Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli tasted sweet success at Suzuka in a thrilling race, as Japan hosted the third Round of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship. However, the weekend also created questions regarding the safety of the new regulations after a major crash in Sunday’s race.
With the grid now facing a 5-week break from racing due to the ongoing Middle East conflict, which saw the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix cancelled, here’s a weekend round-up of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Mercedes 1-2 in FP1
After back-to-back racing in Australia and China, the “pinnacle of motorsport” returned on Friday morning. The grid took to the technically demanding Suzuka Circuit for the first Free Practice session
George Russell continued the streak of Mercedes dominance, setting the initial pace of the weekend after narrowly beating teammate Antonelli. Russell, on a set of soft tyres, crossed the line with a 1:31.666, some 0.026 seconds faster than the Italian.
After a string of disappointing results for the reigning Constructors’ Champions – including a double ‘Did Not Start’ in China – McLaren seemed to have made some improvements, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished third and fourth, respectively.
Rookie outings in FP1 for Aston Martin
Suzuka hosted the first rookie FP1 appearance as Aston Martin handed Alonso’s AMR26 to their third driver, Jak Crawford. Originally implemented to provide opportunities for young drivers, an early appearance of a rookie was said to help Aston Martin assess the correlation between simulation and real-life racing.
Several drivers struggled to come to grips with the handling of their cars around the 18-turn circuit. Red Bull Racing’s Isack Hadjar suffered a significant snap of oversteer due to apparent issues with “cold brakes and pulling”. Alex Albon also took a trip through the gravel at Degner 2 before making light contact with the barrier.
Albon’s woes continued in the closing moments of FP1 at the chicane after making contact with Cadillac’s Sergio Perez. Despite a post-session investigation, neither driver was penalised. Perez explained that his ‘virtual mirror’ system was not working.
Piastri back on form after FP2 performance?
Oscar Piastri topped the timesheets in the second practice session on Friday afternoon, leading the grid from the Mercedes Pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. The Australian driver, keen to prove himself after a tough opening two rounds, finished the hour-long session with a time of 1:30.133, a mere 0.092s ahead of Antonelli, to prevent a Mercedes Friday sweep.
Albon struggles around tricky Suzuka circuit
The Pit Lane saw action early on in the session after an incident between Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Alex Albon. The Frenchman took avoiding action after the latter was released in front of him, with questions stemming as to whether it was an overreaction on Gasly’s behalf.
Albon’s weekend continued on a downward spiral as he encountered the slow-moving Mercedes of Antonelli in the Esses whilst pushing on a hot lap. He later stopped on track with issues, briefly triggering the yellow flags before managing to get his FW48 moving again.
A mixed bag of results for McLaren
Lando Norris stayed firmly in the pit lane, with the reigning World Champion missing the first 23 minutes of the session due to a hydraulic leak. Once out on track, Norris began to show some promising pace, managing to take the chequered flag in fourth.
The Briton wasn’t the only driver to miss part of the Practice session. Arvid Lindblad failed to set a competitive time entirely after a gearbox issue in the early stages of the session. The Racing Bulls driver informed the team that when trying to downshift, the car kept going into anti-stall mode.
Antonelli continues Mercedes’ dominant performance in FP3
Saturday’s FP3 allowed the drivers and teams one final chance to fine-tune their setups before Qualifying later in the day. Mercedes once again took the top spot as Kimi Antonelli posted a 1:29.362s, nearly three-tenths faster than teammate George Russell.
The problems plaguing the McLaren of Lando Norris continued into the final Free Practice session. He remained in the garage until 25 minutes remained on the clock due to an Energy Recovery System (ERS) problem. Despite this, he still went on to finish sixth place as teammate Piastri finished fourth, some 1.002s behind Antonelli’s time.
Ollie Bearman finished 15th after he suffered a huge scare on the exit of Spoon Curve, spinning his VF-26 before rejoining the track after avoiding any contact. Sergio Perez ended the session in 20th place after taking a small excursion through the gravel at the final chicane.
Consistency is key: Antonelli claims Suzuka pole position.
Kimi Antonelli continued his fine form on Saturday to claim his second consecutive pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix, going fastest in both Q2 and Q3.
The Italian youngster set a blistering time of 1:28.778 to lead a Mercedes front row lockout. George Russell, who finished some 0.298 seconds down, complained about multiple issues with his W17 throughout the session. The Briton, who was leading the Drivers’ Championship, experienced oversteer in Q1 before drifting out of the final corner in Q2.
Verstappen’s Q2 woes.
Verstappen saw himself eliminated from Q2 after being pushed down to 11th by the Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad. The four-time World Champion described the RB22 as “completely undrivable” after suffering a big snap midway through Spoon Curve. He was forced to make another correction through the second part of the corner as he drifted wide. A failure to reach the Q3 portion of the session saw Verstappen have his four-year pole streak at Suzuka end.
The battle between Ferrari and McLaren looked as fierce as ever. Piastri claimed P3 ahead of Leclerc, the Monegasque experiencing a snap of understeer at Spoon Curve, hindering his final attempt. Lando Norris split the Ferraris, with Hamilton sixth after receiving the black and white flag for driving unnecessarily slowly.
Confetti and a Championship lead for Antonelli after triumph in Japan
Kimi Antonelli sealed the victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the youngest-ever Championship leader. An impressive recovery drive saw him take the chequered flag ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The formation lap faced a 10-minute delay as a result of ongoing barrier repairs at Turn 12. Two Porsche Carreras collided through the flat-out right-hander before the Spoon Corner. With one causing severe damage to the barrier, the race was on to repair it before the main event.
Piastri surged forward at lights out to take the lead into Turn 1, followed closely by Charles Leclerc. The Mercedes pair both suffered slow starts, with polesitter Antonelli dropping down to sixth. George Russell dropped to fourth after being passed on the outside by McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Safety Cars and a lucky escape
Lap 22 saw the Safety Car brought out after an incident between Haas’ Ollie Bearman and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto. The Briton suffered a massive 50G crash at Spoon Curve after going off the track at 190mph.
Questions surrounding how this series of events occurred seemed to lead to the new boost mode introduced. Bearman deployed extra electrical power in a ‘push-to-pass scenario’ that gave the Haas a differential closing speed of 50kph.
The Restart that Reshaped the Race
Mercedes opted to keep Antonelli and Russell out on track, as other teams called their drivers in for tyre changes. Antonelli utilised the opportunity for a ‘cheaper’ pit-stop, emerging to rejoin the track still in the race lead.
With the Safety Car removed, Antonelli executed a solid restart to hold a lead of over one second from Piastri. Russell dropped a further place to Hamilton after his unluckily timed trip to the pits.
As the chequered flag fell, Antonelli had managed to build a sizeable lead of over 13 seconds from Piastri. Moving into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, he becomes the youngest person to head the standings in F1 history.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri built on his promising performance in FP2 to finish second across the line. He steadily worked his way back up the order after a poorly timed pit-stop just before the Safety Car deployment. The Australian on a comeback after failing to start the past two rounds, logging two DNS in Australia and China.
Late Surge for Leclerc seals a Podium finish
The final podium position was decided by a battle between Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the second Mercedes of George Russell. The latter put pressure on Leclerc through the closing stages of the race, eventually making a move with laps remaining.
However, Leclerc reclaimed the position down the main straight, holding on all the way till the end. A third-place finish for the Monegasque gives Ferrari its third Grand Prix podium of the season so far. Lewis Hamilton finished in sixth after losing a place in the final portion of the race to Lando Norris.
After becoming a dominant force in the last couple of years, Red Bull seems a solid midfield contender. Max Verstappen only managed to finish eighth after starting in P11. The Dutch driver was unable to pass Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, finishing some 32 seconds behind Antonelli. Teammate Isack Hadjar also had a somewhat disappointing race, failing to reach the points after finishing in P12.
Leave a Reply