Formula 1 paddock reacts as Kimi Antonelli claims first grand prix victory in China

The Formula 1 paddock has come together to congratulate Kimi Antonelli on his maiden grand prix win at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Italian driver claimed his first F1 victory at the Shanghai International Circuit after successfully converting pole position into a race win. At just 19 years old, he became the second-youngest F1 race winner.

"I'm speechless. I'm about to cry, to be honest, but thank you so much to my team because they helped me to achieve this dream," the Mercedes driver said after the race.

"I'm super happy. I said yesterday I really wanted to bring Italy back on top and we did today, even though I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with a flat spot, but it was a good race."

The F1 paddock was quick to congratulate the driver on reaching the milestone. Commenting on Antonelli's Instagram post, 2025 champion Lando Norris wrote: "Congrats dude! Very deserved."

George Russell

"Yeah, firstly, huge congratulations to Kimi because it's always very special to win your first race and obviously he's been driving really amazing this year and this weekend, especially," the Briton said after the race.

"So I'm pleased to be standing on the podium with him and also with this guy as well [points to Hamilton]."

Lewis Hamilton

"Well, firstly I have to say a huge congratulations to Kimi. I'm so happy for you, buddy, and I'm so honoured to be able to share this moment with him," he said in his televised post-race interview.

"He took my seat obviously at this great team, so big congratulations to Mercedes. They're really pulling ahead at the moment. We've got a lot of work to do to try and keep up but I had so much fun."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Wan Mikhail Roslan / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Max Verstappen

"Fantastic, but I'm of course not surprised. This was definitely coming, and it won't be his last one," Verstappen told the media.

Valtteri Bottas

"Very happy for him. It's good to see he did great weekend, you know, great quali yesterday, kept it cool. And of course I take big credit for helping him to," he said, cheekily.

Jonathan Wheatley

"First of all, congratulations to Kimi, fantastic. You mentioned his first-ever dominating Grand Prix victory as well. But then he had a lock-up and went wide under no pressure at all. I think they're a challenge to drive these cars at the moment."