Kimi Antonelli breaks down in tears after making F1 history

Kimi Antonelli was forced to wipe away tears after securing his first grand prix victory.

In taking the chequered flag in China, Antonelli became the second youngest driver in F1 history to win a grand prix. Only Max Verstappen was younger when he won 10 years ago in Spain.

Over the team radio, Antonelli said: "Thank you so much! You made me achieve one of my dreams."

When it came to conducting his first interview shortly after stepping out of the car, Antonelli could not help show his emotions.

"I'm speechless!" said Antonelli. "I want to cry, to be honest. Thank you so much to my team because...." 

It was at that point that Antonelli started to cry, using the sleeve of his overalls to wipe away the tears. Choking, he added: "They've helped me to achieve this dream....", at which point he cried again.

Pointed out to him that he was the first Italian driver since Giancarlo Fisichella in the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix to win a race, the 19-year-old said: "I'm surprised.

"I said yesterday that I really wanted to bring Italy back on top, and we did today, even though I gave myself a bit of a heart attack towards the end with the flat spot, yeah, it was a good race."

That was with reference to the fact that, after controlling the race so long at the front and holding a 9.5s lead over Russell, he locked up at the hairpin at the end of the back straight with his tyres beginning to wear.

Standing one point behind Russell in the drivers' standings, and assessing his title chances, Antonelli said: "We're just at the beginning, we're going to keep pushing.

"George is an incredible driver, very strong, it's going to take a lot to beat him, but it's such a great opportunity to be working with him as well because I've been learning a lot from him.

"I'm looking forward to the rest of the season now. I'll focus race by race, and we'll see where we end up at the end of the year."