Kimi Antonelli’s first F1 win gets podium twist as MC calls him Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi Antonelli was hilariously introduced as Kimi Raikkonen on the China podium
The MC got his Kimi’s mixed up in a hilarious blooper during the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix podium ceremony.
Kimi Antonelli, who won his very first Grand Prix in China, was introduced onto the podium as ‘Kimi Raikkonen’. Old habits die hard. Mercedes certainly saw the funny side.
Your Chinese GP winner, Kimi Raikkonen?
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Of course not. Raikkonen may have won 21 grands prix during his illustrious F1 career, but, this Sunday in Shanghai belonged to the new Kimi on the block, Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari, with its F1 2026 trademark fast starts, threatened to rain on the Mercedes parade. Lewis Hamilton was able to take the lead from polesitter Antonelli at the start.
But, Antonelli would race his way back into the lead, and when Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and George Russell all got in a ding-dong scrap behind, Antonelli was able to pull away, and race on to his first Formula 1 Grand Prix win.
With teammate Russell working his way into second at the chequered flag, while Hamilton secured his first Ferrari podium in third, the 2026 Chinese GP podium was something of a ‘Mercedes through the eras’ portrait.
In the middle, Mercedes’ teenage talent Antonelli, now a race winner. To one side, Hamilton, the driver who put Mercedes back on the F1 map, winning six Drivers’ titles with the Silver Arrows during a streak of eighth Constructors’ Championship wins. On the other side, Russell, Mercedes’ original home grown F1 talent, who rose to defeat Hamilton, and prove that he could lead the Brackley squad into a successful future.
Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington – Hamilton’s race engineer throughout those trophy-laden days, and now the voice in Antonelli’s ear – joined the trio.
It did little to dampen that feel-good mood on the podium when Antonelli was hilariously introduced as ‘Kimi Raikkonen’ by MC Bob Constanduros, as confirmed by PlanetF1.com.
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Russell and Hamilton could be seen reacting to the error amid their applause, Russell sarcastically beginning to look around on the podium.
Mercedes also took the ball and ran with it, putting together a humorous social media clip, complete with a picture of Raikkonen, in his Ferrari overalls, added over the top of the original footage.
This joins the collection of other iconic podium moments, including Daniel Ricciardo being introduced as ‘Dan the man Ricciardo’ after his Baku win, and a drunk playing happy birthday on the trumpet when Alan Jones won his first race in Austria, since organisers did not have the Australian anthem as he was such a rank outsider to win.
Additional reporting by Mat Coch
Read next: Pete Bonnington makes Schumacher, Hamilton comparison after Antonelli win
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