Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka International Racing Course 2026

STARTING GRID: 1) ANTONELLI 2) RUSSELL 3) PIASTRI 4) LECLERC 5) NORRIS 6) HAMILTON 7) GASLY 8) HADJAR 9) BORTOLETO 10) LINDBLAD 11) VERSTAPPEN 12) OCON 13) HULKENBERG 14) LAWSON 15) COLAPINTO 16) SAINZ 17) ALBON 18) BEARMAN 19) PEREZ 20) BOTTAS 21) ALONSO 22) STROLL

LAP 1: Into the first corner, a fantastic start by Oscar Piastri as he swooped round both Mercedes cars and took the lead. A great start from Leclerc as well as he moved into 2nd place with the Mercedes both dropping down the order. The pressure built on Russell and Antonelli as Russell was passed by Norris and Hamilton got past Antonelli. 

LAP 3: Antonelli managed to get back past Hamilton but was still in 5th place with the race not starting at all as he or Mercedes would have liked. At the start of the lap, Russell was able to make it past his compatriot into 3rd past the reigning World Champion. 

A few seconds later the Haas of Esteban Ocon moved past Isaac Hadjar on the pit straight to move into the points positions. Hadjar did try a move round the outside of his team mate at turn 16 but was unsuccessful and seemed to compromise his exit to the pit straight which may have ultimately cost him the place. 

LAP 4: The comeback from George Russell continued into the 4th lap. Another overtake with the power deployed on the pit straight and he seemed to breeze past the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc with only Oscar Piastri now in front of him. A strong few laps from the Mercedes as he pursued the victory early in Japan. 

LAP 8: A terrific battle towards the end of the lap for the lead with Russell making a move up the inside into turn 16 and he got past the McLaren. However, he used all of his battery and was not able to successfully defend from the McLaren on the pit straight as Piastri retook the lead with a few corners. 

LAP 11: A mirrored move from Kimi Antonelli on Lando Norris as his team mate had down a number of laps earlier into turn 16. This time the Mercedes had kept enough power to keep his place and stay in 4th. 

LAP 16: Kimi Antonelli made the same move on Charles Leclerc in the last few corners of the lap and was in the podium places. However, he did nearly lose the rear as he came out of the final corner which gave Leclerc the opportunity to move back past which he did as he retook 2nd place. 

LAP 19 & 22: A crucial few laps in the race that went on to impact the remainder of the race at the front. On lap 19, Piastri came in to try and force a move from Mercedes for their strategy. Mercedes then brought in Russell on lap 22 and had the race lead with Antonelli as Russell came out of the pits. 

However, a turning point in the race was when Ollie Bearman had a big shunt into the barriers and was out of the race. A nasty incident for the Brit who was seen limping away from his car but was thankfully later confirmed to be ok. A scary moment with drivers questioning some safety aspects of the new cars due to the velocity of the crash. 

Although this was a gift for Antonelli and his race, a disgruntled George Russell was on the radio voicing his frustrations as he said “UNBELIEVABLE!” as his hard work seemed to be undone by something completely out of his control. 

LAP 23: After the pit stops for Antonelli and Hamilton (who was 2nd at the time of the yellow flags) the order now ran with the Italian out from, Piastri in 2nd, Russell 3rd, Hamilton now 4th and his team mate behind in 5th. 

LAP 28: The safety car restart was led by Antonelli as he got away well from those behind him. After a torrid few laps, Russell came under pressure from Hamilton and was past into the first corner and was now out of the podium places. 

LAP 37: As the race continued, it seemed to be getting worse for Russell as he dropped down again with both Ferrari’s now in front of him. The man that was chasing the lead just 20 laps ago seemed to be going backwards. An unfortunate turn in the race for Russell and Mercedes. 

LAP 42: This time it was the battle of the Ferrari’s from 130R into turns 16 and 17. Close and fair racing from both drivers as the Tifosi and the Ferrari pit wall will have been holding their breaths. The move was made from Leclerc into turn 1 as he flew round the outside of Hamilton and both were close to contact but he made it through cleanly. 

The team trusted both drivers, just as they have done for the entire season so far. Great clean and clever racing from both drivers ensured great viewing as they battled with one another. The Ferrari pit wall would much rather them do it for the lead of the race but there has not been any team orders, which shows the faith they have in both. 

LAP 43: Down the pit straight George Russell had a positive for the end of his race as he overtook his former team mate Lewis Hamilton into turn 1. Hamilton moved to the inside line as he did for Charles Leclerc before to make it as difficult as possible for his opponents but both were able to make it past. The superior Mercedes power down the straights gave Hamilton no chance in his defence as Russell moved into 4th. 

LAP 48: It was bad news for Lewis Hamilton as he was overtaken up the inside of turn 16 by Lando Norris. Hamilton was on the radio in the laps leading up to this complaining about his deployment which he felt was not right. 

He had locked up into turn 16, in which he went off the track and had to come back on the track which Norris complained about saying that he should give him the place for that move. However, the deployment on the pit straight was considerably better for Hamilton as he moved back into 5th before turn 1. 

LAP 51: With time running out George Russell made a move up the inside of turn 16 on Charles Leclerc. Eager to make it onto the podium he moved into P3. Although the move worked, it was short lived as Leclerc made the energy release work to his advantage on the pit straight. The Ferrari kept his position and maintained his podium place. 

On the same lap, another dive up the inside, this time from Lando Norris on Lewis Hamilton as he took his chance and moved up to 5th place. With time running out for him also he needed to make the move count, which he did. 

LAP 53: ANOTHER RACE WIN FOR 19 YEAR OLD KIMI ANTONELLI! This time by over 14 seconds as he never seemed to be under pressure from those behind him. A 2nd place for Oscar Piastri, who will be happy to get a healthy amount of points on the board due to his start to the season. With the podium places rounded off by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. 

It was a day of what could have been for the other Mercedes of George Russell. The start wasn’t what he would have wanted but a valiant fight back was quashed with the safety car as his opponents and most notably his team mate benefitted the most from the fortunate free pit stops. 

Lando Norris was able to finish in the top 4 with the last overtake on the final laps of the race to get ahead of Lewis Hamilton. He as well as his team will be happy to get more key points on the board for the respective championships. 

With Lewis Hamilton probably disappointed with his race in the end as he started the race quite well. Although the power difference from the Mercedes made it hard for him to keep up with them. As well as an issue for him which plunged him further down the order but a P6 will give him 8 extra points that could be valuable in the long term. 

A great drive from Pierre Gasly seemed to go unnoticed for Alpine as he kept 4x World Champion Max Verstappen at bay for almost the entire race. A P7 to be proud of for Gasly and Alpine. 

An 8th place for Max Verstappen will not have been what he was aiming for as the struggles for Red Bull continue. It seemed to be a struggle for both drivers with Hadjar not even making the points as Suzuka did not seem to play to the strengths of Red Bull. 

Liam Lawson was another driver who performed well as he got a 9th place finish in Suzuka but he was over 18 seconds behind Verstappen in 8th and only just over a second ahead of Ocon in 10th which may be a concern. 

The last points place went to the Haas of Ocon as he stayed in and around that fight for the entire race and managed to get the last point on offer in Japan. He was under pressure from the Audi of Hulkenberg with only 1 second separating them at the checkered flag. 

RACE RESULT: 1) ANTONELLI 2) PIASTRI 3) LECLERC 4) RUSSELL 5) NORRIS 6) HAMILTON 7) GASLY 8) VERSTAPPEN 9) LAWSON 10) OCON 11) HULKENBERG 12) HADJAR 13) BORTOLETO 14) LINDBLAD 15) SAINZ 16) COLAPINTO 17) PEREZ 18) ALONSO 19) BOTTAS 20) ALBON 21) STROLL (DNF) 22) BEARMAN (DNF)