F1 Race Results as Kimi Antonelli Takes Championship Lead at Japanese GP 2026

The Mercedes youngster has gotten off to a better start than even the most optimistic fan could have predicted.

Kimi Antonelli Mercedes | Mercedes Media Pool

Kimi Antonelli stormed to the second race win of his career, thanks to a safety car that allowed him to take the lead midway through the race, following a poor start that saw McLaren's Oscar Piastri take the lead.

Piastri would end up second, while Charles Leclerc was able to place his Ferrari third after a couple of tight battles throughout the race.

Antonelli now takes the lead of the championship from Russell, leading the Drivers' World Championship for the first time in his young career.

Kimi Antonelli has surprisingly outpaced George Russell in the past couple of races—Russell being the championship favorite. | Mercedes-Benz Media Content Pool

Piastri leads after weak start for Mercedes

Proceedings at Suzuka started with a lights-out that saw Kimi Antonelli getting off poorly from pole—dropping to fifth—while the McLaren of Oscar Piastri took the lead, with Charles Leclerc behind and Lando Norris in third.

George Russell found himself the stronger of the two Mercedes in the opening laps, battling back to his starting place of second after dropping two positions when the Grand Prix started.

The Briton would commence in a battle with the leading McLaren of Piastri on Laps 8 and 9, as another battle between Leclerc, Norris and Antonelli raged on behind, with the Italian in P5 able to get past the McLaren in fourth on Lap 11.

LAP 9 & 10/53

Russell gets past Piastri at the chicane but the Australian retakes the lead down the main straight #F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/5hsDgOFcHd

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 29, 2026

McLaren was the first team to make a stop, as Lando Norris took to the pits on Lap 17, with team-mate Piastri pitting from the lead two laps later and coming back out in sixth.

Safety car reshuffles frontrunners and benefits Antonelli

Ollie Bearman was the first car to retire, with his Haas flying across the track and coming into contact with the wall. The resulting safety car benefited both Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton, who stayed out on longer stints, with the duo emerging first and fourth after visiting the pitlane.

Ollie has reported to be OK and sustained no fractures from his earlier crash. #HaasF1 #F1 #JapaneseGP

— TGR Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) March 29, 2026

The safety car would come in on Lap 27, with Antonelli leading, and Hamilton immediately got the better of George Russell, entering the top three for the first time in the race.

Lance Stroll endured his third retirement in as many races with a mechanical issue on Lap 31 to become the second retirement of the race.

With 16 laps to go, Antonelli was able to extend his lead to Piastri in second by five seconds, as Hamilton followed closely behind the Aussie with Russell in P4. But the number 63 found himself in fifth after losing his battle with the second Ferrari of Leclerc.

A battle between the Ferraris in the later laps emerged as Hamilton and Leclerc battled for the last spot on the podium, and the Monegasque driver found himself in third ahead of his veteran teammate after a risky pass on Turn 1 of Lap 42.

Antonelli brings it home for win number two

The Briton would lose yet another position only a lap later, this time to Russell and drop to P5. At this point in the race, Antonelli had extended his race lead to almost 13 seconds as the race end loomed ever closer.

For a brief moment on Lap 51, it looked as if Russell had made it back up to P3 and Hamilton had plummeted all the way down to sixth, but the former would be re-overtaken by Leclerc while Hamilton got the position back from Norris in impressive fashion.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari | Scuderia Ferrari

Kimi Antonelli crossed the line 13.7 seconds ahead of Piastri to take the lead of the championship from Russell, followed by Leclerc in third, the Monegasque needing some impressive moves to get his eventual finishing position.

Russell, Hamilton and Norris placed fourth to sixth, while Pierre Gasly won his close battle with Max Verstappen as the Dutchman endured a disappointing weekend to place P8. Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon would take the final race points.

Position	Driver / Team
1	Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes
2	Oscar Piastri / McLaren
3	Charles Leclerc / Ferrari
4	George Russell / Mercedes
5	Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari
6	Lando Norris / McLaren
7	Pierre Gasly / Alpine
8	Max Verstappen / Red Bull
9	Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls
10	Esteban Ocon / Haas
11	Nico Hülkenberg / Audi
12	Isack Hadjar / Red Bull
13	Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi
14	Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls
15	Carlos Sainz / Williams
16	Franco Colapinto / Alpine
17	Sergio Pérez / Cadillac
18	Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin
19	Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac
20	Alexander Albon / Williams
DNF	Lance Stroll / Aston Martin
DNF	Oliver Bearman / Haas