Kimi Antonelli has said there is still ‘work to do’ after qualifying in second place for the Sprint race at the 2026 F1 Chinese GP.
The Italian set a lap time nearly three tenths slower than his Mercedes teammate George Russell, who took pole position for Saturday’s race. He finished three tenths ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who came third.
“The pace is very strong,” said Antonelli, speaking to F1TV after the Sprint Qualifying session. “Just didn’t put the lap together at the end, on the soft [tyres].
“Still work to do, but obviously congrats to George and [it’s] all to play for tomorrow.”
Kimi Antonelli summoned to stewards after 2026 F1 Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying
Antonelli’s front-row position for the F1 Chinese GP Sprint was called into question when he was summoned to the stewards after the qualifying session under investigation for allegedly blocking Norris during SQ2.
The reigning World Champion caught up with Antonelli’s Mercedes at Turn 1 on a push lap, forcing him to back off. Norris told his team over the radio that he “was going to push that lap”.
However, at the meeting with the stewards, Norris claimed to be on a “pushing warm up lap” instead, meaning he was not seeking to set a meaningful lap time.
It was decided that no further action would be taken against Antonelli. The report reasoned: “Had Car 1 [Norris] been on a push lap then, given the position of Car 12 [Antonelli] on the track, Car 12 would have unnecessarily impeded Car 1.
“In the light of the clear position taken by the driver of Car 1 that he was not impeded by Car 12 as he was not seeking to set a meaningful lap time, we took no further action.”
After just one Grand Prix of the 2026 season, Kimi Antonelli sits second in the World Drivers’ Championship on 18 points, behind his teammate Russell on 25 points and ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on 15 points.
