Double points and second podium of the season on Sunday in Shanghai

• George Russell finished third and Kimi Antonelli battled home to P8, despite floor damage, in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
• George Russell lined up on the front-row alongside the McLaren of Oscar Piastri for the 56-lap race. As the lights went out, George made the better start but couldn’t quite pass the Australian; as he backed out, Lando Norris was able to get ahead.
• Kimi meanwhile, starting P8, gained one position by passing the Racing Bull of Isaac Hadjar. Unfortunately, he suffered significant floor damage that compromised his entire race, likely from running over debris.
• Nevertheless, the Italian battled on gamely. After switching to the Hard compound, he fought the other Racing Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and ultimately used a one-stop strategy to finish P8.
• George meanwhile controlled his pace throughout before deploying the undercut to regain Norris for P2.
• Ultimately, the pace of the McLarens was too strong and Norris retook second position in the second stint.
• Nevertheless, George drove a faultless race to maximise the result and take P3 and make it back-to-back podiums to start the year and an all Mercedes-powered top-three.
• George’s P3 marks Mercedes-Benz’s 300^th podium in F1 as a works team, and his own best start to an F1 season after two races.
• The team now returns to Brackley after this opening double-header before kicking off the Japan/Bahrain/Saudi Arabia triple-header in two weeks’ time.
  

George Russell

P3 was the maximum for us today. We can therefore be pleased with the result and getting our second podium in two races to start the season. I made a good start and tried to take the lead from Oscar (Piastri). It was unfortunate to not be able to make the pass, and then to lose out to Lando, but fair play to Oscar as he defended well. Overall, the McLarens were just a little bit too quick for us. As much as we want our race to be with them, at the moment it isn’t. We therefore have to be happy that we were best of the rest today.

It has been a really positive start our season. We finished P3 in Melbourne, P4 in the Sprint yesterday, and P3 again today. We have been consistent, and the car has felt good. We will keep working hard to make it faster and hopefully we can close the gap to the very front.

Kimi Antonelli

The race was pretty tough after I suffered floor damage on lap one. It looks like I hit some debris and that affected the performance quite heavily. I struggled with the rear in particular after that and that was something I wasn’t expecting. It definitely hindered my pace, but it was good learning to have to deal with that. I think we can still be happy that we were able to bring home some points in P8, even though that wasn’t what we were hoping for ahead of the race. I want to say a thank you to the fans for voting me driver of the day. I definitely wasn’t expecting it given how my race went but it’s great to see the support from the fans.

Overall, I’m happy with how I, and the team as a whole, have started the year. I think one of the main points of learning for me has been Qualifying. If I can put it all together on a Saturday then we will be starting further forward, less likely to get involved in incidents, and can maximise the pace of the car. I’m excited to get to work ahead of the next triple-header and come back refreshed for the races in Japan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

That was a solid afternoon’s work. A podium felt like the realistic best-case scenario for us ahead of the race and that is what we were able to achieve. We knew that the McLarens were going to be very strong, and that the Ferraris and Verstappen were also going to be a threat. I don’t often give 10 out of 10s as I think there is always room to improve but George was faultless today. He extracted the maximum from the car and for me, that was a 10 out of 10 drive. He has started this season incredibly well and is performing exactly as we knew he would as the senior driver.

Kimi’s race was unfortunately compromised by floor damage he sustained on the first lap. He kept his head down though and fought really hard, despite the sizeable performance deficit he was carrying, to come home a creditable P8. He didn’t complain throughout the race, just kept focused on the job, and that’s exactly what we want to see.

Overall, it’s been a good start to the new season. The ambition is to win but we don’t feel any entitlement that we should. The car is not quite as fast as the McLaren as the moment, but the team are working hard to close that gap. For now, we are maximising the performance we have and to leave China second in the Constructors’ Championship, having taken two podiums for the first two races, is satisfying.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We’re very pleased to get our second podium of the year with George. He lost one place in the first corner, which meant that McLaren could control the race and realistically, third was the best we could achieve today. There was still a threat to defend from behind with the Ferraris and Verstappen, but it was encouraging that we had the pace to keep them at arm’s length today.

Kimi was unlucky to pick up debris damage to his underfloor on lap one when he likely ran over some bits of the Ferrari front wing. That really hurt his performance today. We’re nevertheless pleased that he could bring home some points, but it’s a shame as he would have had fun racing with Verstappen and the Ferraris had it not been for that damage. 

Overall, we’re pleased with how the first two races of the season have gone. The car is working well over a range of conditions and whilst we’ll always hope for more, the performance we’ve seen is encouraging as we can certainly improve from here. This is the most solid start to a season that we’ve had for three years. We have a big task ahead of us to catch McLaren but we’re not short of motivation and very excited for the season ahead.