SHANGHAI SHOWDOWN
The Chinese Grand Prix, what a race weekend. Coming in dominant from Australia, Mercades were back to top the charts, setting the fastest times in free practice 1. Free practices 2 and 3 are substituted for a sprint qualifying session and the sprint event since China hosts the first sprint of the season. Sprint qualifying saw George secure his second pole position for Mercedes, Kimi trailed behind in P2, while Lando's McLaren finished in third.
Delivering another composed and confident performance, George Russell won the sprint and extended Mercades’ early season momentum. The first few laps though were anything but calm, Lewis Hamilton launched aggressively from P4, overtaking Russell to briefly claim the lead. Looking sharp in early exchanges, both Hamilton and Charles Lecelrc applied pressure to the Mercades drivers – due to their great racing the Ferrari boys joined Russell to make the top 3.
Onto qualifying for race day! Q1 had every Cadillac, Aston Martin and Williams driver eliminated. Q2 saw Audi and racing bulls drivers out, plus Ocon and Colapinto. Q3, the battle for pole position, Ollie Bearman slotted his Hass into P10, while the RedBull’s of Hajar and Verstappen were above. Gasly drove his Alpine into P7, Norris and Piastri claiming P6 and 5. The grid places of P4 and 3 belonged to Ferrari and for the first time ever, Kimi Antonelli claimed his first pole position for a race! This though was more than just a pole position, this was a new title in F1 history, Kimi had now become the youngest pole sitter ever.
Following the exciting news of the 19-year-old came the announcement that everyone had been waiting for, the FIA deciding to cancel the upcoming races in the Middle East, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Though the safety of everyone in the area comes first the news rocked the Formula One world disappointing many fans as the decision was a cancellation and not a rearrangement. The press says the board had explored hosting the additional races in a different nation but ultimately decided against it. The calendar now sitting at 22 races instead of 24.
Race day! and it was chaos already – As everyone went to drive into their grid places, Lando Norris was still stuck in his garage, engineers all over his vehicle. 10 minutes until race start and the cameras are panning to Alex Albon and Gabi Bortoleto out of their cars too. Mclaren workers are now coming to Oscar’s car who was already set in his spot, beginning to wheel it away. Hands to my head some of my favourite drivers are already out. 4 drivers with DNS’ next to their names. A terrible start especially for Mclaren.
Lights are out and we’re racing, a great start off the line for Hamilton and he’s in the lead. Hadjar spun his RedBull off the track making Bearman react quickly skirting around him, a very close moment. Aston Martin had a difficult afternoon, Ferando Alonso forced to retire his car due to vibration discomfort; meanwhile in car 18, Lance Stroll had battery issues which stopped him at lap 10. Esteban Ocon received a 10 second time penalty for a rash move on Colapinto’s Alpine, Ocon took the blame admitting he was in the wrong. Having a rough start to the Grand Prix, Max Verstappen had to finish the race early, the 2nd DNF of the day. A few laps to go and Kimi was holding his lead well out ahead; Ferrari gave us some thrilling wheel to wheel racing throughout the entirety of the race but only one of them made it to the podium. A big congrats to Lewis for achieving his first podium for Ferrari…. what a day for Italy because….
KIMI YOU ARE A F1 RACE WINNER!!!! Emotional at the microphone, Kimi expressing tears of joy and gratitude. Kimi Antonelli didn’t just win – he made a statement – becoming the youngest pole sitter in f1 history and the 2nd youngest winner. His victory margin over 5 seconds ahead of his teammate.
The podium was shared with lots of Mercedes love, next to his engineer Bono, teammate George and an ex famous face for Merc – Lewis Hamilton.
With love, T x
