2026 F1: Antonelli wins Japanese GP to take championship lead

Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest-ever driver to lead the F1 world championship after storming to victory at the Japanese GP. The Mercedes driver benefitted from the timing of the Safety Car and aced the restart to pick up back-to-back wins, following his maiden F1 victory last time out at the Chinese GP.

Oscar Piastri registered his first race finish of the season, crossing the chequered flag in second place. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, fended off George Russell to secure the final spot on the podium.

1. Antonelli wins, 13.722sec ahead of Piastri
2. Leclerc hands Ferrari a third consecutive podium finish

Antonelli scores back-to-back wins

Antonelli lined up on pole position but lost position at the start, dropping down to sixth place. Piastri moved into the lead and held onto that advantage in the first stint of the race, despite increasing pressure from Russell.

McLaren opted to pit Piastri early, and Mercedes followed suit with Russell, leaving Antonelli in the provisional lead. However, just moments later, Haas’ Oliver Bearman suffered a heavy crash, bringing out the Safety Car. This benefitted Antonelli, who was able to pit for fresher tyres and rejoin the track in the lead. 

From there, the 19-year-old defended that lead during the restart and went on to score his second consecutive F1 win, 13.722sec ahead of Piastri. “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. When we were in free air on the Medium tyre, though, I was able to improve my pace quite a lot,” said Antonelli.

“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.”

Piastri P2; Leclerc fends off Russell to finish P3

After a difficult start to the season, Piastri maximised his first race finish of the season with a P2 finish – McLaren’s first podium result of the year. “We go alright when we make the start,” Piastri quipped.

He continued, “A good result today, it would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without the Safety Car. 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.”

With two laps to go, Russell passed Leclerc for third place. But the Ferrari driver retook the position down the main straight and held onto it until the chequered flag. This handed Ferrari its third podium finish of the season in as many races. 

Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton were locked in battle in the closing laps. The McLaren driver emerged on top in P5, while Hamilton had to settle for P6. Pierre Gasly scored another strong points finish for Alpine in P7, just 0.337sec ahead of Max Verstappen. Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10. 

2026 F1 championship standings

With two back-to-back wins, Antonelli takes the overall lead in the drivers’ championship. He’s nine points ahead of his Mercedes teammate Russell. Leclerc is third overall, 23 points off the lead. 

F1 is now headed for a long five-week break following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races. The next round will be the Miami GP on May 1-3.

2026 F1 Japanese GP results