Teen sensation Antonelli wins in Japan to take championship lead
- Damian Hall
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
Mercedes Kimi Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix after a dramatic race at Suzuka, finishing ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in second, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium.
Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton finished sixth after a race that saw him briefly run in the podium positions following a well-timed Safety Car.
“It feels pretty good! Of course, it's too early to think about the championship but we are on a good way,” Antonelli said.
“I had a terrible start. I need to check what happened. Then I was lucky with the Safety Car to be in the lead but then the pace was incredible.
“It was really nice. The second stint I felt very good with the car. I'm very pleased with that.”
Antonelli’s victory was far from straightforward.
From pole position, the Italian dropped to sixth at the start as Piastri surged from third on the grid to take the lead ahead of Leclerc, with McLaren’s Lando Norris third.
Antonelli quickly began his recovery, passing Hamilton on lap two before closing in on Mercedes teammate George Russell, who had also made strong early progress.
Russell surged forward, overtaking Norris and Leclerc in successive laps to move into second and briefly challenge Piastri for the lead.
However, Piastri held firm, maintaining track position as the race settled into a strategic phase, with most drivers committing to a one-stop strategy.
Behind them, Antonelli worked his way forward, eventually passing Norris before engaging in a fierce battle with Leclerc for third. The pair traded positions in a thrilling exchange, allowing Norris to remain in contention as pit strategies began to unfold.
McLaren attempted to undercut by pitting Norris early, but Ferrari responded immediately, ensuring Leclerc retained track position.
The race then turned decisively.
A Safety Car was deployed following a heavy crash for Haas rookie Oliver Bearman at Spoon Curve, allowing Antonelli and Hamilton—both yet to stop—to pit with minimal time loss.
Antonelli retained the lead, emerging ahead of Piastri and Russell, while Hamilton moved into podium contention.
At the restart, Antonelli executed a flawless getaway, quickly building a gap to Piastri that would ultimately decide the race.
Piastri, who had led the opening phase, was left to reflect on the impact of the Safety Car.
“It would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without that [Safety Car],” Piastri said.
“I could keep George behind and just before the stops we were actually pulling away a little bit again.
“A shame that we never got to see what would happened but I think for us at this point to be disappointed about finishing second is a pretty good place to be.”
Further back, the battle for the final podium position intensified.
Leclerc fought back strongly in the closing stages, first passing Hamilton in a tense but clean exchange before holding off a charging Russell to secure third place by less than half a second.
“It was a bit of a sweaty one!” Leclerc said.
“With the Safety Car we got a bit unlucky, so from that moment onwards, I knew I was a bit on the back foot.
“But it was quite a fun race. Not quite enough to get Oscar but it was a cool race.”
Russell ultimately finished fourth for Mercedes, while Norris secured fifth for McLaren after a late move on Hamilton, who crossed the line in sixth.
Hamilton revealed after the race that he had been struggling with a lack of power during the latter stages.
“I am full gas and I'm managing where I am asked to manage, and for some reason I'm just lacking power today, so we need to find out if there is something wrong with the car or not,” Hamilton said.
“But still we got some points.”
Further back, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finished seventh ahead of Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen in eighth. Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson took ninth, with Haas driver Esteban Ocon rounding out the top ten.
Antonelli’s victory sees the Mercedes driver take the lead of the Drivers’ Championship after three rounds, becoming the youngest driver to lead the standings.
The Formula One calendar will now pause following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with safety and logistical concerns arising from the escalating situation involving the United States and Iran.
The championship is set to resume on the first weekend of May at the Miami Grand Prix.
Full race results and updated championship standings are available at the link below.
Comments