F1 | 2026 Japanese GP race CLASSIFICATION: results and order of arrival. Antonelli is world championship leader
The 2026 Japanese GP offered an intense race full of incidents. At the Suzuka circuit, however, the final result strongly reaffirmed the golden moment for Mercedes and, above all, for Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix, taking his second career victory, his second in a row, completing another hat-trick with pole position, fastest lap, and the win. The Italian driver managed all phases of the race with authority, recovering after a complicated start and then imposing an unsustainable pace for his rivals. Behind him finished Oscar Piastri, second, and Charles Leclerc, third, who did well to defend against George Russell’s attacks at the end.
Indice dei Contenuti
F1 Japanese race podium
1) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)→ 56 laps
2) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +13.722
3) Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari) +15.260
F1 JAPANESE GP RACE CLASSIFICATION ORDER OF ARRIVAL
| DRIVER | TEAM | TIME | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | LEADER | 25 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +13.722 | 18 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | +15.260 | 15 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | +15.754 | 12 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +23.479 | 10 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Scuderia Ferrari | +25.037 | 8 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +32.340 | 6 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +32.677 | 4 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | Visa CashApp RB | +50.180 | 2 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +51.216 | 1 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +52.280 | 0 |
| 12 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | +56.154 | 0 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +59.078 | 0 |
| 14 | Arvid Lindblad | Visa CashApp RB | +59.848 | 0 |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +65.008 | 0 |
| 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +65.773 | 0 |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | +92.453 | 0 |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +1 Lap | 0 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | +1 Lap | 0 |
| 20 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +1 Lap | 0 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | DNF | 0 |
| 22 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | DNF | 0 |
ANALYSIS of driver classification and positions
The race started with a perfect launch from Piastri, who beat Antonelli at the start to take the lead ahead of Leclerc and Russell. The pole-sitter slipped to sixth position but immediately began his comeback, overtaking first Hamilton and then Norris, quickly moving close to the lead group.
In the early stages, Piastri tried to set his own pace, but Russell closed in to attack him, only to be overtaken again. Behind them, a compact train formed with Leclerc, Norris, and Antonelli, with the Italian becoming increasingly incisive lap after lap.
The turning point came in the middle phase when strategies and the Safety Car reshuffled the deck. Oliver Bearman’s accident at the entrance of Spoon forced race direction to neutralize the race: several drivers took advantage of the free stop, including Antonelli and Hamilton, while Russell expressed all his frustration at an unfavorable situation.
At the restart, Antonelli definitively took control of the race, progressively increasing the gap to Piastri thanks to a consistently faster pace. Lap after lap, the Italian built an advantage of over 10 seconds, then managing it at the end following team instructions.
Behind him, the fight for the podium was heated. Leclerc had to overtake Hamilton with a decisive maneuver between the chicane and Turn 1, while Russell tried several times to attack both the Briton and the Monegasque. In the end, the two swapped positions in a spectacular duel, but Leclerc managed to defend until the checkered flag.
Further back, the battle for fifth position also provided a show, with Norris and Hamilton protagonists of several crossovers, resolved only in the final laps in favor of the McLaren driver.
With this success, Antonelli climbed to the top of the Drivers’ World Championship for the first time in his career with 72 points, ahead of Russell who remains at 63. In the constructors’ championship, Mercedes extended its lead to 135 points, consolidating its lead over Ferrari and McLaren, while Alpine gained ground, moving into fifth position.
At Suzuka, therefore, further confirmation arrived: Antonelli is no longer just a promise, but a solid reality in the fight for the title.
Statements from driver Kimi Antonelli after the race at Suzuka
«It’s a really great feeling! Obviously, it’s too early to think about the championship, but we are on the right track. I had a terrible start. I need to check what happened. Then I was lucky with the Safety Car to find myself in the lead, but the pace was incredible. It was really nice. In the second stint, I felt very comfortable with the car. I’m very happy with this.»
On the start and more generally on his race:
«I can train with some clutch tests to get a better feel, because so far it has clearly been a weak point this season. I need to improve in this aspect, because you can easily win or lose races. With the mediums we were strong when we had clean air and with the hards the pace was incredible. I don’t know what the result would have been without the Safety Car, but it made my race much easier.»
