Kimi Antonelli has won the Japanese Grand Prix starting from pole, but rarely has the meaning of that sentence differed so much from what happened on track. Antonelli stalled again at the start, dropping many positions, but a timely safety car brought him back to the lead, from where he never left.
Although Suzuka will be remembered as the race marked by the first major accident caused by the new technical regulations. Oliver Bearman crashed into the wall trying to dodge Franco Colapinto, who ran out of battery. Bearman had to be taken to the medical center with a very painful leg.
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Kimi Antonelli is the new leader of the Formula 1 World Championship, the youngest in history. The Italian driver won at Suzuka, recovering from another terrible start in which he fell from pole to sixth. Antonelli was the fastest on track, and a timely safety car pulled him out of the traffic and returned him to the lead.
Antonelli had so much pace that he was even pulling off an overcut on rivals who had already pitted, but then the safety car came out just as Mercedes were preparing for their stop, giving him more than twelve seconds and setting the victory on a silver platter for the 19-year-old Italian.
All the bad luck that George Russell had, who had just stopped seconds before the crash, and could not benefit from it. Moreover, the Briton had battery problems all weekend, especially with the overtake mode, to the point that he finished outside the podium.
Russell ended up fourth, stuck behind a Charles Leclerc who also had to come back through after the safety car, since the accident benefited Lewis Hamilton who artificially climbed back up to third. But the Briton lacked pace and dropped to the sixth position that corresponded to him, behind even Lando Norris.
First podium of the season for McLaren thanks to Oscar Piastri who even led the early stages of the race after a strong start. It would have been interesting to see whether Antonelli would have reached him even without the Safety Car. The fact is that for the first time this year a Mercedes misses the podium and there are three different teams on the podium.
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Nolan Kessler
I focus on performance-driven cars, emerging technologies, and the business forces shaping the automotive industry. My work aims to deliver clear, relevant insights without unnecessary noise, with a strong attention to detail and accuracy. I follow the evolution of mobility daily, with a particular interest in what defines the next generation of driving.
