Formula 1 stewards decided to take no further action against Kimi Antonelli for allegedly impeding Lando Norris during sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix. The incident occurred at Turn 1 in Shanghai, where Antonelli was moving slowly after leaving the pit lane. Both drivers progressed through the session, with Antonelli qualifying second behind teammate George Russell.
During SQ2 of the sprint qualifying on Friday at the Shanghai International Circuit, Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli exited the pit lane and proceeded slowly on the inside line at Turn 1. This forced McLaren's Lando Norris to ease off the throttle, prompting Norris to inform his team that he had intended to push on that lap.
However, in the subsequent stewards' meeting, Norris clarified that he was actually on a "pushing warm-up lap" and not attempting to set a competitive time. The stewards' report noted: "Had Car 1 been on a push lap then, given the position of Car 12 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."
The decision had no impact on the session results, as both Antonelli and Norris advanced. Antonelli ended up in second place, behind George Russell, while Norris took third. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri in fifth and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in sixth.
Post-session, Antonelli commented on the team's strong pace: "Yeah, the pace is very strong. Just didn't put the lap together at the end on the soft. So, yeah, still work to do. But obviously, congrats to George and all to play for tomorrow." He added, "I'm feeling good in the car. So, there obviously is more about details trying to put all together. But yeah, tomorrow we try to have a good start and then try to have a good quali."
This result marks another solid performance for Mercedes, who achieved a 1-2 in both qualifying and the race at the previous weekend's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, where Russell claimed pole and victory.
