What a great Chinese Grand Prix! Huge congratulations to Kimi Antonelli on his first grand prix win. This race highlights how super dominant Mercedes is this season. Like Verstappen's Redbull of 2022, the Mercedes is in a different category altogether to the rest of the field.
It was a special Mercedes moment as Hamilton shares this special moment with the youngster who slotted into his seat after he departed for Ferrari. And having Bono pose for pictures standing between the driver he won six world titles with and one that he is moulding into a world champion was something very special too.
You could argue that if Russell had had a better start, he might have won the race. Winning is about taking full advantage of the situation to get ahead and win the race. And Antonelli did that, although with a brief moment of lock-up that almost gave it all away. Second Youngest driver to ever win a race and first Italian in over three decades to win a grand prix. Italians have reason to celebrate as they have a new race winner, and a Ferrari was also on the podium.
Well it is now clear, Mercedes is also dominant on the twisty tracks as they are on the fast long straight tracks. The 2026 regulation has failed woefully at preventing one team from running away with the championship. They have managed to simulate close racing with the boost button passes. But once the faster ones get ahead, they pull away, leaving the pack behind to race among themselves. There was plenty of action to entertain the crowd in the midfield, especially, but the race splits up into sub-groups racing among themselves. You have Mercedes clear ahead with 25 seconds gap to the fastest chasing Ferraris. Ferrari a further 29 seconds ahead of the nearest challenger, the Haas of Bearman. Even the midfield was fragmented into smaller groups of two or three racing each other, and not the group ahead.
Hence, the beginning of the race is great fun to watch, and then it descends into pocket racing of flip-flop overtaking. The 2026 regulation that seemed great in principle has turned out to be not so great in reality. The very things we complained about in the Verstappen era is repeating themselves in this 2026 era. Mercedes is untouchable. They are never punished when they make a mistake, as they easily recover to the front and win the race. It should not be so easy.
The Ferrari pair made the race very interesting at the front with LeClerc taking the fight to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. This battle was interesting as it was not battery power dependent but pure racecraft. LeClerc is reminded who he is racing with, and Hamilton is given notice that he aims to dominate. While l enjoyed the duel between the two Ferraris, I wondered if it was the right strategic thing to do with Russell right behind them. While l was watching the battle, l was asking myself if LeClerc realised that they still have Russell behind them.
LeClerc is not the most strategic thinker in the thick of racing like Sainz was, and he did not realise that having both Ferraris on the podium was a high likelihood if they stayed in formation and let Hamilton pull them both towards Antonelli. The battle allowed Russell to close in on both of them and pass them for second. And they both lost 5 seconds to Antonelli as a consequence. It was a battle that cost Ferrari a potential double podium of 2nd and 3rd. It potentially may have cost LeClerc a podium position. That said, Russell may have passed one or both of them in the long run anyway.
I felt the fight for position should have only taken place after Russell had passed them. Until then, the double podium was a possibility. Hence, it was fun and stupid at the same time.
Shock!!! Both McLarens did not complete the race!
The realities of building your own engine have hit Redbull. Surprisingly, the racing bull cars are faster while using the same Ford engine. Verstappen is getting a taste of what life was like for Hamilton in 2025.
