19-year-old Kimi Antonelli wins his first Formula 1 victory for Mercedes  and the second youngest Grand Prix winner in history, after leading team-mate George Russell who came second in the Chinese Grand Prix. Mclaren failed to start.

Antonelli’s controlled drive after briefly losing the lead at the start to Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Only Max Verstappen, who won for the first time aged 18 at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, has taken the chequered flag in F1 at a younger age than Antonelli.

Russell’s second place ensures he keep the championship lead, by four points from Antonelli. Behind them Hamilton and Ferrari Team-mate Charles Leclerc staged a duel for the first two-thirds of the race.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal said, “ Antonelli’s inspired win has maybe come earlier than I expected. Last year we said that it’s going to be a very difficult year with many ups and downs and mistakes. Then, bam, second race, Antonelli controlled it in the front, he has driven very well today. So he’s probably a little bit better than the trajectory I thought. He was actually quite calm and jovial before the race but then, on the grid, you see the eyes.”

F1 cancels Bahrain event in Sakhir and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix event in Jeddah, as a result of the war in the Middle East, after their careful evaluations that it is not safe to hold either race because of ongoing conflict across the region. Cancellations of the race mean the sports will take a commercial hit of well over £100m as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pay two of the largest hosting fees on the circuit.