Formula 1 in Suzuka

Victory after a false start! Antonelli takes the lead in the World Championship

Kimi Antonelli’s Formula 1 career continues its rapid ascent.(Bild: AP)

Italian driver Kimi Antonelli won the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix—despite a completely botched start—and has thus become the youngest championship leader in the history of the World Championship. The Mercedes driver followed up his maiden victory two weeks earlier in Shanghai with another win on Sunday in Suzuka, benefiting not only from starting from pole position but also from the race’s flow.

Australian Oscar Piastri, finishing second, provided a strong sign of life for McLaren, while Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari finished third. 

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Safety Car Helps
The key moment of the race was a crash by Haas driver Oliver Bearman on lap 22. The ensuing five-lap safety car period allowed former world champions Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, as well as Antonelli, to pit for a tire change. The 19-year-old had taken the lead for the first time since the start immediately before the crash, after Russell had pitted for a tire change—one lap too early, as it turned out. But no one could have foreseen Bearman’s accident and the ensuing neutral phase.

When the race resumed on lap 27, Antonelli set the pace at the front and did not relinquish the lead until the 53rd and final lap. Russell was quickly pushed back to fourth place by Hamilton after the restart, even dropping to fifth, and ultimately missed out on the podium. Piastri, on the other hand, scored big points in his first finish in a World Championship race this year. Teammate and World Champion Lando Norris finished fifth, behind Russell and ahead of Hamilton.

Oscar Piastri(Bild: AFP/PHILIP FONG)

Start remains Mercedes’ weak point
Starting from third on the grid, Piastri got off to the best start in the race—which had been delayed by ten minutes due to an accident in a support race—and, like Leclerc, passed the two Mercedes almost effortlessly. For team principal Toto Wolff’s squad, it was once again evident that the start is their biggest weakness. Antonelli was even relegated from the front of the pack to sixth place within a few meters. Russell finished fourth behind Piastri, Leclerc, and Norris, with Hamilton fifth. Max Verstappen, who started from eleventh place, remained behind the top six for the entire race and ultimately finished eighth.

What had been foreshadowed in the second McLaren-dominated Friday practice session was confirmed in the third World Championship race of this year of regulatory upheaval. While Mercedes had been clearly superior in Australia and China, Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari were now on a much more even footing. This was also because, with the new cars, there was more and more frequent overtaking at Suzuka than there used to be on this track. Piastri immediately countered Russell when the latter took the lead for the first time on lap eight. Only Antonelli was too fast for the Australian that day.

The result:

Due to the cancellations of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the next Grand Prix won’t take place for another five weeks in Miami.