Kimi Antonelli took a somewhat fortunate Formula 1 victory in the Japanese Grand Prix, as a safety car intervention vaulted him ahead of early frontrunners Oscar Piastri and George Russell.
As was the case in the previous two rounds, the Ferraris made an excellent getaway, but this time it wasn’t enough to take the lead as the McLarens were just as quick off the line. Piastri went first ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, as Mercedes drivers Antonelli and Russell sluggishly dropped to sixth and fourth respectively from the first row.
However, it took just one lap for Antonelli to make his way past Lewis Hamilton in fifth, then Russell overtook Norris for third on the following tour and Leclerc for second on lap four – those three manoeuvres occurred going into Turn 1.
Russell started pressuring race leader Piastri on lap seven; he dove down the inside in the chicane on the following tour, but the Australian fought 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. The Italian overtook Leclerc into the chicane on lap 15, but had a wobble when exiting the corner and was swiftly repassed.
Norris was the first frontrunner to pit on lap 16 as he unsuccessfully attempted to undercut Leclerc and Antonelli. Piastri also pitted earlier than Russell, preserving his lead… but seconds after the Briton’s later pitstop, an accident involving Oliver Bearman turned the race upside down.
Surprised by the closing speed relative to Franco Colapinto and the Alpine’s trajectory going into Spoon corner, the Haas driver ended up losing control on the grass and had a 50G crash, with the safety car neutralising the race. The young Briton, who hobbled out of his car, was diagnosed with a right knee contusion.
Antonelli and Hamilton were yet to change tyres and enjoyed a free pitstop in those conditions, going up to first and fourth, with Piastri and Russell between them.
This also meant that everyone had pitted at the halfway point of the race, so it was a straight contest to the finish.
As the green flag was waved on lap 28, Hamilton snatched third away from Russell straight away, while Antonelli swiftly 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. Those three 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 emulating that manoeuvre on the following tour.
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 Monegasque fought back in Turn 1.
Antonelli eventually outpaced Piastri by 14 seconds and clinched a second consecutive grand prix win, becoming the youngest multiple grand prix winner in history at 19 years and seven months old – Max Verstappen was 20 when he achieved the same feat.
The Italian youngster also took the lead of the drivers’ championship from team-mate Russell.
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.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Esteban Ocon and Arvid Lindblad established themselves at the bottom of the top 10 early on, ahead of Isack Hadjar, but those three drivers pitted before the safety car intervention and therefore lost out.
As a consequence, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto inherited the last two points-scoring positions, but the Brazilian dropped to 13th in the second half of the race, with Ocon retrieving 10th place.
Other than Bearman, the only retirement was Lance Stroll due to a suspected water pressure issue. In other words, an Aston Martin was classified under the chequered flag for the first time in 2026, with Fernando Alonso in 18th.
Japanese Grand Prix results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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