Kimi Antonelli stepped up in Shanghai when his Mercedes teammate George Russell hit trouble in qualifying to become the youngest-ever driver on pole position for a Formula 1 Grand Prix on Saturday.

After holding off a challenge from Ferrari to win the sprint race earlier in the day, Russell seemed near-unbeatable. Then he stopped on track in qualifying and limped back to the pits with technical problems.

Russell's team got the car going again with seconds to spare for him to set a time. It was only good enough for second on the grid, 0.222 of a second off Antonelli, who kept up Mercedes’ run of qualifying dominance after F1’s sweeping changes to the cars for 2026.

The Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will start third and fourth. Their fast starts could threaten Mercedes off the line, as they did last week in Australia and in Saturday's sprint race.

The 19-year-old Antonelli becomes the youngest driver to take pole position for a full Grand Prix race, though he was also on pole aged 18 for a sprint race last year in Miami.

Russell won the first race of the season in Australia last weekend, and he followed up taking the 19-lap sprint in China.

As last week in Australia, the Ferraris were fast off the line and Russell and Lewis Hamilton swapped the lead several times on the first few laps. But Russell began to pull away after the early laps with Hamilton fading as the constant battles took a toll on his tyres.

“Lewis did an amazing job in the in the early laps,” Russell said. “He caught me off guard – 20 years of experience. So I've still got a bit to learn.”

“It was pretty fun in the end,” Russell added. “A lot of strategy in play and overtakes. It’s not easy. I hope it was fun race to watch. Usually the sprint races are pretty boring.”

Hamilton, who came in third, received loud applause from the Shanghai crowd when he began his on-track interview by saying “Nǐ hǎo" – hello in Chinese.

“That speed [of Mercedes] on the straight is just a little bit too much at the moment,” said Hamilton, who won last year's sprint in China for his only victory since joining Ferrari. "I think I put up a good fight.” (AP)



Edited by Thomas McAlinden