19-year-old Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes wins Japanese GP for second straight victory

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli of Italy reacts on the podium after winning the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at Suzuka in central Japan, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

SUZUKA, Japan — Italian 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes has won his second consecutive Formula 1 race, taking Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Oscar Piastri of McLaren. Antonelli finished a comfortable 13.7 seconds ahead of the Australian.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was third with George Russell of Mercedes in fourth. McLaren’s Lando Norris was fifth with sixth for Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the Suzuka circuit in central Japan on a clear, sunny spring afternoon.

Antonelli won the first F1 race of his career two weeks ago in China, the second-youngest winner in history. The youngest was Max Verstappen in 2016 at 18. Antonelli also won from pole position in China.

Antonelli has 72 points from three races and now becomes the youngest to lead the season drivers’ standings.

“It’s too early to think about the championship, but we’re in a good way,” Antonelli said. “I got a terrible start, I just need to check what happened.

“Definitely, it’s been (the starts) a weak point this year and I need to improve that because you can easily win or lose races with that.”

Mercedes continues to dominate

Russell was second in China two weeks ago and won the season-opening race in Australia, which means Mercedes has victories in the first three races of 2026.

In Japan, Antonelli started from pole with Russell alongside him, but neither got a great start with Piastri beating both to the first turn and holding the early lead.

But Antonelli and Mercedes again showed that they have mastered the 2026 car configuration, which features a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical-battery power.

The cars are also lighter, narrower and shorter than last season, with many drivers complaining about the new regulations, the most radical changes in a decade.

Antonelli’s good fortune

McLaren’s Piastri got a great start. Antonelli didn’t and wound up in sixth after the first lap but clawed his way back. He had the lead on the 22nd lap when Hass driver Oliver Bearman lost control and hit a tire barrier, triggering the safety car.

Bearman limped out of the car but was reported later to be in good shape by medical officials.

Antonelli said he got a bit “lucky” with the deployment of the safety car.

“I don’t know what would have happened, what the outcome would have been without the safely car,” Antonelli said. “But that definitely made life a lot easier.”

McLaren much, much better

Piastri also wondered what might have been, but acknowledged Mercedes probably had too much pace.

“It’s a shame we never got to see what would have happened, but for us at this point to be disappointed about finishing second — is a pretty good place to be.”

Piastri did not even start the season’s first two races. He crashed on a warm-up lap prior to his home race in Australia, and both McLaren cars failed to start in China due to electrical faults.

“I think this weekend we just did a really good job of optimizing what we had,” Piastri said. “We just nailed everything. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough for the win. But at the moment a result like today is as good as a win.”

Hamilton went all last season without a podium driving for Ferrari, but managed third place in China. He was close to another podium in Japan, showing the Ferrari is much more competitive.

“I’ve not lost what I had,” Hamilton said this week in Japan.

Long hiatus

Formula 1 now takes a five-week break with races scheduled for April in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia called off because of the war in Iran. The next race is May 3 in Miami.

Stephen Wade, The Associated Press