The third round of the 2026 Formula 1 season took place in Japan. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won. At 19 years old, he became the youngest ever leader of the championship.
The start of the race was difficult: the drivers who started first lost their advantage, and Oscar Piastri became the temporary leader. Antonelli took advantage of the team's strategy and after a short safety period on the track came out ahead.
He retained the lead until the finish, while his teammate George Russell remained fourth. Mercedes, for the first time in the season, does not have two drivers on the podium.
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What record did Kimi Antonelli set?
At 19, Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver in Formula 1 history to lead the championship - no teenager had ever been in first place in the drivers' standings before. He also became only the third driver to win the next stage immediately after his first victory. Previously, Lewis Hamilton achieved this in 2007 and Charles Leclerc in 2019; legendary drivers, such as Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, and Max Verstappen, did not do this.
Final results of the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix:
- Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes – 25 points
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren – 18 points
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari – 15 points
- George Russell, Mercedes – 12 points
- Lando Norris, McLaren – 10 points
- Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari – 8 points
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine – 6 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull – 4 points
- Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls – 2 points
- Esteban Ocon, Haas – 1 point
The Formula 1 season will resume after a break of more than a month.
As a reminder, before the Japanese Grand Prix, British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton conducted an atypical training session for a racer in Tokyo - in a dojo with traditional martial arts elements, he received lessons from Tetsuro Shimaguchi, a Japanese fight director who worked on the choreography of sword fights in the film "Kill Bill."
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