F1 Qualifying Results: Kimi Antonelli Makes Formula One History at Chinese GP

Kimi Antonelli broke the Formula One record for the youngest driver ever to claim pole position in the sport at 19 years and 202 days, overtaking Sebastian Vettel's 18-year-old record from 2008.

His teammate George Russell joined him on the front row after significant technical issues in Q3, with Lewis Hamilton, who spent a good portion of the sprint race battling Russell, in P3.

F1 Qualifying Results: Q1

Carlos Sainz Atlassian Williams F1 Team and Anthropic — Carlos Sainz joined Williams at the start of 2025 after he parted ways with Ferrari. | Atlassian Williams F1 Team and Anthropic

The session began with the same six drivers eliminated in Q1 as in sprint qualifying, all exiting at the same stage.

It was a small victory for Cadillac despite Sergio Pérez putting his car P22, as Valtteri Bottas managed to put his car ahead of the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll for the first proper time this season, given that the Canadian did not contest qualifying in Australia.

Fernando Alonso was able to put his Aston Martin two positions ahead of his teammate, picking up P19, but might be disappointed he could not better the P17 he achieved at Albert Park.

Ahead of the Spaniard were the two Williams of Sainz and Albon, with Sainz missing out on Q2 by over two tenths, while his team-mate was a further 0.455 behind him.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen avoided any Q1 disaster akin to Australia and put his Red Bull in a comfortable 4th.

Position / Driver / Team	Gap to Q2 [s]
17. Carlos Sainz / Williams	+0.178
18. Alex Albon / Williams	+0.633
19. Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin	+1.064
20. Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac	+1.297
21. Lance Stroll / Aston Martin	+1.856
22. Sergio Pérez / Cadillac	+2.767

F1 Chinese Grand Prix 2026: Q2 Results

🟡 YELLOW FLAG 🟡

Gabi Bortoleto is in the gravel at the final corner, but he gets going and returns to the pits! 😮‍💨#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/kDYVbKyU8v
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2026

Gabriel Bortoleto ending up in the gravel trap next to the pitlane would bring out yellow flags that effectively led to a premature end to Q2.

Due to this, Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto were left only fractions away from advancing to Q3, with no way of improving on their time in the final moments of the session.

Esteban Ocon suffered another Q2 elimination, finishing 12th, a single position better than what he managed in Australia.

Following the Frenchman were Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad in the two Racing Bulls, with neither matching their impressive qualifying performances in Melbourne, where they managed eighth and ninth respectively, with Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the drivers knocked out in P16.

Isack Hadjar was able to sneak into Q3 in tenth by 0.002 of a second—a lucky escape for the Red Bull newbie.

Position / Driver / Team	Gap to Q3 [s]
11. Nico Hülkenberg / Audi	+0.002
12. Franco Colapinto / Alpine	+0.005
13. Esteban Ocon / Alpine	+0.186
14. Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls	+0.413
15. Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls	+0.432
16. Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi	+0.613

F1 Chinese Grand Prix 2026: Q3 Results

The top-ten decider began with a huge shock, as George Russell's Mercedes ground to a halt on track, the British favorite reportedly experiencing battery issues.

Although it was not session-ending for Russell, he and many others left it late to put in their best laps as his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli set the time to beat with a 1:32.064.

George Russell STOPS on track... 😱

He gets going soon after but George reports that he can't shift gears! #F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/k9RNuGXojR
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2026

It looked like Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari would join the Italian on the front row, until Russell clinched second with his only flying lap of the session.

This demoted Hamilton to third, with teammate Leclerc trailing him by 0.013 seconds in fourth.

The two McLarens could not better their sprint qualifying efforts as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris ended up P5 and P6, with an impressive Pierre Gasly matching his result a day earlier with another seventh-placed hot lap around Shanghai.

Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar continue to have weekends to forget, the Red Bull duo placing eighth and ninth ahead of under-the-radar Ollie Bearman in P10.

Position / Driver / Team	Gap [s]
1. Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes	1:32.064
2. George Russell / Mercedes	+0.222
3. Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari	+0.351
4. Charles Leclerc / Ferrari	+0.364
5. Oscar Piastri / McLaren	+0.486
6. Lando Norris / McLaren	+0.544
7. Pierre Gasly / Alpine	+0.809
8. Max Verstappen / Red Bull	+0.938
9. Isack Hadjar /. Red Bull	+1.057
10. Oliver Bearman / Haas	+1.228