Fraser MasefieldKimi Antonelli became the youngest ever driver to lead the FIA Formula One World Championship after the Italian took a commanding win in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Antonelli, who also won from pole position for his first F1 victory in China, took advantage of a Safety Car situation following a big crash by Oliver Bearman that also scuppered the chances of teammate George Russell.
It ultimately meant the Italian took the chequered flag a full 13.722 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver just pipping Russell to the line for third.
“Get in there, Kimi!” #F1 #JapaneseGP @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/drsTaVH9Pc
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 29, 2026
“It feels great to get my second win! I made a bad start from pole and was kicking myself that we lost so many positions,” commented Antonelli on the official Mercedes press release.
“When we were in free air on the Medium tyre though, I was able to improve my pace quite a lot. We were fortunate with the timing of the Safety Car and that put us in the lead; it made my life a lot easier!
“Who knows what would have happened without that, but I felt like we had the speed today to challenge for the win without it.”
For one driver it meant utter jubilation but for another, bitter disappointment. And it was indeed terrible luck for Russell.
Following Bearman’s frightening 50G 191 mph impact into the barriers after swerving to avoid contact with a battery harvesting and slowing Alpine of Franco Colapinto, the Safety Car was deployed.
A scary incident for Ollie Bearman at the Japanese Grand Prix, but after going to the medical centre, he has reported to be okay and sustained no fractures from his crash. pic.twitter.com/8TxSg18YdC
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 29, 2026
Before the incident, Piastri held the net lead from Russell, but both had already pitted. It meant that Antonelli could now make his stop and come out into the lead and on newer tyres.
“We’ve had a lot of bad luck this weekend and that is unfortunate as we were definitely in the fight for the win today,” added Russell.
“After a difficult start, we’d managed to get ourselves back to P2 but stopped just one lap before the safety car was deployed.
“That changed the complexion of the race and unfortunately, after taking the restart in P3, we lost two more positions as a result firstly of hitting the harvesting limit and then an unexpected superclip.
“It was pretty frustrating but that’s the way racing goes sometimes.
Whilst Antonelli and Piastri were able to coast comfortably to the chequered flag, the scrap for the final podium spot want down to the final corner and throttle to the line.
And it was the Ferrari man who was able to hang on to keep himself firmly in the title race albeit at an embryonic stage of the season.
“BRILLIANT from Charles Leclerc” 😱 pic.twitter.com/cLhwrEKZrg
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 29, 2026
“We go alright when we make the start! A good result today, it would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without the Safety Car,” commented a happier Piastri on the official McLaren press release.
“I could keep George behind and just before the stops we were actually pulling away a little bit. A shame that we never got to see what would have happened.
But I think for us, at this point, to be disappointed about finishing second is a pretty good place to be.”
Lando Norris was fifth in the second McLaren ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Max Verstappen. Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon rounded out the points scorers.
With victory, Antonelli also became just the third driver behind Hamilton and Leclerc to have won their next race after their maiden win.
And it’s the first time since 1953 that Italy has celebrated back-to-back driver wins in a grand prix.
It all means that Antonelli leads teammate Russell by nine points with Leclerc a further 14 points behind the Englishman.
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Craig Scarborough