Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest championship leader after a commanding thirteen-second victory at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Italian, who initially lost out to Oscar Piastri and slipped to sixth, was able to take advantage of a safety car caused by a heavy crash by Ollie Bearman.
Antonelli had not yet made a pit stop, while his rivals for victory, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes team-mate George Russell, had, when Bearman crashed heavily. That gave Antonelli a pit stop that cost him less time than the others and ensured he could retain the lead, with him eventually able to take the fifteen-second.
At age nineteen, he is the youngest driver to lead the world championship in the sport’s history, with Lewis Hamilton having previously held the record after first topping the standings at the age of twenty-two in Indianapolis in June 2007.
“Unbelievable”, claimed Russell, as the timing of the incident gave his teammate victory, it also meant the Englishman lost position to Piastri and Charles Leclerc, with him finishing fourth, half a second behind the Ferrari. Following the restart, Antonelli was able to pull away from Piastri, following his pit stop, where he retained the lead.
Piastri finished his first Grand Prix finish of the season with second as he finished a second and a half ahead of the scraps for third and fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Russell tried to channel his frustration into his fight with Leclerc, but he was unable to find a way past.
Russell tracked Piastri within a second for several laps and then overtook him into the chicane on lap eight, only for the McLaren to move back past down the pit straight at the start of the following lap. But that was the only time he was able to get close as the McLaren driver’s confidence built.
Piastri’s third place could suggest that following the April break caused by the war in Iran, and maybe from the start of the European season in June, the reigning champions could start becoming a headache for Mercedes.
The incident between Bearman and the Alpine of Franco Colapinto would transform the fortunes of many. When fighting for position on lap twenty-two, the Haas carried significant overspeed as he closed in through Spoon Curve. Bearman was carrying significant speed as the Alpine drifted onto the racing line.
Bearman tried to take evasive action but got onto the grass, sending him into a spin at 191mph, resulting in him spinning back across the track into the barrier, having lost almost no speed.
Bearman climbed out gingerly, limping and holding his knees, before being taken to the medical centre, where he had an X-ray before being diagnosed with a right knee contusion and being released.
Russell finished over seven and a half seconds ahead of Norris, with the Ferrari of Hamilton a second and a half further behind. Hamilton had managed to fend off a fast-catching Norris after being passed by Leclerc on lap thirty-seven, but the scrap would continue for the remainder of the race.
The fight eventually settled down with two laps to go, Hamilton losing pace and dropping behind Norris while Leclerc and Russell fought it out for third, the Mercedes making the decisive move and fending off the Ferrari at Turn One. Norris had got past at Casio Triangle, only for Hamilton, who had a better battery, to breeze back past on the straight.
Antonelli said, “It feels pretty good, it is too early to think about the championship but we are on the good way. In the race, I had a terrible start, just need to check what happened but then I was lucky with the safety car to be in the lead and then the pace was just incredible. It was a really nice second stint. I felt very good with the car and very pleased with that.”
Piastri added, “Turns out we’re all right when we actually get to start! It would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without that [safety car]. I think I could keep George behind, and just before the stops we were actually pulling away again. 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.”
Leclerc, who finished in third: “It was a bit of a sweaty one. We got unlucky with the safety car, from that moment onwards I knew I was on the back foot, especially to Kimi and Lewis. Then I was like, OK, let’s keep pushing and let’s try to keep the tyres and bring them to the end. But it wasn’t as much of a disadvantage as I thought.”
Going into the spring break, caused by the cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Antonelli has a nine-point lead over Russell, with Leclerc fourteen behind. Mercedes has a forty-five-point lead over Ferrari, with McLaren forty-four points further behind.
Pierre Gasly continued his strong start to the season, finishing seven second behind Hamilton. The Alpine driver was also involved in a race-long fight with Verstappen. The Frenchman held him off to secure seventh just over three tenths ahead of the four-time champion, as his prediction of, not being in the mix for victory.
Verstappen once again complained about his Red Bull, as he felt like he was “driving without power steering”, so heavy his steering was.
The Bearman incident also had consequences for the lower end of the top ten, Esteban Ocon and Arvid Lindblad established themselves ahead of Isack Hadjar, but those three drivers pitted before the safety car intervention and therefore lost out. However, Lindblad would eventually slip to fourteenth.
Nico Hulkenberg finished eleventh, the Audi driver missing out on the points as he finished almost four seconds ahead of Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, with Lindblad eventually finishing five seconds behind the Audi. Carlos Sainz was three-quarters of a second ahead of Colapinto, who continued following his crash with Bearman.
Sergio Perez was the last car on the lead lap, the Mexican twenty-six seconds behind the Argentine as he finished ahead of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard, sixteen seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Alex Albon, having completed six stops during the race, was a further lap behind.
The only other retirement was Lance Stroll, the Canadian, who retired on lap thirty with a water pressure issue.
Related
- Japanese GP – Qualifying Result
- JAPANESE GP – Kimi Antonelli beats George Russell by three tenths to take consecutive poles
- JAPANESE GP – Oscar Piastri fastest by nearly a tenth from Kimi Antonelli in second practice
- JAPANESE GP – George Russell fastest by a quarter of a second in first practice, with McLaren’s a tenth off
- Welcome to the Japanese Grand Prix
- PRIXVIEW – Japanese Grand Prix
