He’s been defined by being Lewis Hamilton’s successor and George Russell’s teammate. Now Kimi Antonelli is a Formula 1 race-winner in his own right, and the second-youngest in history.

The 19-year-old Italian pulled clear of an entertaining battle between Russell and the two Ferraris to take a commanding win at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday and share the podium with his teammate and Hamilton, the seven-time champion he replaced last year.

It’s a vindication of the gamble Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff took in picking the youngster, who’d joined Mercedes’ junior program aged just 11, to replace an all-time great when Hamilton moved to Ferrari for 2025. There were plenty of doubters when Antonelli crashed 10 minutes into his practice debut in 2024.

“Many said it was just too early last year, and obviously we asked ourselves that question, whether it was too much to throw him into this pressure cooker,” Wolff told Sky Sport Germany.

“One year with ups and downs and he’s young. We have to forgive him these mistakes, and now he’s in the second Grand Prix (of 2026) and brings it home ruthlessly. It’s good.” 
The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole-position starter and briefly lost the lead to Hamilton at the start but retook it soon after and was in control the rest of the way.

“We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team over the radio amid laughs and whoops, and he was holding back tears amid celebrations and a TV interview soon after.

It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Hamilton was third for his long-awaited first Grand Prix podium finish for Ferrari. 

The only driver younger than Antonelli to win a Grand Prix was Max Verstappen, who was 18 when he took his first victory in 2016. He’s the first Italian to win since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2006.

Russell bests Ferraris in thrillerThe new regulations again produced a dramatic fight for position between Mercedes and the fast-starting Ferraris as Russell fought his way past Charles Leclerc and Hamilton in a multi-lap battle with numerous changes of position. That allowed Antonelli to build his lead at the front.

Even after Russell had pulled away to secure second place, teammates Leclerc and Hamilton kept up their own fight for third. “This is quite a fun battle,” Leclerc exclaimed over the radio.

Leclerc was fourth with Oliver Bearman fifth for Haas, Pierre Gasly sixth for Alpine and Liam Lawson seventh for Racing Bulls. Isack Hadjar recovered from an early spin to place eighth for Red Bull, ahead of Carlos Sainz, Jr. in ninth for Williams, while Franco Colapinto was 10th for Alpine to score his first point since 2024.

Max Verstappen was running sixth when his car lost power and he had to limp back to the pits in another blow for the four-time champion, who has been a leading critic of F1’s new cars.

Double disaster for McLaren 
Formula 1 champion Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri were both unable to start after encountering technical problems minutes before the race began.

Piastri was due to start fifth and Norris sixth for Sunday’s race. Norris was in his car in the pits but didn’t leave for the grid, before Piastri was then withdrawn from the grid.

McLaren said it found “two different electrical problems on the power unit side” after an investigation. It’s the second time Piastri has failed to start in 2026 after he crashed before the start of last week’s race in Australia. Only 18 of 22 cars took the start, with Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Williams’ Alex Albon also unable to make it, before both Aston Martin cars and Verstappen hit trouble in the race too.

F1 is racing hours after it announced next month’s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not go ahead because of the war in the Middle East.

The United States has defeated Canada on Olympic ice yet again to secure gold, this time in the Paralympic Games. 

After a 6-2 victory over Canada on Sunday, the U.S. took home gold in men’s Paralympics sled hockey. 

In doing so, they became the first country to ever win five consecutive Paralympic titles. They were also the first to sweep all three Paralympic and Olympic hockey events at a single tournament. 

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USA players celebrate after winning the gold medal ice hockey match between USA’ and Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Milan on March 15, 2026. (Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP)

Of course, the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams also won gold, doing so in overtime in both gold-medal games at the Milan Cortina Games last month. 

But this contest between the sporting rivals didn’t need any extra time, as the U.S. saw Jack Wallace score a hat trick, while notching an assist, to help the Stars and Stripes’ cause over Canada. 

“This team is so special,” Wallace, who completed his third Paralympic Games, told NBC after the win. “We love each other. This team grinded it out, a gritty f—ing game. It was unbelievable. I love these guys so much.”

TEAM USA MEN’S HOCKEY WINS GOLD MEDAL IN OVERTIME AGAINST CANADA AT WINTER OLYMPICS

Other than Wallace’s goals, Kayden Beasley, Declan Farmer and Brody Roybal each found the back of the net. 

Only Canada’s Liam Hickey could score, tallying two goals that weren’t enough in the end. 

USA’ players celebrate with the gold medals after the ice hockey match between USA’ and Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Milan on March 15, 2026. (Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP)

While hockey is usually a sport dominated by the Canadians, the Paralympic Games has seen Team USA in that position for quite some time now. And they showcased why throughout the tournament, going through Italy, Germany, China and Czechia before facing Canada in the gold-medal game. 

Canada is one of the top teams in the world, too, having seen the U.S. in three straight Paralympic gold-medal games as well as eight straight world championship finals. 

But it’s been the U.S. having success at the Olympics, and they continued the trend on Sunday to finish what’s been an exciting time for everyone back home watching the red, white and blue on ice. 

USA’ goalkeeper Jen Lee (R) celebrates the gold medal with teammates after the ice hockey match between USA’ and Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Milan on March 15, 2026.  (Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP)

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With the Paralympics at an end, Team USA’s gold marked the 13th total since the event began on March 6. The U.S. finished with a tally of 24 total medals, including five silver and six bronze. 

China was the medal leader at the end, notching 44 with 15 gold in the bank.

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David Benavidez’s father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr, has shelved a potential world title fight while his son targets other champions at light-heavyweight and cruiserweight.

The 29-year-old will face one such fighter on May 2, when he headlines a Premier Boxing Champions card against Gilberto Ramirez at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Having never previously fought at 200lbs, Benavidez is entering uncharted waters when he attempts to dethrone the WBO and WBA world champion.

But still, many believe the American’s blistering hands and tremendous engine will be too much for Ramirez, who claimed his titles by dethroning Arsen Goulamirian and Chris Billam-Smith in 2024.

Those two performances were then followed by another unanimous decision victory, this time against Yuniel Dorticos last June, with ‘Zurdo’ having now established himself as a top-flight cruiserweight.

But while Benavidez must remain focused on the task at hand, his father is already mentioning the likes of Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev as potential opponents.

It would therefore appear that, even with a win over Ramirez, the WBC world light-heavyweight champion is likely to move back down to 175lbs.

One fight that has effectively been ruled out is against Jai Opetaia, whose status as IBF world cruiserweight champion remains uncertain after he claimed the inaugural Zuffa title against Brandon Glanton last week.

Speaking with Sean Zittel, Benavidez Sr insisted that a clash between his son and Opetaia is perhaps one for the future, but does not warrant their attention right now.

“I think [Opetaia] gets hurt every [time] he fights; he gets hurt [by] fighters that are not even known. I think he needs a little bit more experience.

“He doesn’t have the experience that David has. I think he is going to be better in about three or four years. I see Beterbiev, Bivol and ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez [as being] more dangerous than Opetaia.

“In the future, anything’s possible. [But] I don’t see ourselves fighting for the Zuffa belt right now. Right now, our mind is on Bivol, Beterbiev and ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.”

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If Benavidez moves back down to 175lbs after facing Ramirez, then an undisputed showdown with Bivol could become increasingly likely.

NASCAR fans are questioning the multinational law firm’s standards after the firm’s blatant disregard for the attorney-client privilege became apparent when courtroom transcripts from the legal fight between NASCAR and two Cup Series teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, became public.

The antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports began in 2024 and ultimately settled in December 2025. But the court transcripts have just been released to the public, and according to Associated Press reporter Jenna Fryer, they show that former driver Bobby Hillin Jr. was a client of Latham & Watkins, the law firm representing NASCAR.

Hillin had explored buying part of Richard Childress Racing and had access to the team’s financial information during those talks.

“Regarding the Childress/Bobby Hillin/under NDA portion of the case… Hillin was a client of Latham & Watkins, which was the firm used by NASCAR. The attorneys knew Hillin had attempted to purchase part of RCR, as well as RCR financials, because Hillin was their client,” Fryer shared on X.

Fans reacted online, questioning whether confidential legal information had been mishandled.

“Not sure what’s more shocking: the blatant violation of attorney/client privilege, the unethical sharing of info or Bobby Hillin attempting to buy in to RCR,” a fan wrote.

“Isn’t that a violation of attorney-client privilege 🧐,” another fan asked.

“L&M should surrender their law licenses,” another wrote.

“Talk about an absolute eff up by Latham & Watkins. A complete disregard for Attorney/Client privilege. SMH,” yet another wrote.

During the December trial cross-examination, NASCAR attorney Christopher Yates questioned Childress about Hillin and his involvement with a potential investor group. Childress acknowledged that conversations had taken place about selling an equity stake in the team.

At the time, Childress owned roughly 60 percent of the organization, with Chartwell Investments holding the remaining 40 percent. Their talks explored selling a portion of that ownership to Hillin’s group. Still, the negotiations had been covered by a non-disclosure agreement, and Childress indicated that he did not expect those details to surface in court.

“This is common in large firms and they should have had a conflict wall up to prevent this. It’s inexcusable…,” a fan explained.

Meanwhile, the potential deal between Hillin and team owner Richard Childress never moved forward after an unrealistic proposal.

“They didn’t have the money” – NASCAR team owner on investment talks surfaced during antitrust lawsuit testimony

During the trial cross-examination in December of 2025, Richard Childress said that the talks ended because the group lacked the financial backing needed to finalize a deal.

Jenna Fryer shared the exchange from the courtroom with Childress, where he asked whether Hillin’s investor group had the funding to buy part of the team.

“They didn’t have the money,” Richard Childress said.

RCR, founded in 1969, is one of NASCAR’s most recognized teams, with multiple championships across the Cup Series and other national series.