Kimi Antonelli took victory in Japan ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Great drive from Kimi
After starting on pole position, Kimi Antonelli took home the win in Japan, making it back to back wins for the young driver. At the start of the race Antonelli lost his lead and went down to P6 after a very poor get away, however, the lucky timing of the safety car after his rivals had just pitted meant that he could pit and keep the lead.
Nightmare race for Russell and Hamilton
It seems Antonelli absorbed all the luck Mercedes had today as everything just seemed to go wrong for teammate George Russell. Russell spent the first part of the race up to the pit stops in P2 behind race leader Oscar Piastri, and he certainly looked like he could have been on for the win. In spite of this, around 1 lap after Russell had pitted the safety came out following an incident with Oliver Bearman, meaning that Russell narrowly lost out on a chance at a shorter pit stop.
After voicing his frustrations over the radio, team principal Toto Wolff told the driver to ‘see what he can do from here’. Though this was likely intended to calm him down, a comment like this would have only left Russell feeling even more aggrieved as there was little he could do to salvage his race, given that he was then dealing with some car troubles once again whilst trying to overtake Hamilton’s Ferrari and get closer to Antonelli.
For Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, what could have been the race to score him back to back podiums for the first time in red, soon became somewhat of a disaster. Hamilton had great pace throughout the race and was ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc for a significant amount of time. Towards the end of the race, Leclerc managed to sweep past Hamilton as the British driver suddenly seemed to lose almost all of his race pace, and he ended up finishing right back where he started in P6.
After two very positive outings for Hamilton in the first two races this year, this is not the type of race we want to see for the 7x world champion.
Positives for McLaren
After being unable to start a Grand Prix so far in 2026, it seems that finally there is a shift in fortune for Oscar Piastri as he finished P2 in today’s race, in what was his first of the season. Having started from P3, Piastri stormed to lead in turn 1 at the start and, along with Mercedes’ George Russell, seemed to be in control of the race and would have had a good shot at winning if not for the safety car aiding Antonelli.
Teammate Lando Norris also had a positive outing in Japan as he finished P5 after a late overtake on Lewis Hamilton, and after such performances it seems fair to say that things are certainly looking up for the reigning champion team.
Bearman suffers huge crash
In a battle with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Oliver Bearman appeared to carry too much speed between corners and was seen barrelling off into the gravel and slamming harshly into the barrier. Fortunately, Bearman was able to get out of the car and for the most part was okay, however he was limply pretty badly and had to sit down on the grass in order to not put too much strain on his right leg.
After evaluation at the medical centre, Bearman is confirmed to thankfully not have too serious an injury, though he did sustain a slight contusion to his right knee.
The rest of the grid
It was a strong day for the likes of Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson who both finished inside the top 10 and scored some great points for their respective teams. Gasly in particular is looking to really be on form this season after scoring points in each of the races so far this year.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was ordered over the radio to retire the car after the team noticed a suspected water pressure issue.
Feature image courtesy of Formula 1