MERCEDES CLEARLY AHEAD OF THE PACK! WITH FERRARI RIGHT BEHIND
FERNANDO SEES THE END OF RACING WITH DRIVING SLOW IN THE CORNERS TO HARVEST KILOWATTS…
LAWRENCE STROLL CLOSE TO THE BRAKING POINT COULD SELL ASTON MARTIN TO BYD!
UNLIKE MAX…LCH LOVES THE NEW CARS! AND….
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: ARVID LINBLAD AND UGO UGOCHUKWU….ENJOY!
Kimi Antonelli became the second youngest F1 winner of all time, beating Mercedes team-mate George Russell into second place in Shanghai, while Lewis Hamilton claimed his first ever podium for Ferrari. But it was another chaotic, controversial grand prix under these new 2026 regulations.
Neither McLaren made it to the grid, world champion Lando Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri both suffering from unspecified technical gremlins. After his crash on the formation lap in Melbourne last weekend, Piastri becomes the first driver since team founder Bruce McLaren back in 1969 to fail to start successive races.
But they were hardly alone. Williams’ Alex Albon and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto also failed to start, while Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen was one of three more drivers who failed to finish.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso had to retire due to excessive vibrations from his power unit – the same vibrations he was worried might lead to “permanent nerve damage” in Australia.
The controversial new 50–50 hybrid power units for this season, combined with active aerodynamics, have completely split fans and drivers. Some are enjoying the lack of reliability and hugely increased overtaking, with drivers able to deploy “boost” and “overtake” modes. Others, notably four-time champion Max Verstappen, decry the action as “artificial”, comparing this new era to computer games such as Mario Kart.
You certainly cannot accuse these new rules of failing to produce action. China, the second race of the season, was meant to herald a return to something more “normal” after an extraordinary120 overtakes at the season opener in Australia last weekend.
But it was just the same. A wild start, in which the fast-starting Ferraris surged to the front from the second row. A wacky first stint, in which the Ferraris and Mercedes battled for supremacy. And then – after a safety car came out on lap 10 when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll retired – Mercedes gradually pulling clear.
Antonelli, 19, eventually won by 5.5sec ahead of Russell to become the first Italian winner of a Formula One race for 20 years, since Giancarlo Fisichella at Sepang in 2006, and the second youngest grand prix winner of all time behind Verstappen, while Hamilton was another 19.7sec back, having emerged victorious from a furious tussle with team-mate Charles Leclerc in which they repeatedly swapped positions and went wheel to wheel. Leclerc said it was “fun” while Hamilton called it “one of most enjoyable races” he has ever had. Fans will be split on that sentiment.
Briton Oliver Bearman was an impressive fifth for Haas, just shy of his best ever finish, fourth place in Mexico last year.
Kimi Antonelli…
What an incredible day! This win is a fulfilment of one of the dreams I’ve had ever since I first drove a go-kart. I want to say thank you to my amazing family and the incredible team at both Lauda Drive and Morgan Drive. I couldn’t have done this without any of them, and it means so much to take my first victory in F1. It was a very special moment for all of us.
The race itself wasn’t easy. I lost a position at the start and had to fight back to get ahead. We then had to manage the Safety Car restart which wasn’t easy on the Hard compound. It was difficult to get the tyres working but fortunately we were able to before we were under threat from those behind.
This has been a great way to close the first double-header of the season but there is lots of work ahead. We aren’t taking anything for granted and will make sure we work hard ahead of Japan and arrive in Suzuka in the strongest position we can.
George Russell…
Firstly, huge congratulations to Kimi on his first victory in F1. He drove a great race, and it was brilliant to be up there on the podium with him. I am sure it is a moment he will never forget and to do it with the team scoring a 1-2 is fantastic.
My own race was not straightforward. I lost positions both at the start and then at the Safety Car restart as we struggled to switch the Hard tyres on. The Ferraris were quick, particularly in the early stages, and we had to get back past them twice. They were fast in all the right places and that made our job a lot more difficult. Happily, we were able to do it each time, but it cost us the chance to fight for the win.
It has been a great way to start the season, and we are definitely the team to beat at the moment. We have been put under a lot of pressure at these first two races, and we need to keep pushing hard. The package is strong though so I’m looking forward to heading to the next race in Japan.
Kirkwood Outduels Champ Palou To Win Arlington, Take Series Lead
ARLINGTON, Texas (Sunday, March 15, 2026) – It’s been a long time since a rival driver made Alex Palou blink, but Kyle Kirkwood achieved that rare feat to win the inaugural Java House Grand Prix at Arlington on Sunday.
Kirkwood took the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead and earned his first victory of the season despite a sluggish final pit stop by his Andretti Global crew, driving his No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda to victory under caution over the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of four-time series champion Palou, who has won the title the last three seasons.
SEE: Race Results
“That was so incredible,” Kirkwood said. “Man, did we have some pace. This JM Bullion Honda, Andretti, all these guys right here, they gave me the tools today. It’s because of this race car we won today, because of teamwork.
“One-three-four (finish) for Andretti; we’re just so stacked here. I’m so stoked.”
Andretti Global placed three drivers into the top four at the finish of the 70-lap street-circuit race around AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. Will Power placed third in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda for his first podium finish at his new team after 16 full-time seasons at Team Penske. Marcus Ericsson, who earned his first career pole Saturday, finished fourth in the No. 28 InPwr Honda.
Pato O’Ward rounded out the top five finishers in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, the highest-placing Chevrolet-powered driver on the 14-turn, 2.73-mile circuit.
“This Andretti Honda camp is fricking strong on street courses,” O’Ward said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to start winning races on outright pace against them.”
Pure pace helped Kirkwood, who started seventh and overcome a tepid final pit stop to overhaul Palou down the stretch.
Palou and Kirkwood were running first and second, respectively, when both made their final stops on the preferred three-stop strategy on Lap 49. The Chip Ganassi Racing crew completed Palou’s stop in 7.7 seconds, while Kirkwood’s service took 9.5 seconds due to a slow change of the right rear wheel.
When both drivers returned to full steam on their out lap, Palou led Kirkwood by 2.2 seconds. But Kirkwood used the speed that helped him lead the pre-qualifying practice Saturday, pulling to within .323 of a second of Palou at the start of Lap 55, with both drivers on the more durable Firestone Firehawk tires in a straight-up duel for the win.
Kirkwood didn’t waste any time flexing muscle, diving under Palou from a long distance in Turn 13 near the end of Lap 55 and making the daring pass stick for the lead.
“He did an awesome pass; hats off to him,” Palou said. “It was super clean, and it was pretty impressive. We’ll get them in a couple weeks.”
Kirkwood then started to pull away, building a five-second lead by Lap 66. Then that margin evaporated when ECR driver Christian Rasmussen nosed his No. 21 Java House Chevrolet into the tire barrier at pit exit on Lap 68, triggering the first full-course yellow of the race.
That bunched the field for a one-lap dash to the checkered flag. Kirkwood pulled away on the restart and was able to exhale early in the final lap when the second and final full-course yellow flew due to a collision between the No. 18 BMax Honda of Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean and the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Nolan Siegel deep in the field.
“Not today,” Palou said when asked if he thought he could have caught Kirkwood on the final lap. “I was pushing really hard on the first and second stint, and I could see that the 27 (Kirkwood) and the 12 (Power) were a little bit faster than us. I was like, ‘Oh, man, it’s going to be quite hard.’”
Kirkwood then cruised around the circuit one last time under yellow to cheers from the capacity crowd at this event, a joint venture between Penske Entertainment, the Dallas Cowboys and REV Entertainment, the official events partner of the Texas Rangers. He leads the standings by 26 points over second-place Palou after three of 18 races.
“It’s only race number three, so I’m not looking at the championship,” Kirkwood said. “But it is nice to say it’s the first time I’ve ever led the championship in the INDYCAR SERIES.”
The taut nature of the race, with its varying strategies about how often to stop for tires, resulted in terrific parity up front. Kirkwood, Palou and Power each led 16 laps to tie for the race high, with Ericsson fourth with 15 laps led.
Caio Collet was the top-finishing rookie, 12th in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet fielded by AJ Foyt Racing.
Phoenix winner Josef Newgarden, who entered this event in the series lead, fell to third after finishing 15th in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.
After three consecutive race weekends to open the season, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will get a short break before resuming with the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst on March 27-29 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Antonelli Kimi, Tatuus F.4 T421 Prema Racing #12
Taylor Emerges From Chaos To Earn First Career Win at Arlington
ARLINGTON, Texas (Sunday, March 15, 2026) – In a thrilling race that blended chaos and excitement in equal measure, Max Taylor earned his first INDY NXT by Firestone victory Sunday in the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington.
Elkhart Lake, WI – during the 2026 Java House Grand Prix of Arlington Austin, TX (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)
Andretti Global driver Taylor, from Greenwich, Connecticut, drove his No. 28 Susan G. Komen car to a 1.8925-second victory over rookie Enzo Fittipaldi in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car for his breakthrough win in his eighth career start in the INDYCAR development series. The margin of victory deceived, as the two drivers and rookie Tymek Kucharczyk dueled for the lead multiple times over the closing laps of the 30-minute timed race.
SEE: Race Results
“I wanted it with every ounce of my body,” Taylor said. “I had to fight for it. That was some hard racing out there. This track just creates such good racing. Absolutely incredible to drive around here. We had to make some moves out there. A lot of fun, a lot of carnage happening, but we were able to show our pace.”
Kucharczyk finished third for the second consecutive race in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car to round out the podium finishers. JM Correa placed fourth in the No. 68 Cusick Morgan Motorsports car, while Lochie Hughes finished fifth in the No. 26 Andretti Global machine.
The race was filled with action and contact from the beginning on the 14-turn, 2.73-mile temporary street circuit that circles around AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. A steady wind of 20 mph, with gusts approaching 40 mph, added to the challenge.
There was chaos as the field drove to the green flag, as the No. 57 Abel Motorsports car driven by Colin Kaminsky suffered heavy damage after colliding with other cars and the outside retaining wall on the backstretch as the tightly bunched field rocketed toward the flag stand for the green.
Immediately after that incident, it appeared Kucharczyk made light contact with pole sitter Alessandro de Tullio in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing entry, nudging de Tullio wide and handing the lead to Fittipaldi, who started second.
The incident involving Kaminsky triggered a caution that lasted until there were approximately 16 minutes, 30 seconds left in the race. Fittipaldi kept the lead on the restart but never got away from Kucharczyk and Taylor, who were running second and third, respectively.
Kucharczyk pulled to within inches of Fittipaldi’s gearbox with 12 and 10 minutes remaining but couldn’t get past for the lead. Meanwhile, Taylor bided his time in third after starting fourth.
Fittipaldi and Kucharczyk swapped the lead twice on the same lap with approximately nine minutes, 50 seconds remaining, with Fittipaldi prevailing when the duo crossed the start-finish line to judge the lap leader.
With eight minutes left, Taylor passed Kucharczyk and set his sights on leader Fittipaldi, the grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi. That task got a bit easier with about six minutes, 30 remaining when Josh Pierson’s No. 29 Starchive Andretti car stopped on track in Turn 2 after contact with the wall following a light hip check from the No. 17 HMD Motorsports entry driven by Salvador de Alba, triggering a caution to bunch the field.
Fittipaldi kept the lead on the restart with three minutes, 35 seconds remaining, but Taylor pulled to within .275 of a second with two minutes left. Then Taylor dove under Fittipaldi for the lead in Turn 13 and pulled away over the closing two laps.
“It was hard racing,” Fittipaldi said. “That’s what I love about racing here in the States. It’s raw racing, and I really enjoy that. We had some good battles out there. Unfortunately, we came home second. I’m just a bit frustrated with the result but super happy at the same time.”
Taylor took the series lead by 10 points over St. Petersburg winner Nikita Johnson, who finished sixth today in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR entry.
The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, a doubleheader with races March 28-29. It’s the first of five twinbill weekends for the series this season.
Maria Guidotti Head of communications at the Mugello Circuit with F1Weekly worker Nasir Hameed Photo: NH
