Why David Coulthard ignored order during Kimi Antonelli’s emotional win interview

David Coulthard was getting the call in his ear to “move on” to George Russell, as Kimi Antonelli broke down in tears of joy after his first grand prix win.

However, Coulthard did not do that in Shanghai, believing that this would have “lost” a “beautiful moment” in what was Antonelli’s first interview as a grand prix winner.

David Coulthard explains Kimi Antonelli interview decision

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After Antonelli re-took the lead of the Chinese Grand Prix from Lewis Hamilton, there was no looking back, as he raced on to victory by 5.5 seconds from Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Coulthard had the honour of speaking with Antonelli as he got out of the car, the teenage Italian overcome with emotions at one stage of the interview, as the magnitude of his achievement hit.

Coulthard followed his own intuition in how he responded to Antonelli’s teary pause, rather than the producer’s request to “move on” and speak with Russell.

“As an older man, I could feel for him as a young racer,” Coulthard, speaking via the Up To Speed podcast, said on Antonelli.

“He’s only a couple of years older than my son, so I’m looking in my eyes, at a boy. Of course, he’s a man, but he’s a boy-man in my eyes.

“And for him to get away at the beginning of the chat absolutely fine, and then I think he caught his father’s eye behind the barriers, and I think that’s what triggered the tears.

“And I’m getting someone in my ear saying, ‘Move on to George’. But it felt to me that that would have lost that moment. It was a beautiful moment, because this is someone who’s a boy-man, realising his dream of being a grand prix winner.

“This could set him on a way towards being one of the youngest ever world champions as well, if he has this continued run, because right now, Mercedes are looking pretty hot.”

It is one win apiece for the Mercedes drivers at the start of F1 2026.

The Silver Arrows possess a clear advantage over the pack in qualifying trim. In the races, Ferrari are proving a much more potent threat, but are yet to find a way to beat Mercedes.

As such, Russell’s pre-season status as title favourite has only been strengthened. His fiercest challenge could yet come from Antonelli, who reached that crucial milestone of becoming a grand prix winner in Shanghai.

“What’s going to be really interesting is how he paces himself during the course of the year,” Coulthard added on Antonelli.

“That’s where I think Lando [Norris] had the advantage over Oscar [Piastri] last year. Having more experience of life, having more experience of grand prix racing, he didn’t have the drop-off in performance.

“And this is a long year, even if we do miss those two grand prix, and George’s experience might be the thing that keeps him more level, if you like, for the entire year.

“So if George wins another grand prix, he’s going to be happy, but there’s an emotional rollercoaster that we’ve just seen that Kimi’s gone through. So that all takes time and energy.

“I love to be on the extremes of emotions, but it takes something out of you. So he’s got to now get back on track and go and build on that in Suzuka.”

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Russell was pleased as punch for his young teammate in China.

But, with Antonelli proving that he is at a grand prix-winning level – just two rounds into his second F1 season – Coulthard was asked how long the good teammates vibe will last.

“It’s done now,” he claimed, “because George knows he has a real threat for the championship.

“This might be, as we’ve seen with Lando last year and Oscar, McLaren reached a point where they delivered them a car and they fought for the world championship. Amazingly, they almost lost out to Max by a couple of points. But this could be the only time, in this new era of Formula 1, that Mercedes give them the sort of advantage they’ve got.

“So make no bones about it, George, behind that façade of well done Kimi, is trying to get every advantage he can over him for Suzuka and the next grand prix and going forward. Kimi’s team should be doing the same.

“The name teammates is a misnomer. He’s not your mate. If you get along with him away from the track, that’s great, but his success is your failure, and vice versa.”

F1 2026 resumes next weekend with the Japanese Grand Prix.

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