When Kimi Antonelli suffered wheelspin off the line at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, it only looked likely to be consequential if George Russell was one of those who got past him. The Brit did indeed fly past his team-mate and, from there, it felt inevitable that victory was his – even if Oscar Piastri was putting up a good early fight.
But fate had other ideas. After Piastri pitted, Russell was telling his Mercedes race engineer over the radio that he did not think it was a good idea to extend his first stint too much. He was worried about losing overall race time and handing the advantage to the McLaren driver, so eventually his team listened and brought the Brit in for fresh rubber.
As it turned out, they did so a lap too early, because Oliver Bearman then span off track and smashed up his Haas. The safety car was immediately deployed and Antonelli, who was behind Russell and had yet to stop, was suddenly handed a very cheap visit to the pit lane. And Russell could only swear in frustration.
All was not lost on the face of it, as he was still third when the Grand Prix eventually restarted. But any hope of reeling in his team-mate faded when he initially went the other way, slipping behind first Lewis Hamilton and then Charles Leclerc, putting three cars between the two Mercedes racers.
He got back past Hamilton and thought he had done the same to Leclerc with three laps to go, only to then see the Ferrari bravely roar back past around the outside of turn one in spectacular fashion. It mattered not anyway by that point as Antonelli was already 14 seconds ahead of Piastri and even further clear of Russell.
The teenager took the chequered flag to a huge roar from the crowd and a sea of Mercedes arms punching the air with delight through the fence along the pit wall. Antonelli is now the championship leader for the first time in his young F1 career, while Piastri’s strong run to second saw Mercedes failed to secure a one-two finish for the first time in 2026.
Antonelli, 19, is now the championship leader – the youngest driver in F1 history to do so, and also the first teenager. It was also a milestone victory for Mercedes, their 125th Grand Prix win since returning to the sport in 2010.
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