By Erin Malik
We’re back into the flow of the Formula 1 season now, so another weekend brings us another dramatic Grand Prix qualifying.
Ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit tomorrow (Sunday 15th March), qualifying for the race saw Kimi Antonelli break the record as the youngest driver on pole in F1 history.
Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell won Friday’s sprint race, continuing his winning streak after a success in the opening race of the 2026 season in Australia last week. Friday’s top 5 in the sprint was: Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, and Antonelli, which the beady-eyed will notice is not too dissimilar to last week’s race top 5: Russell, Antonelli, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Norris.
After Saturday’s qualifying, Kimi Antonelli has broken the record to become the youngest polesitter in F1 history at just 19 years and 212 days old, beating Sebastian Vettel’s pole at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix when he was 21 years and 72 days old.
The Aston Martins, Williams, and Cadillacs were all out in the first session, then the Audis and Racing Bulls left the chance at pole behind in the second session.
After qualifying, Antonelli admitted that “George had an issue, so [it] probably could have been a different story”, but did say that he was “happy to be on pole for the first time”.
Russell suffered from a gearbox issue during Q3, which meant that he could only go out for a single lap in the final stint of qualifying, still gaining him 2nd place on the grid for tomorrow’s race by finishing just 0.222 seconds behind Antonelli overall.
Chinese Grand Prix 2026 Starting Grid:
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
George Russell (Mercedes)
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
Oliver Bearman (Haas)
WHEEL2WHEEL REPORTS 