The Chinese Grand Prix has taken place, and while others diced behind him, once Kimi Antonelli retook the lead, he never looked back.<\/p>\n
It was an emotional moment as the Italian took his maiden Grand Prix victory \u2013 Italy\u2019s first win since before he was born \u2013 and there is lots to dig into as we look back at the day.<\/p>\n
Emotional Antonelli earns first GP victory<\/p>\n
Kimi Antonelli initially lost the lead at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix to the fast-starting Lewis Hamilton, but after regaining the lead a lap later, the Italian made sure to charge home his advantage.<\/p>\n
As the two Ferraris and George Russell battled behind, he built up a comfortable lead \u2013 and even though he gave Pete \u2018Bono\u2019 Bonnington a near-heart attack after a big lock-up in the closing laps, he brought home his first win in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
Naturally, as a seismic moment in his career, it was an emotional one.<\/p>\n
Read more: Antonelli breaks down after achieving \u2018one of my life goals\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Steering wheel vibrations end Fernando Alonso\u2019s race<\/p>\n Having targeted both cars finishing on Sunday, both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso retired in Shanghai.<\/p>\n Stroll\u2019s retirement came through a separate issue, but with Fernando Alonso having been seen on onboard footage removing his hands from the steering wheel mid-race, the decision was taken to retire him too.<\/p>\n Improvements from Honda, but still work to be done.<\/p>\n Read more: Brutal Aston Martin vibrations prove too much for Fernando Alonso in Chinese GP<\/a><\/p>\n McLaren suffers double DNS for separate issues<\/p>\n Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could not take the start in China, marking the first time neither McLaren made it into a race since the 1983 Monaco Grand Prix. (For the pedants among us, McLaren technically *did* start the race officially in Indianapolis 2005, but followed the majority of the field into the pits after the formation lap).<\/p>\n It turns out that two separate problems ruled each driver out individually, with Norris having never made it to the grid and Piastri having been wheeled back into his garage after his reconnaissance laps.<\/p>\n Team principal Andrea Stella explained more.<\/p>\n Read more: Andrea Stella explains rare McLaren double-DNS in Chinese GP<\/a><\/p>\n Leclerc: Hamilton faster in hard but fair Ferrari battle<\/p>\n Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton swapped positions on numerous occasions throughout the race in China, only once making the slightest bit of contact and Leclerc admitting over the radio that he was enjoying their dice.<\/p>\n Eventually, though, Hamilton managed to make his way clear of his teammate to earn his first podium as a Ferrari driver.<\/p>\n