Mercedes young driver Kimi Antonelli don win di Japanese Grand Prix for Suzuka Circuit on Sunday, as e become di youngest driver to lead di Formula 1 championship standings at just 19 years and 216 days old. Di Italian finish 13.722 seconds ahead of McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, wey come second, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari take third place. Di race wey start after 10-minute delay due to barrier repairs for Turn 12 after support race incident, see Antonelli overcome poor start to claim victory.
Di race begin with Antonelli and George Russell of Mercedes wey dey first and second for grid, but Oscar Piastri quickly overtake dem to take early lead. After 12 laps, Piastri still dey lead, but Antonelli later regain position after safety car period wey come because of Oli Bearman crash for Haas. Bearman crash for Spoon Curve on lap 22 cause safety car deployment, and di 20-year-old British driver limp away from di accident with right knee contusion but no fractures, according to Haas team.
After di safety car period, Antonelli take lead and maintain strong pace throughout di race. George Russell wey dey second at one point, later drop to fourth after electrical system bug affect his car, according to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari finish sixth and express frustration about lack of power, saying “I’m full gas and I’m managing where I’ve been asked to manage, and for some reason just lacking power today.”
Max Verstappen of Red Bull continue to struggle with di 2026 season, finish eighth after starting from 11th position. Di four-time champion wey qualify poorly on Saturday describe his car as “undriveable” and express dissatisfaction with di new regulations. Verstappen also face controversy after ordering British journalist Giles Richards to leave press conference on Thursday, with Red Bull team reportedly summoning him for talks about di incident.
Di final results show Antonelli first, Piastri second, Leclerc third, Russell fourth, Lando Norris fifth, Hamilton sixth, Pierre Gasly seventh, Verstappen eighth, Liam Lawson ninth, and Esteban Ocon tenth. Di race mark Antonelli second win dis season after Chinese Grand Prix victory earlier dis month.
Several drivers express concerns about di 2026 regulations during di weekend. Carlos Sainz of Williams warn about safety after Bearman crash, saying “we’ve been warning them about this kind of [thing] happening, this kind of closing speeds and these kind of accidents were always going to happen.” Charles Leclerc also criticize di qualifying format, with expletive-laden radio message saying “I honestly cannot stand this qualifying” after experiencing deployment issues.
Di FIA release statement after di race about di regulations, saying “Since their introduction, the 2026 regulations have been the subject of ongoing discussions between the FIA, Teams, Power Unit Manufacturers, Drivers and FOM.” Di statement add dat “any potential adjustments, particularly those related to energy management, require careful simulation and detailed analysis” and meetings go hold in April to assess di regulations.
With dis victory, Antonelli now lead di championship standings with two wins from three races dis season. Di next race go be Miami Grand Prix on May 3 at Miami International Autodrome, as Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix don cancel for dis season. Mercedes appear to have significant advantage with diir engine, as Hamilton note dat “they’ve got the Mercedes engine which is a long way ahead of ours at the moment” when discussing Ferrari performance gap.
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