Italian teen Kimi Antonelli makes F1 history as Piastri
An Italian teen became Formula One’s second youngest winner after the Chinese Grand Prix as Aussie driver Oscar Piastri’s 2026 world championship hopes went up in smoke with second DNS
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Formula One’s newest superstar is an Italian teenager.
Already tipped as a future world champion, teen sensation Kimi Antonelli has let the world know that he’s the real deal by winning Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Aged 19 years 203 days, Antonelli is only the second teenager to ever win a Grand Prix.
The only other was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was just 18 years and 228 days when he won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
“You’ve made me achieve one of my dreams,” Antonelli told his pit wall when he crossed the line.
“I’m speechless. I’m about to cry to be honest,” he added at his post race interview. “Thank you so much to my team. They helped me to achieve this dream.”
“I said yesterday I really wanted to bring Italy back on top and we did it today
“Even though I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with a bit of a flat spot, but it was a good race.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who signed Antonelli, said the youngster was already ahead of what he thought he could do.
“I think it’s maybe come earlier than I thought,” Wolff said.
“Last year we said that it’s going to be a very difficult year with many ups and downs and mistakes.
“Then, bang, second race (he wins). He has controlled it in the front, he has driven very well today, so he’s probably a little bit better than the trajectory* I thought.
“He was actually quite calm and jovial* before the race but then, on the grid, you see the eyes.”
The second youngest race winner in history finished comfortably ahead of his Mercedes teammate George Russell, who currently leads the championship standings with 51 points to the Italian’s 47.
Ferrari appeared the only likely challenger after Lewis Hamilton finished third and Charles Leclerc fourth at the high-speed Shanghai International Circuit.
McLaren had another disastrous weekend, with both cars failing to even start the race, leaving Australia’s Oscar Piastri and Britain’s Lando Norris to watch the action unfold from the pits.
After crashing during the warm up before last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Piastri still hasn’t completed a single lap this season, leaving his chances of contending* for this year’s title already in ruins.
“It was an electrical problem on the power unit, different to Lando’s,” Piastri said.
“Just very unfortunate to both have issues but we don’t fully know any more than that at this point. So obviously disappointing.
“Obviously the problems today have been annoying but I think besides that we know we’ve got work to do to find more performance so that’s what we’ll try and fix.”
For Norris, the defending world champion, it was the first time in his eight seasons in F1 that he didn’t make it to lights out*.
“Yeah, it’s just frustrating,” he said. “My first non-start in F1. Tough to take.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said both cars experienced sudden electronic problems to their engines that could not be fixed in time.
“We came here to go racing and today we were not in condition to do so because of technical problems,” Stella said.
“This is very frustrating and disappointing for the team, for the drivers, for our technical and commercial partners, and for our fans.
“We’re sorry for that and we will regroup and understand these technical problems, and we will go again in Japan.”
Stella said he was hopeful the issues would be repaired by the next race, in Japan on March 29, but the clock was already ticking for the two-time defending constructors’ champions*.
The new season would be delayed for five weeks after Japan, with both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix cancelled because of the conflict in the Middle East.
That’s more bad news for Piastri, who won both those races in 2025.
McLaren was not the only team battling with its cars. Two other drivers also didn’t make it to the starting grid in China, while three more conked out before the end.
WATCH THE VIDEO
POLL
GLOSSARY
- trajectory: figuratively refers to the course or development of a person’s life, career, or a series of events over time
- contending: here it refers to competing for something
- lights out: the moment when the five red starting lights above the grid go out, signifying the start of the Grand Prix
- constructors’ champions: F1 title awarded to the team (constructor) that has the highest combined points total from both its drivers over a season, recognising the team that designed and built the best car, distinct from the drivers’ title for the individual world champion
EXTRA READING
Piastri’s tragedy on the track
From go-karting kid to F1 crown
Youngest Aussie to win Grand Prix
QUICK QUIZ
- Who won the Chinese Grand Prix, driving for which team?
- What was unusual about this particular driver?
- Which two Grand Prix have been cancelled due to conflict in the Middle East?
- What happened to Australian driver Oscar Piastri and his British teammate Lando Norrisb at the Chinese Grand Prix?
- Who currently leads the drivers’ scoreboard and how many points separate him from his teammate and nearest rival?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Reaction time ruler test
A Formula One race car driver requires quick reaction skills in a fast-paced environment.
Perform the ruler drop test in groups of three to test your reaction times and compare who has the fastest reaction time.
How to perform the test
- Preparation: Use a ruler (typically 30 cm) and have a partner hold it at the top (highest number) so it hangs vertically.
- Positioning: Place your thumb and index finger at the 0 cm mark, not touching, but ready to grab.
- The drop: The partner releases the ruler unexpectedly without warning.
- The catch: Catch the ruler as quickly as possible.
- Recording: Note the measurement in centimetres at the top of your thumb.
- Repeat: Conduct 3-5 trials and calculate the average distance for accuracy.
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Why do you think reaction time matters in Formula One racing?
What other sports might require fast reaction skills?
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Exercise the body and the mind
Exercise is not only important for the body, but it’s a lot of fun as well. Let’s bring more exercise into classroom learning by creating a VCOP PE game.
You can add a VCOP challenge to pretty much any game, and it’s a great way to encourage the teacher to let the class play more games.
Here is an example to get you started, then you create one of your own.
VCOP dodgeball
The normal rules of dodgeball apply. Two teams throw soft balls at each other and if you get hit, you have to sit out. The team who knocks out all the players on the other team, wins.
VCOP challenge: when you get eliminated, collect a mini-whiteboard and a basic clause from the sidelines. Up-level the sentence (make it better) by adding VCOP. When you show the teacher your completed sentence, you can return to the game.
Play for a set amount of time and the team with the most players left on the court wins.
Support: use the “Up-Level It” card set – players have to complete one card from the set instead of completing all VCOP challenges.
What can you come up with?