Antonelli on pole for F1's Chinese Grand Prix after teammate Russell wins sprint

SHANGHAI (AP) — Kimi Antonelli stepped up Saturday when his Mercedes teammate George Russell hit trouble in qualifying to become the youngest-ever driver on pole position for a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

After holding off a challenge from Ferrari to win the sprint race earlier in the day, Russell seemed near-unbeatable. Then he stopped on track in qualifying and limped back to the pits with technical problems.

Russell's team got the car going again with seconds to spare for him to set a time. It was only good enough for second on the grid, 0.222 of a second off Antonelli, who kept up Mercedes’ run of qualifying dominance after F1’s sweeping changes to the cars for 2026.

The Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will start third and fourth. Their fast starts could threaten Mercedes off the line, as they did last week in Australia and in Saturday's sprint race.

The 19-year-old Antonelli becomes the youngest driver to take pole position for a full Grand Prix race, though he was also on pole aged 18 for a sprint race last year in Miami.

“It’s just the beginning, so obviously there’s a lot more to come,” Antonelli said. “Really looking forward to tomorrow. Car is feeling really good, car is strong, so a lot to play for tomorrow. But just super happy with today.”

Russell said a damaged front wing and gear-change issues made for a “crazy” qualifying session. “As soon as I went out on the track, I could tell something wasn’t right,” he said. He then had to set a last-chance time with a depleted battery and cold tires.

Russell won the first race of the season in Australia last weekend, and he followed up taking the 19-lap sprint in China.

As last week in Australia, the Ferraris were fast off the line and Russell and Lewis Hamilton swapped the lead several times on the first few laps. But Russell began to pull away after the early laps with Hamilton fading as the constant battles took a toll on his tires. Charles Leclerc was second with his teammate Hamilton third.

“Lewis did an amazing job in the in the early laps,” Russell said. “He caught me off guard — 20 years of experience. So I've still got a bit to learn.”

“It was pretty fun in the end,” Russell added. “A lot of strategy in play and overtakes. It’s not easy. I hope it was fun race to watch. Usually the sprint races are pretty boring.”

Hamilton received loud applause from the Shanghai crowd when he began his on-track interview by saying “Nǐ hǎo" — hello in Chinese.

“That speed (of Mercedes) on the straight is just a little bit too much at the moment,” said Hamilton, who won last year's sprint in China for his only victory since joining Ferrari. "I think I put up a good fight.”

Hamilton and Leclerc couldn't renew their challenge late in the race after a safety car period for Audi's Nico Hulkenberg stopping on track.

Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren and Antonelli fifth after serving a penalty for an early collision with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.

Formula 1 has made massive engine and chassis changes for this season — the most radical in over a decade — that feature a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electric power.

Russell is one of the new era's biggest cheerleaders and said Saturday's sprint battle felt “like go-kart racing in the past ... I don’t ever remember Formula 1 being like that, where you can have three or four cars all fighting for the same position truly on track."

Drivers have struggled to handle the trade-off between using power and conserving it, and some have struggled with extra power coming in unexpectedly.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen is no fan of the changes and finished ninth in the sprint race.

“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” Verstappen said. “We just need to get our stuff together.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain waves after winning the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Mercedes driver George Russell, right, of Britain leads Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain during the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver George Russell, left, of Britain against Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain during the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, center, waves after getting the pole position beside Mercedes driver George Russell, left, of Britain and Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain during the qualifying session of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain steers his car during the qualifying session of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy steers his car during the qualifying session of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain sits inside his car before the start of the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Second place Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco after the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Winner Mercedes driver George Russell, right, of Britain talks with third placer Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain after the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar of France steers his car during the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Cadillac driver Sergio Perez of Mexico steers his car during the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Mercedes driver George Russell, left, of Britain leads the pack during the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Residents of Vilnius were told to take shelter and Lithuania's president and prime minister were taken to safe locations Wednesday because of an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus, underlining jitters on NATO's eastern flank over incursions related to Russia's war with Ukraine.

An emergency announcement from the military told people in the Vilnius region to “immediately head to a shelter or a safe place.”

The alert, which lasted for about an hour, also led to the closure of the airspace over Vilnius Airport. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to shelters, and there was also an evacuation order at Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, the BNS news agency reported.

It was the first major alert that sent residents and political leaders in a European Union and NATO capital rushing to shelters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Based on the parameters we saw, it’s most likely either a combat drone or a drone designed to deceive systems and lure targets,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, said in a news briefing. “The electronic countermeasures here can’t tell us whether an explosive device detonated or not. It’s very, very difficult."

Based on the altitude and speed, it was probably a drone, he said, "though we can’t say at this stage exactly what kind of drone it was or where it was launched from.”

Lithuania borders Russia-allied Belarus to the east and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave to the west. Wednesday's alert came after the military said it detected drone activity in Belarus, but no drones were sighted over Lithuania.

On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte commended the alliance’s reaction to several drone incidents in recent days, saying that they had been met with “a calm, decisive and proportionate response.” Rutte said: “This is exactly what we planned and prepared for,” and he blamed Russia’s war on Ukraine for the problem.

In recent months, Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have crossed or come down in NATO territory on numerous occasions. Western officials have blamed what they say is likely Russian electronic jamming of the drones. Russia, meanwhile, has renewed threats that it would retaliate if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries or if those countries are complicit in their use against Russia.

On Tuesday evening, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys wrote on social media that “Russia is deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace while waging smear campaigns” against Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “It’s a transparent act of desperation — an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a simple reality: (Ukraine) is hitting Russian military machine hard.”

Budrys' comment came hours after a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.

Last week, Latvia’s government collapsed following an argument over the handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine. The defense minister was forced to quit after his party withdrew its support for him, and the prime minister then resigned. The governing coalition had been under strain for months over several other issues.

In a recent escalation of aerial attacks, Russia and Ukraine have sometimes fired hundreds of drones a day at each other.

Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that it shot down 131 out of 154 drones that Russia launched overnight. The ones that got past air defenses killed three civilians and wounded 18 others, including two children, officials said.

Ukraine, meanwhile, continued its aerial campaign against Russia’s vital oil industry, with the General Staff reporting its drones struck a major Russian oil refinery and a pipeline pumping station overnight.

Russian media reports also indicated that a chemical plant in the southern Stavropol region was hit and caught fire, although local officials didn’t confirm any direct hit.

The U.K. government, a strong supporter of Ukraine's war effort, has loosened strict sanctions on Russian oil refined into diesel and jet fuel in third countries as prices rise due to the Iran war.

The waiver begins Wednesday and reflects growing supply concerns over certain fuels due to the effective blockade of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway.

That step comes two days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington was granting a 30-day extension for countries to import Russian oil that is already in tankers at sea, a move that is meant to reduce the oil supply shortages.

The announcement marked a continued policy reversal by the Trump administration, which had previously said the sanctions on Russian oil would resume. Originally announced in early March, the temporary waiver on the sanctions was first renewed in April.

Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal contributed to this report.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)

People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged after a Russian strike on Konotop, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)