Kimi Antonelli wins Japanese Grand Prix and takes lead of championship
- Teagan Crump
- 1 minute ago
- 1 min read
By Teagan Crump
So far in 2026, Kimi Antonelli appears to have been on top form, and this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix proved to be no different. The young Italian secured pole position for the race ahead of his Mercedes teammate, George Russell.
The start of the Grand Prix was initially delayed by ten minutes for barrier repairs following an incident in the earlier Porsche race.
On lap 1, both Mercedes got a slow start meanwhile the McLaren of Oscar Piastri charged into the lead of the race.
Lap 3 saw a brief moment for the Red Bull drivers, but nothing further came of it.
After his poor start, Kimi Antonelli was fighting his way back up the field before leading again on lap 22. On the same lap, yellow flags were shown and a Safety Car was called for Oliver Bearman who crashed and had 50g of impact.
The Safety Car period caused many drivers to pit and shuffled the order a lot. When racing resumed on lap 28, Kimi Antonelli maintained the lead.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton battled a lot on lap 42 before the seven-time World Champion went off-track on lap 43.
Eventually, on lap 53, Kimi Antonelli crossed the line in first, ahead of Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc.
The results
Antonelli
Piastri
Leclerc
Russell
Norris
Hamilton
Gasly
Verstappen
Lawson
Ocon
Hülkenberg
Hadjar
Bortoleto
Lindblad
Sainz
Colapinto
Pérez
Alonso
Bottas
Albon
DNF. Stroll
DNF. Bearman