Raceday Recap: Konichiwa, Kimi!
The 40th Japanese Grand Prix in Formula 1 history was full of repetitive overtakes and Mercedes dominance - but at least Oscar Piastri achieved his first race start (and finish) of the season! This weekend in Suzuka is the last race we will have for a while, so let's analyze what its results mean for the championship.
Saturday’s qualifying saw Kimi Antonelli on pole, with teammate George Russell beside him on the first row. The McLarens and Ferraris followed the Mercedes drivers in alternating order: Oscar Piastri, hoping for a first race start of the season, took P3, followed by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc who qualified fourth, Lando Norris who went 5th fastest, and Lewis Hamilton starting from P6. Pierre Gasly put up an impressive time to start from P7 on the grid, side by side with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar in 8th. Gabriel Bortoleto took P9, with rookie Arvid Lindblad rounding out the top ten.
Kimi Antonelli taking pole position in his wolf-themed race suit beside Sumo Wrestler Ozeki Kotozakura. Photo courtesy of Reuters.
For the first time all year, all cars started from the grid instead of the pit lane for lights out, which led to an exciting first lap! Piastri took the lead around turn 1, while Leclerc cut through the middle of the Mercs to take P2 after Russell and Antonelli were slow off the line. Norris caught up to 3rd, Russell fell back to 4th, Hamilton surged to 5th, and Antonelli dropped all the way back into P6. On lap 2, Antonelli passed Hamilton for 5th, while Max Verstappen and Hadjar battled for P9, with Verstappen coming out on top. In the next three laps, Russell took 3rd from Norris, then 2nd from Leclerc around Turn 1, while Verstappen got by Lindblad to advance to P8. In between laps 8 and 9, Russell and Piastri sparred for the lead of the race, with the Mercedes beating the McLaren over the line. Over laps 12 through 15, Antonelli wove his way up the rankings, taking P4 from Norris and P3 from Leclerc. Lindblad was shown the black and white flag for moving under braking, which set him down the ranks so as not to risk a penalty. On lap 16, Leclerc retook P3 from Antonelli, and this lap was around the time that drivers started to pit for hard tyres instead of medium grade.
This is where things began to get interesting: Piastri passed Verstappen for P5 on lap 21 and was mathematically predicted to take the lead of the race if the Mercedes drivers pitted. Then, one lap later, Ollie Bearman had a 50G impact with the wall after he deployed energy trying to get around Franco Colapinto. Colapinto, instead of using energy, was harvesting it and restoring his supply; as Bearman sped up, Colapinto slowed down, which meant that Bearman went shooting around the outside of Colapinto and spun out in the corner. This crash determined the remainder of the race: Antonelli was able to pit under the safety car and take first and keep it, while Piastri took the biggest hit and Russell complained “unbelievable!” Russell missed the safety car pit stop by only a few laps, and if he had waited he could have won the race. The safety car went in on lap 27, and the race restarted. Lance Stroll retired around lap 31 (shocker), and Leclerc shot by Russell for P4 on lap 37. A few laps later, the Ferraris were sparring for a podium, with Leclerc and Hamilton trying to get around each other and Leclerc taking the success after he used the racing line. On lap 43, Hamilton was overtaken by Russell for 4th place before locking up and going wide into the chicane. Norris complained on the radio that Hamilton had gained an advantage to stay ahead of him, which led to Norris and Hamilton brawling and Norris taking the position in the last lap of the race, with no penalty given to Hamilton.
The 2026 Japanese GP podium - a proud Italian, disappointed Aussie, and content Monegasque. Photo courtesy of Speed Cafe.
Kimi Antonelli took first place and with it became the youngest ever leader of the WDC - an impressive title for a driver only on his second F1 season. Oscar Piastri was the second driver on the podium for his first race this season, with Charles Leclerc completing the top three. After facing some power issues, George Russell finished P4, with Lando Norris in 5th and Lewis Hamilton in 6th. Pierre Gasly maintained his qualifying position to take P7, with a disappointed Verstappen in 8th. Liam Lawson snuck his way up to 9th, with Esteban Ocon making a surprising appearance in P10!
The power difference between harvesting energy and spending energy is something we will see all season, and it is definitely the key regulation that could make or break this year’s racing. Kimi Antonelli is the driver to watch this season, and once races finally start up again in May, the championship will be fired up! I’m really excited to see how this year goes. As always, thanks for reading, and don’t forget to follow @thewinningformulablog on Instagram for weekly creative and fun F1 content!
Lights out and away we go,
Lucy xx
