Kimi Antonelli achieved his second career victory in Formula 1 and becomes the new championship points leader. The timing of the safety car helped the Mercedes driver to gain track position over Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc and George Russell.
As was the case in the previous two races, the Ferraris made an excellent getaway, but this time it was not enough to take the lead as the McLarens were just as quick off the grid too. Piastri went first ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, as Mercedes drivers Antonelli and Russell dropped to sixth and fourth respectively from the first row.
However, it took just a single lap for Antonelli to make his way past Lewis Hamilton in fifth, then Russell overtook Norris for third on the following lap and Leclerc for second on lap four – those three overtakes going into Turn 1.
Russell started pressuring race leader Piastri on lap seven. He dove down the inside in the chicane on the following lap, but Oscar strike back on the next straight.
Antonelli finally found a way past Norris to take fourth on lap 11, with the top six drivers still within six seconds. Kimi overtook Charles into the chicane on lap 15, but had a wild move exiting the corner and was repassed.
Norris was the first frontrunner to pit on lap 16 as he tried to attempt to undercut Leclerc and Antonelli. Piastri also pitted earlier than Russell, preserving his lead. And yet seconds after Geroge’s pitstop, an accident involving Oliver Bearman turned the race fortune.
Surprised by the closing speed relative to Franco Colapinto going into Spoon Curve, the Haas driver ended up losing control on the grass and suffered a 50G crash, with the safety car neutralising the race. Ollie was diagnosed with a right knee contusion.
Antonelli and Hamilton were yet to change tyres and enjoyed a free pitstop in this safety car situation, moving up to first and fourth, with Piastri and Russell between them.
This also meant that everyone had pitted at the halfway point of this Suzuka race, so it was a straight contest to the chequered flag.
As the green flag was waved on lap 28, Hamilton grabbed third from Russell straight away, while Antonelli increased the gap to Piastri – it reached five seconds in just eight laps.
Russell put pressure on Hamilton but never found a way past, then was overtaken by Leclerc on lap 37. The trio kept battling for the final step on the podium, with Leclerc going around the outside of Hamilton in Turn 1 on lap 42 and Russell repeating that overtake on the following lap.
The seven-time world champion was losing pace and only held off Norris until lap 51, shortly after Russell passed Leclerc for third in the chicane – but the Ferrari driver fought back in Turn 1.
Antonelli eventually outpaced Piastri by 14 seconds and scored his second consecutive Grand Prix victory, becoming the youngest multiple Grand Prix winner in history at 19 years and seven months old – Max Verstappen was 20 when he achieved it.
Kimi also takes the lead of the drivers’ championship from teammate Russell as the sport takes a five-week break following the cancellation of Bahrain and Jeddah.
Behind the top six, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took a remarkable seventh-place finish – holding off Red Bull’s Verstappen, who felt like he was “driving without power steering”, so heavy his steering was.
Esteban Ocon and Arvid Lindblad established themselves at the bottom of the top ten early on, ahead of Isack Hadjar, but those three drivers pitted before the safety car period and therefore lost out.
As a consequence, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto gained the last two points-scoring positions, but the Audi driver dropped to P13 in the second half of the race, with Ocon retrieving P10.
Other than Bearman, the only retirement was Lance Stroll due to a suspected water pressure issue. At least Fernando Alonso made it to the finish this season with Aston Martin finishing in P18.
So congratulations to Andrea Kimi Antonelli with his back-to-back victories. Scoring his first in China and now his second in Japan is a fantasic achievement. To become the new championship leader is a bonus and it will be fascinating if Kimi can build this winning feeling at Miami.
Japanese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28:03.403
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +13.722s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +15.270s
4 George Russell Mercedes +15.754s
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +23.479s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +25.037s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +32.340s
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +32.677s
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +50.180s
10 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +51.216s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +52.280s
12 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +56.154s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +59.078s
14 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +59.848s
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +65.008s
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +65.773s
17 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +92.453s
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
20 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes +2 laps
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari DNF
Kimi Antonelli has sealed victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, the Italian becoming the youngest-ever championship leader after putting in a commanding drive to claim his second consecutive win from Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc following an earlier Safety Car.
When the lights went out at the Suzuka Circuit, Piastri made a stunning start to seize the lead into Turn 1 while the Mercedes cars slipped backwards. The Silver Arrows pair soon embarked on a recovery drive, however, with George Russell going on to challenge the McLaren racer for the lead – though was unable to make a move stick.
As some drivers started to make their pit stops, including leaders Piastri and Russell, a heavy crash for Haas’ Ollie Bearman brought out the Safety Car on Lap 22, allowing Antonelli – who was yet to pit and had provisionally been in the lead – to visit the pits and reemerge in P1.
From there the youngster executed a smooth restart to hold onto P1 and build a significant gap up ahead, crossing the line with a margin of 13.722s over Piastri – with the win also moving him up into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, making him the youngest driver in history to head the standings.
Piastri recorded his first race finish of the season in style, the Australian taking McLaren’s debut podium of the campaign with his P2 result, while Leclerc fended off a chasing Russell to seal the final spot on the rostrum in third.
This left Russell to settle for fourth – the Briton having earlier voiced his frustration at the timing of the Safety Car – while McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed fifth following a close scrap with Lewis Hamilton in the latter stages, the Ferrari man ending the event in sixth.
Pierre Gasly was a solid seventh for Alpine, the Frenchman having had to defend hard against a chasing Max Verstappen for much of the second half of the race. The Red Bull man finished just 0.337s behind in eighth, while Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Haas’ Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-takes-championship-lead-after-surging-to-victory-in-japan-from.4EC4uZc29IUEO2iE5nKpUp
With his second consecutive Formula 1 victory, Kimi Antonelli pulled off a masterful move at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix. Taking advantage of George Russell’s failure to finish on the podium, the Italian became the youngest driver in history to lead the world championship, with a nine-point lead that he will carry into the entire month of April.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are third and fourth, ahead of McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Oliver Bearman, who crashed at Suzuka, slips to seventh place, ahead of Pierre Gasly, the top French driver. Max Verstappen is only ninth in the championship after the first three grands prix of the year.
In the constructors’ championship, Mercedes further extends its lead over Ferrari and McLaren. Haas remains in fourth place, but sees Alpine closing in – now tied with Red Bull. Cadillac and Aston Martin have yet to score any points.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/championship-antonelli-is-the-youngest-leader/10809324/
Kimi Antonelli believes it is “still early days to think about the championship” despite taking victory in the Japanese Grand Prix and becoming the youngest driver to lead the championship in Formula 1 history.
The 19-year-old Italian made it back-to-back wins on Sunday at the Suzuka Circuit following his success in China at the previous round, where he became the youngest Grand Prix winner in the process.
Having claimed pole in Japan, Antonelli suffered a terrible start and dropped as low as sixth on the opening lap before cycling back towards the front as McLaren and Ferrari pitted their drivers.
The crucial moment came approaching the mid-point of the 53-lap race, Mercedes team mate George Russell pitting from the lead just as a Safety Car was deployed following a heavy crash for Ollie Bearman.
The caution allowed new race leader Antonelli to make a pit stop and rejoin at the front of the field before romping to victory by nearly 14 seconds.
With Russell struggling for performance and being forced to settle for fourth at the chequered flag, Antonelli now leads the standings for the first time by 9 points after the opening three Grands Prix of the season.
“It feels pretty good. Of course it’s still early days to think about the Championship but we’re in a good way,” said Antonelli post-race.
“In the race, had a terrible start, just need to check what happened but then I was lucky with the Safety Car to be in the lead but then the pace was just incredible and was a really nice second stint. I felt very good with the car and very pleased with that.
“I think we were obviously very lucky with the Safety Car but on the medium we were really strong once I got some clean air and then on the hard the pace was just incredible.
“I don’t know what would have happened, what the outcome would have been without the Safety Car but definitely made my life a lot easier.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/still-early-days-to-think-about-the-championship-youngest-f1-points-leader.6m4wiZet68yDjhOM3faZSJ
George Russell was left frustrated by the bad luck he has recently endured after losing his Formula 1 championship lead at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver enjoyed the perfect start to 2026 by winning the Melbourne opener and Shanghai sprint, but team-mate Kimi Antonelli has since taken a nine-point advantage following victories at the Chinese and Japanese grands prix.
It’s not because Antonelli is that much quicker than Russell though, as he won from pole in Shanghai partly due to the Briton suffering a gearbox problem in Q3.
Antonelli then took pole again at Suzuka in another Mercedes 1-2, but that happened after a set-up change backfired for Russell who made a “massive” front wing adjustment mid-session.
The problems continued on Sunday: Antonelli dropped to sixth at race start, but inherited the lead by making his only pitstop during the lap 23 safety car after Oliver Bearman’s crash.
Russell had made his tyre change just one lap prior and, until the intervention, looked set to battle Oscar Piastri for victory before ultimately finishing fourth for his first non-podium of 2026.
“In racing, sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it goes against you,” said Russell. “It just feels like at the moment, in the last two weekends, it’s like every issue we’re having, it’s on my side and I’m the one sort of going through that pain.”
Asked to explain why, he responded: “Just how it’s turned out. I can’t really give you more of an answer to that. It’s like, sometimes people have problems in practice, we’ve not had a single issue in practice this whole season, I’ve had the problems in qualifying.
“Lando hasn’t had any problems in qualifying, he’s had all the problems in practice. So, it’s just luck of the draw with these new cars. It’s race three of 22, I’m not concerned at all with what is [going] on here and I know I’ve got what it takes to sort of bounce back.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/george-russell-frustrated-by-bad-luck-after-losing-f1-championship-lead/10809417/
Following an interesting Japanese Grand Prix won by the impressive Kimi Antonelli, the podium sitters retreated to the calm of the cooldown room. With the Italian sat beside Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, they watched Ollie Bearman’s violent crash as he swerved to avoid a slow Franco Colapinto.
The trio reacted in unison as they watched the replay of the Haas hitting the barriers in what was confirmed to be a 50G shunt. With Bearman confirmed to be in good health following the incident, it was a comment from Piastri that amused fans of the championship.
Turning to Leclerc on the sofa, the Australian brought up a comment made by the Monegasque earlier in the season.
“I finally see what you mean about the mushroom,” Piastri joked. “It’s pretty accurate.”
Max Verstappen is far from the only driver comparing the hybrid systems used for the 2026 regulations to Nintendo’s iconic racing franchise. In fact, rather ironically, the Japanese Grand Prix was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. brand as the cast of the upcoming movie on the subject joined the chaos.
Leclerc vented his frustrations with the 2026 regulations during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, likening the boost mode to a Mario Kart power-up.
“This is like the mushroom in Mario Kart,” he said on the radio, referencing the burst of speed that’s available to drivers while others are rendered sitting ducks when they run out of available power. Verstappen was a victim of this performance deficit in today’s race when he was overtaken by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, whom he simply waved to in his defenceless state.
This came after his recent comments where he claimed he’s swapped his simulator work with racing on a Nintendo, joking that he was “good with mushrooms, but not so much with blue shells.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/oscar-piastris-deadpan-mario-kart-joke-wins-the-japanese-grand-prix-cooldown-room/10809465/
Charles Leclerc believes “we got a little unlucky” during the Japanese Grand Prix due to an ill-timed Safety Car, with the Ferrari driver salvaging third place.
Leclerc took his second Grand Prix rostrum of the season in Sunday’s 53-lap race at the Suzuka Circuit, having jumped both Mercedes drivers on the front row at the start from fourth on the grid.
After losing a spot to Mercedes’ George Russell in the opening laps, Leclerc made an early pit stop to cover off McLaren’s Lando Norris behind but found himself fifth following a mid-race Safety Car.
The caution allowed team mate Lewis Hamilton and the second Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli to pit and rejoin in front, before overtakes on Russell and then Hamilton moved Leclerc up to P3 at the chequered flag.
“It was a bit of a sweaty one this one. Obviously with the Safety Car we got a little unlucky so from that moment onwards I knew that I was a little bit on the back foot, especially compared to Kimi and Lewis,” said Leclerc, who finished behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and race winner Antonelli.
“But then I was like, let’s keep pushing, let’s try and keep those tyres and bring them to the end and actually it wasn’t that much of a disadvantage as I thought.
“The tyres were actually pretty good, the few laps that I had done wasn’t so bad, it was just that we lost a few positions and then it was quite a fun race. Just not quite enough to get Oscar but it was a cool race.
“I’m quite pleased. Of course I’m not over the moon because it’s only a P3 but considering everything, we’ve been quite unlucky with the Safety Car.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/we-got-a-little-unlucky-leclerc-laments-safety-car-timing-after-p3-finish-in.35dalwAfMJJxnnOnBZyvIC