Scott Gulbransen
The 2026 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka had everything Sunday — chaos at the start, a 50G crash, Safety Car drama, and a teenager rewriting the record books. Three races into 2026, the storylines are already writing themselves.
Here’s who came out ahead, and who’s watching the season slip away.
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Winner: Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli botched the start. A wheelspin off the line dropped him from pole to sixth before the first corner sequence was even finished. Under normal circumstances, that’s how you lose a race at Suzuka.
Nothing about Kimi Antonelli feels normal right now.
When Oliver Bearman’s heavy crash brought out the Safety Car on Lap 22, Antonelli — who hadn’t yet pitted and was provisionally leading — converted a free stop into the race lead. From there, he didn’t just survive. He pulled away. He crossed the line with a margin of nearly 14 seconds over Oscar Piastri, his second consecutive victory.
Here’s the part that should stop you cold: at 19 years, 6 months, and 25 days, Antonelli is now the youngest driver in Formula 1 history to lead the world championship.He broke a record held by Lewis Hamilton, the man he replaced at Mercedes. Hamilton first led the standings at age 22 in 2007. Antonelli did it three years younger.
He leads by nine points over teammate George Russell with three of 22 races complete. The season is long. But the kid is real.
Winner: Oscar Piastri | McLaren
The season hadn’t exactly started well for Piastri. A crash in Australia. A mechanical failure in China. Sunday was his first race start of 2026.
He made it count. Piastri made a stunning start from third to seize the lead into Turn 1, ran at the front for much of the afternoon, and ended up second — McLaren’s first podium of the campaign.
He’s now sixth in the championship despite not having turned a wheel in competition until Suzuka. That’s actually a remarkable position. The pace was there. The hunger was obvious. When McLaren gets all its pieces sorted, Piastri is going to be a factor in this thing. Sunday was a reminder.
Winner: Charles Leclerc | Ferrari
Third place doesn’t always feel like winning. For Charles Leclerc, given the circumstances, this one matters.
He had to fend off a charging George Russell in the closing laps to hold onto the final podium position. Russell had the momentum, Ferrari had the pressure, and Leclerc held firm. He acknowledged afterward that he wasn’t completely satisfied with third, which honestly just tells you how far the mentality has shifted at Maranello.
Ferrari is still second in the constructors’ standings, 45 points behind Mercedes with three races gone. The deficit is real. But the car isn’t hopeless, and Leclerc keeps delivering. He’s the reason Ferrari is still in the conversation.
Loser: George Russell | Mercedes
Russell started from the right place on the grid. Then, as the race unfolded, he was no longer in the right place. He was running third when Oscar Bearman crashed, given that he had already pitted and that the Safety Car did not benefit him.
Russell said publicly that one lap’s difference probably would have been the win. He’s not wrong. He’s also not leading the championship. Antonelli now holds that distinction, and the intra-team dynamic at Mercedes just got considerably more interesting heading into Miami.
Loser: Max Verstappen | Red Bull
Max Verstappen was knocked out in Q2 and started 11th at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix — an unfamiliar place for a driver who usually eats of the circuit. In a race where strategy and starting position mattered enormously, that was already a significant hole to dig out of. He managed to work his way up to 8th, but Pierre Gasly kept him at bay in a lengthy battle for 7th.
Verstappen now sits 9th in the drivers’ standings — behind both Bearman and Gasly. Red Bull has 16 points after three rounds. The four-time champion has already raised the possibility of walking away from F1 at the end of the season if things don’t improve. Whether that’s frustration talking or a genuine threat, the car clearly isn’t close. Miami can’t come fast enough. For Red Bull, and for anyone who enjoyed watching Verstappen actually race at the front, let’s hope they figure it out.
The five-week break before Miami gives every team time to regroup. For Antonelli, it’s five weeks of being the youngest championship leader in Formula 1 history. At 19, there are worse problems to have.
