, on the medium tyres I was managing a lot, George had a bit more pace, but on the hard tyres I was doing well. And then in the end I relaxed too much and made a mistake, so we won’t have to do that again, but the pace was really good in the race. I was calm, I managed to stay calm on every occasion. Even the restart on the hard tires was very, very difficult because compared to Ferrari we had a terrible effort warming up the tyres. But I felt good, I felt that I had the situation under control and it was really nice. And obviously I have to dedicate this to my family, to my team and to all those who follow me from home. Confidence for the rest of the season? Definitely, I managed to achieve one of my big goals, so that definitely gives you more confidence and also, you know, I’ll have a little different approach, I’ll be a little more relaxed, more aware of the potential. But in any case, beating George and beating the others won’t be easy and we’ll have to keep hammering because in any case, yes, today went well, but we’re only at the beginning and we need to continue like this.”
The duel between the Ferraris
It was a fun grand prix and we still don’t understand those who criticize the new rules. Finally overtaking and twists. And even duels with sports cards, like the one at Ferrari which animated the central part of the race. Hamilton won the duel because he stayed on track and took advantage of Leclerc’s decisive block in the final to pass in front of him and hold on to that podium that he had been chasing for more than a year. The Englishman has regained motivation and now the leadership of the Maranello team is all to be assigned. Especially if in the next grand prix the Ferraris get even closer to the Mercedes, becoming the true rivals of the “silver arrows” for the world title. There “macarena”, the wing which would increase the speed on the straight by almost 8 km/h is expected to be used soon and in Maranello the Ferrari engineers are working on it day and night.
The others disappoint
It seems like a lifetime ago since last season when Mc Laren dominated the scene and only Max Verstappen seemed to be able to worry them. In 2026, however, the reigning world champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri are very far from Mercedes and they systematically end up behind the Ferraris too. In Shanghai they were even forced to retire and the same fate befell Verstappen with ten laps to go. In short, a completely different world, but we like this one better with an Italian who wins and competitive Ferraris. Meanwhile, the International Federation has made it official the cancellation of the Bahrain and Jeddah grands prix scheduled for 12 and 19 April due to conflicts in the Middle East. The stages of the World Championship therefore decrease from 24 to 22 but it is not excluded that at least one of the two grand prix could be recovered in the event of a positive change in the war scenarios.
