There was a twitch from what we thought might be the mortal remains of Lewis Hamilton‘s career.
After 477 days, the seven-time world champion claimed a podium at the Chinese Grand Prix, his first wearing Ferrari red at the 26th time of asking.
He declared himself back to his ‘best’ physically and mentally, and was mighty relieved to clinch this third place ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc in a high-wire duel, wheel-to-wheel.
Neither scarlet machine was ever likely to win. The Mercedes cars lead the way right now, certainly faster on the straights, and they duly took the top two places, though not in the anticipated order, as Kimi Antonelli became the second youngest winner in Formula One history. He is behind only an 18-year-old Max Verstappen, which is decent company to keep.
More of Max to come, below. He was in fiery mood, hating the new regulations that he said will ‘bite the sport in the a***’.
At 19 years and 228 days, Antonelli is young enough to be Hamilton’s son. Indeed, the Italian noted that when the seven-time world champion claimed his first win in 2007 he was just one.
Kimi Antonelli won his maiden Grand Prix as Mercedes continued their good start to the season in China
Antonelli, who became the second youngest race winner in Formula One history, was emotional following the race in Shanghai
A graduate of Mercedes’ academy, he wiped away tears as he took in his moment achieved in the seat he took over from Hamilton, who congratulated him warmly, mentor to mentee.
Antonelli’s win, from pole, pushed George Russell into runners-up spot – albeit after a technical glitch hampered him in qualifying. The Englishman, four points ahead of the field, remains favourite for the title. But Antonelli has tapped him on the shoulder.
Hamilton is the crowd favourite in Shanghai. Flags carrying his number, 44, were waved fervidly in the stands. His mother Brenda raised a cheer when she acknowledged the support on the pre-race grid.
She brought her boy some luck on Mother’s Day. He started third, and was involved in a real ding-dong with Leclerc, starting fourth. Time and again they traded places – six times by my count – with even a kiss of wheels once, but it was fair and clean in all.
Still, they were adjacent enough to induce deep breaths on the Ferrari put wall. Each deployed their battery boost effectively to nip back past. It took skill, though, as even those who decry the orchestrated theatre of the overhauled rules must concede.
Hamilton made his final decisive pass on lap 40.
He was glowing afterwards, saying: ‘I hope it was an exciting race to watch because it was awesome in the car. It felt like go-karting, back and forth, back and forth, where you could position your car in a really nice way.
‘There was thin piece of paper between us at times, but we did not exchange any paint, and that is down to great drivers and respect.’
Will the tonic of a podium provide Hamilton with a springboard for the eighth title he wants to seal his legacy? He dodged that one. Well, he is 18 points off Russell.
But he was upbeat, nonetheless. He seems far happier in the Ferrari culture, which came as a shock to him after only previously driven for British-based teams. He also said a win is ‘within sight’ now.
Lewis Hamilton took the first podium of his Ferrari career after a battle with Charles Leclerc
‘I definitely feel like I am back, both mentally and physically, to my best,’ he said. ‘I decided on Christmas Day how I was going to start this season. I am going to continue to work on things. There is more to come and I can get more performance from the car.’
Now to the kid, the day’s deserving winner. Antonelli got away cleanly, and defended Leclerc’s threat with style, while Russell fell from second to fourth as a result of the irresistible force of the fast-starting Ferraris.
A safety car came out when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin packed up. All the leaders pitted, double-stacking as they did so. Antonelli sometimes lacked composure in a trying debut season last year, perhaps exposed too young to the spotlight.
Here he was cool, only once pushing too hard – nerves? – as the chequered flag approached. He lost two seconds as a result, but could afford to, such was his cushion.
Verstappen hates this half-electric, half-combustion engine era, his mood not soothed by retirement 10 laps from the end. He made a poor start and then valiantly moved up the field to run sixth when his engine expired.
He revved straight up when he got out of the car.
‘You could have seem this coming from a long time ago so I don’t know what I need to discuss,’ he protested. ‘We have a lot of work to do ourselves. They should have listened in 2023 to see this coming.
‘It is terrible. If someone like this then you really don’t know what racing is about. It is not fun at all. It is Mario Kart. This is not racing.
‘Look at the racing? We are boosting past. Then you run out of battery and they boost back past you again. For me, it is just a joke.
‘It is just Kimi or George winning, right? They are miles ahead of the field. It is just that Ferrari sometimes have these good starts which push them ahead, and then it takes a few laps to be sorted out.
‘I would say the same if I was winning because I care about the racing product. You can help it a little bit with some tweaks but it is fundamentally flawed. It is painful.’
A woeful day for Lando Norris and his McLaren team, with neither of the papaya cars even making it to the start.
It was a dismal day for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who both failed to start the race
The defending world champion was sitting in the garage as time ticked down to lights out. His mechanics worked valiantly but could not get him going, stymied by an electrical gremlin.
Moments later, Norris’s team-mate Oscar Piastri was wheeled back into the pit lane, his race over before it began.
There were also no-shows by Williams’ Alex Albon and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto. Teething problems in these early throes of the new regulations persist.
A bravura performance by Ollie ‘The Bear’ Bearman, 20, who took fifth place for Haas, just short of his best performance, fourth in Mexico last year, but still good enough to press his claims at this distant stage to take over from Hamilton one day at Ferrari. That is the Brit’s dream.
