Coincidental in the land of Cherry Blossoms that the blossoming talent of Kimi Antonelli becomes the new championship leader with a win in Japan. Talking of flowers, our 2026 Japanese F1 Grand Prix Result Summary smells lovely and is best placed in a vase of water.
This 2026 Japanese Grand Prix Result, Laps that Matter summary, Review & Ratings gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
READ MORE: 2026 Japanese GP Prix-view
READ MORE: 2026 Chinese GP and 2026 Season Ratings
READ MORE: Cheever’d – 1980’s F1 Drivers Careers Explained
2026 Japanese F1 Grand Prix Result Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Here’s where we capture the laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – QUALIFYING
Kimi Antonelli doubles down on the Chinese Grand Prix with another pole position and did it by three tenths of a second to his team mate George Russell who was constantly on the radio/moaning about the feel of his car. Oscar Piastri took third and has looked fast for most of the weekend even ended fastest in P2. The big surprise in Qualifying was Max Verstappen missing Q3 (ended up 11th), knocked out late by Arvid Lindblad, which made Verstappen more grumpy about 2026 cars, and maybe more grumpy against journalists. Some good performances by Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoleto to make Q3, Audi probably should have had both cars in Q3 as they look the 5th fastest car for sure, and arguably faster than Red Bull this weekend.
GRID AFTER Q3 – ANT RUS PIA LEC NOR HAM GAS HAD BOR LIN
Setting the scene – RACEDAY
After the first two races of 2026 have seen more action than last year’s Japanese Grand Prix before the light have gone out, so it was very low key to see all the 22 drivers make it to the starting line. With the pace of the Mercedes and the tight but fast nature of the Suzuka track, it will probably be reasonably dull. So we will be relying on some start line chaos for interest today. That and Max Verstappen starting 11th and angry. In exciting news for Australian F1 fans, Oscar Piastri made it to the grid.
Lap 1 – Kimi Antonelli drops it off the line and falls back a bunch of place, as Oscar Piastri burns them around the outside. Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris make good starts too and muscle past George Russell. Norris’ was quite a good move around the outside of turn two. Antonelli ended up 6th on the first lap but passes Lewis Hamilton into Turn One at the beginning of the second lap. Piastri is a full second in front by the end of the lap, not bad for his first lap of the season. Further back, no clashes or crashes as all 22 cars start and survive the first lap.
ORDER – PIA LEC NOR RUS HAM ANT GAS HAD LIN VER
Lap 2 – Max Verstappen passes Hadjar for 9th around the second part of the lap but they almost touch at the final chicane.
Lap 3 – George Russell, possibly smelling his fast-catching team mate, gets past Lando Norris for third. Looks like it won’t take long for Antonelli to do the same. Piastri will be hoping that Leclerc can keep the Mercedes’ behind him for a while. Nope, not happening, George Russell flies past on lap 4.
ORDER – PIA RUS LEC NOR ANT HAM GAS LIN VER OCO
Lap 5 – George Russell isn’t catching Piastri as quick as those hoping for an exciting had feared, meaning at least Russell will have to work hard for it. Oscar has been fast all weekend. Max Verstappen gets past Lindblad for 8th.
Lap 7 – Backmarker check – the last four cars in order from 19th are Prez, Alonso, Stroll and Bottas. Perez being 3.5 second behind 18th and Alonso 4.5 behind Perez. Bottas is the only car on the hard tyres in the race.
Lap 8 – George Russell is within oil sniffing distance of Oscar Piastri now by the end of the pit straight, and given the pace advantage in general will probably swat him away next time around. Sadly for McLaren fans Mercedes are usually professional with strategy, unlike other front runners, so once Russell gets in front he will stay in front.
Lap 9 – Wrong. George Russell nails Oscar Piastri into the chicane on the previous lap, but Piastri has plenty of speed down the pit straight and he re-takes him into turn one of lap 9. Russell’ pace advantage through the 130R corner before the chicane was awesome, but not enough down the next straight. New technology eh? At the same time, the battle for third between Leclerc, Norris and Antonelli has got very interesting, and there’s nothing in it. Talking of nothing, Max Verstappen may be up to 8th, but not really keeping pace with the Alpine of Pierre Gasly. Red Bull really are struggling for pace. Even more disappointing are Audi, who looked genuine fifth fastest this weekend, if not better. They are currently 14th (Bortoleto) and 17th (Hulk).
ORDER – PIA RUS LEC NOR ANT HAM GAS VER OCO LIN
Lap 11 – Kimi Antonelli sneaks past Lando Norris into the final chicane and keeps 4th place down the pit straight. Further ahead Oscar Piastri is doing a great job keeping George Russell behind, keeping a 0.6-1.0 second buffer where it matters before Russell closes up at the end of the lap.
Lap 15 – Kimi Antonelli is hassling Charles Leclerc for third but the Ferrari is hanging on, just. Further forward Oscar Piastri has the lead out to over one second to Russell, so has weathered the storm to a degree. Antonelli gets past into the final chicane on lap 15, but like his team mate earlier on Piastri, is re-passed by Leclerc down the pit straight heading into lap 16.
Lap 16 – Lando Norris, potentially bored about being the meat in a front runner sandwich, is the first to pit for new tyres. He’s on hard tyres, so not pitting again and rejoins 9th. Charles Leclerc pits a lap later hoping to head off Lando Norris who has just passed Esteban Ocon. Leclerc ends up comfortably ahead of Norris, for now.
Lap 18 – Oscar Piastri has stretched the lead to 1.7 seconds as he pits at the end of the lap. Clean stop and comes out 6th. The Mercedes continue on, and we’ll see what their pace is in clean air, and if there’s a dump of sand on the track somewhere.
Lap 20 – Kimi Antonelli is flying behind George Russell in third, and if that continues and depending on strategy, the young Italian may surprise his senior team mate later in the race. Further behind Oscar Piastri eventually gets past Max Verstappen (yet to pit) for 5th. Lando Norris sets fastest lap as he chases Charles Leclerc.
Lap 22 – George Russell pits for new tyres, and he rejoins behind Oscar Piastri but ahead of Max Verstappen. So that move by Piastri on Verstappen last lap was critical. As was the timing of the pit stop for Russell as…..Oliver Bearman is into the barriers…..
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
This could play into the hands of the yet-to-pit Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton, who get a pit stop under the Safety Car. And even Pierre Gasly. It works for Antonelli who gets in front of Piastri for the race lead. Less well for Hamilton who ends up fourth behind George Russell.
Footage of Oliver Bearman limping is not great. It’s a big crash too. He loses it on the gras of the outside of the approach of Spoon curve and is out of control as he cuts across the fast-ish corner and heavily into the barriers. As bad as the impact was, it could have been so much worse as he could have, and almost did, collect Franco Colapinto on the way through out of control. Replays show the crash was in the process of attempting to overtake Colapinto. One wonders if it was a technology related or ambition related exit.
ORDER – ANT PIA RUS HAM LEC NOR GAS VER LAW BOR
SAFETY CAR EXITS
Lap 27 – Kimi Antonelli gets the restart just right. And to make George Russell even less happy, Lewis Hamilton steals third down the pit straight on the restart. By the end of the lap, Antonelli is over a second to the good of Piastri, who is being seriously hounded by Hamilton. This battling should be giving Antonelli plenty of time to extend his lead.
ORDER – ANT PIA HAM RUS LEC NOR GAS VER LAW BOR
Lap 31 – A few laps post-restart and Kimi Antonelli is miles in front – relatively speaking for this race – 2.3 seconds and cruising in front. Oscar Piastri has given himself a one second cushion to Lewis Hamilton which is good news for the McLaren driver. George Russell and Charles Leclerc are hanging on in that group, but Lando Norris seems to be slipping a little further off the pace.
Lap 35 – Looks like this race will need another prang and Safety Car to be interesting. At least Esteban Ocon got past Bortoleto for 10th since we last typed. Verstappen still can’t get past Gasly. No one is getting past Antonelli with his 4.7 second lead.
ORDER – ANT PIA HAM RUS LEC NOR GAS VER LAW OCO
Lap 37 – Charles Leclerc nips past George Russell towards the end of the lap, which looked like technical gremlins may have been involved. Whatever the cause, Russell loses 4th place to the Ferrari.
Lap 39 – Heading into the final part of the race, and reliability aside Kimi Antonelli should cruise home. He’s over seven seconds in front. Oscar Piastri has edged enough in front of the now squabbling Ferraris and a lurking George Russell. Leclerc looks faster, so this will be worth watching until the end of the race. Perhaps irreversible team troubles await? Lewis Hamilton may have power issues, but he is keeping Leclerc behind him for now, semi-politely.
Lap 42 – Ooooh, the Ferraris almost touch going into the final chicane, so close. And even closer and at faster pace into turn one of the next lap as Charles Leclerc sweeps past and takes third place.
Lap 43 – George Russell passes Lewis Hamilton through the first turns as he sets about chasing the final podium currently held by Leclerc. Lando Norris is now catching Lewis Hamilton, so a sad few laps for Hamilton.
Lap 45 – Lewis Hamilton locks up and cuts the final chicane, he will struggle to keep Norris behind.
Lap 47 – Front runner update – Kimi Antonelli is a whopping 13 seconds plus in front of Oscar Piastri. The McLaren has a semi-comfortable 1.7 second gap to Leclerc and Russell battling for third. Further behind Lando Norris steals 5th place from Lewis Hamilton, but the Ferrari takes it back down the pit straight.
Lap 50 – George Russell really on Charles Leclerc’s tail now with a few laps to go. Is there enough time, track and battery to get by and take the last podium spot? Yes, yes and yes. Russell passes Leclerc into the chicane, only for Leclerc to do an even better pass around the outside of turn one. The same sequence is replicated between Hamilton and Norris behind.
Lap 51 – Lando Norris passes and keeps fifth place on Lewis Hamilton this time.
Lap 52 – Charles Leclerc gets the elbows out and keep George Russell behind him heading into the final lap.
FINAL LAP – The rest of the field need binoculars or satellite to see Kimi Antonelli cross the line in first place, to win a second race in a row, and as often mentioned in the TV coverage, become the youngest ever leader of a World Championship. Oscar Piastri gets a great reward for a weekend of pace with second place, slightly dudded by the Safety Car, but given the eventual winning margin of Antonelli, probably would have been the same result without the Safety Car. Charles Leclerc hangs on for third place.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – ANT PIA LEC RUS NOR HAM GAS VER LAW OCO
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. 5 points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – KIMI ANTONELLI
Despite another fluffed start, he took pole with ease and is looking ever-more fast and confident. The way he controlled the restart of the race and cruised in front is a scary warning for the season to not be under-estimated.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
OSCAR PIASTRI – Fast all weekend, took surprising lead of the Japanese Grand Prix with a sensational start, and did well under pressure from George Russell for a long time.
CHARLES LECLERC – His pass on Hamilton for third worth an honourable mention. As was his podium finish.
LEWIS HAMILTON – Got a bit lucky with the timing of the Safety Car but put it to full use for most of the race. Late race demotions dimmed a good weekend.
PIERRE GASLY – Another solid weekend from Gasly in a car that was the worst by the end of last season. Even Max Verstappen radioed in during the race to compliment the Alpine.
ESTEBAN OCON – Took advantage of his team mate Oliver Bearman dropping out of Q1 to outqualify and sit in the points from early on, and later on.
THE GRAPE-EST – OLIVER BEARMAN
Looked fast until qualifying where he surprisingly exited Q1. Then drove around the lower midfield before crashing heavily and hurting himself and the race with a Safety Car.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
ASTON MARTIN – Still amazing how a team that spent so much money can still be so hopeless. At least Cadillac have an excuse for being slow.
WILLIAMS – Lucky to have Aston Martin and Cadillac in the field.
WILLIAMS – Looked a midfield car in Japan.
NICO HULKENBERG – We’re not angry, just disappointed. Thought this could be a big Hulk weekend, but it ended up an almost invisible one.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Moaning about his luck with the Safety Car. He’s been pretty lucky to be in a rocket Mercedes as the rules were changed in F1 to suit them…..
Was it a good race, loads of action, a tense ending, a surprise result or DNF, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
PRE RACE ACTION (FP, QUAL, SPRINT, OFF TRACK etc) – 1 / 5
No sprint race, Mercedes 1-2 qualifying, no major incidents, Aston Martin still slow. Only point of interest on track before the race was Max Verstappen not making Q3 on pace it appears. Off track, the growing number of drivers complaining about how bad the 2026 cars are.
ON TRACK ACTION (RACE) – 6 / 10
Actually better than expected with battles for all the positions including the lead. Maybe the new MarioKart regulations work ok.
ANY SURPRISES? – 3 / 5
Oscar Piastri’s start and blowing the Mercedes way early was a surprise over the season so far, given he hasn’t made it to the grid yet. Kimi Antonelli having the measure over Goerge Russell also raises the eyebrows.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 2 / 5
Plenty of races left for Mercedes to decide the Championship order. Perhaps a faster McLaren throwing spanners into the Championship works?
ENDING – 3 / 5
Lewis Hamilton’s demise brought about some nice overtaking. George Russell’s pursuit of Charles Leclerc’s third was also entertaining.
OVERALL RATING – 15 / 30
Not a bad Japanese Grand Prix, with the new regulations probably helping the action. The Safety Car defining the winner as Kimi Antonelli was fast enough and in the right place at the right time. But as fast as Suzuka is, it’s a dull circuit for action. As is a Mercedes in clean air.
2026 F1 Season Preview Gear
In case you haven’t got enough with the above. Here’s the best of 2026 in advance……
2026 F1 Season Bold Predictions
Captain Hindsight’s 2026 F1 Season Obvious Sensible Predictions
The F1 Donkey’s 2026 F1 Season Opinion and Season Predictions
2026 F1 Season Verdict by AI Grek Norman
2026 F1 Car Liveries Rated
2026 F1 Season Ratings & Season Results Predictions
PLUS
2026 Chinese Grand Prix Prix-view
F! Donkey’s Australian Grand Prix Bold Predictions
AND
The Gurgler’s 2025 Stats Review & Driver of the Season
