A first podium of the season for the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team, after a hard-fought race with action from the first lap until the last. Oscar finished P2 and Lando P5, with the team pleasantly surprised that we are leaving Suzuka a little unlucky not to have more, the Japanese Grand Prix turning on a Safety Car period that cost Oscar the lead of the race.
The thinking in the team at the start of Sunday was that the drivers had done a good job in Qualifying, and were conceivably starting the Grand Prix ahead of cars with better race pace. Our competitive position improved at the start, with both drivers hooking up their launch. Lando moved up from P5 on the grid to P3 into the second corner, but Oscar translated P3 into the lead before arriving at Turn 1.
Oscar survived sustained pressure from George Russell in the early exchanges, at one stage losing and regaining the lead as the drivers experimented with their energy deployment options between the last chicane and the first corner of the circuit. Once the race settled down, he was able to eke out a small advantage and was reasonably optimistic about being able to defend his position. He pitted on Lap 18 to protect his advantage, swapping from the Medium to the Hard tyres. Russell stayed out three laps longer before following suit, coming out behind. It would have been interesting to see how that battle developed, but it never got the chance, with a heavy crash for Ollie Bearman leading to a long deployment of the Safety Car. This allowed Kimi Antonelli to make a cheaper stop from the lead, and retain his position. Once the race restarted, Antonelli pulled way for a comfortable victory, while Oscar drove a clever race to maintain P2, keeping the opposition - first Hamilton then Leclerc - behind him.
Lando's afternoon was more eventful. After an excellent start, he was passed by the Mercedes pair to drop back to his starting position, embroiled in a battle with Charles Leclerc, who likewise fell behind the faster Antonelli. Lando believed he had the pace, should he have clean air, and pitted on Lap 16, attempting the undercut. It didn't work out, with Leclerc able to respond and hold the position. Lando then lost a position to Lewis Hamilton when the Safety Car appeared. The second half of his race was about staying in touch with the leading group and attacking at the end of the race.
When Lando had closed the gap to Hamilton, an intense battle followed, with position changing hands several times. Lando was finally able to pass and pull away at the third time of asking, two laps from home.
The positives today are many: execution and completing a race distance with both cars for the first time was good, and a first podium of the season is very welcome, but top of the list going into the month-long hiatus is the development of our competitive position. We're closer to the front, and to come away from Suzuka with the awareness that we have made a step forward from where we were at the beginning of March is an important boost of confidence before the long April break. Our focus now turns to a lot of hard work at the McLaren Technology Centre and McLaren Racing Composites across April, which we hope will bring more gains for the Miami Grand Prix.
Andrea Stella: "This was a good weekend that allows us to leave Suzuka encouraged. The speed we showed in Qualifying was confirmed in the race, and we were genuinely able to fight with Ferrari and, at times, Mercedes. Oscar delivered a superb drive after a great start with strong pace, fully deserving of his podium. Despite missing the first two Grands Prix starts, he is showing the strongest version of himself since he started to compete in Formula 1 - calm, resilient and inspirational for the whole team. Lando brought home important points despite heavily disrupted Practice sessions that meant he barely strung two consecutive laps together before the race. Our race execution, the starts, the strategy, and how we exploited the power unit, was strong.
"While we are encouraged by this result, our objective remains clear: we must improve the fundamental performance of our chassis. The characteristics of this circuit and the strong performance from our power unit played to our advantage, but we know our rivals still have an edge in cornering grip. We are aware we need a few tenths from the chassis to be able to contend for victories consistently. It is now our responsibility to provide both Oscar and Lando with a car that can consistently challenge for wins, and we are focused on bringing the necessary upgrades in the upcoming races to achieve that."
Kimi Antonelli took victory in the Japanese Grand Prix with George Russell coming home fourth. The Italian claimed his second career win having stood on the top step of the podium in China last time out; he also becomes the youngest driver to lead the Drivers' World Championship and the first teenager to do so. Kimi started on pole position but dropped several places off the line after suffering excessive wheelspin, ultimately ending the opening lap in P6. His teammate also lost positions at the start, George dropping behind the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, along with the McLaren of Lando Norris. Both drivers fought back quickly though and gained positions before, as others stopped ahead, they cycled through to lead the race. George, protecting the P2 position he had gained on track earlier, pitted to cover off Leclerc whilst Kimi continued. The safety car was deployed the following lap following a heavy shunt for Ollie Bearman; Kimi and Lewis Hamilton, the only two front-runners yet to stop, took advantage and stopped for the Hard tyre with Kimi coming out in the lead. Kimi managed the restart well and had a calm run from there to the chequered flag and victory. George meanwhile took the restart in third but lost position to the Ferraris, firstly when running up against the harvest limit on the restart and then after experiencing an unexpected superclip several laps later. He regained one position by passing Lewis Hamilton and, in the closing stages, made several attempts to pass Leclerc for P3 but was unable to do so. The team head into the upcoming mini break in the season leading the Constructors' World Championship and with Kimi and George first and second in the drivers' standings.
Toto Wolff: We had an exciting race today with plenty of overtaking which hasn't always been the case here at Suzuka. It's a new way of racing where you have to think strategically in order to both pass and then make sure it sticks. It's a great challenge for both the drivers and the teams and it makes the race very unpredictable.
Sometimes you need the luck to go your way in racing and that was the case with Kimi today. He lost positions at the start but was able to get them back with a fortunately timed safety car. Whilst that was helpful to him, his pace in the second half of the race showed what he was capable of. George was on the flip side of that equation and lost out having pitted just one lap before the safety car came out. He then lost more positions, firstly on the restart as he hit the harvesting limit and was low on deployment and then secondly with an unexpected superclip. He fought hard to get back to P4, but he's certainly had more than his share of bad luck this weekend.
Andrew Shovlin: Well done to Kimi on his second win. He had really strong pace and, whilst he benefited from the safety car to put him into the lead, he was able to comfortably control the race once he was in that position.
Kimi's fortune was George's misfortune. Had we stopped George a lap later, he would have retained the lead for the restart. As it happened, he dropped to P3 and lost a further place to Lewis when he hit the harvesting limit too early in the lap and had insufficient battery for the restart. He then had another frustrating issue where a bug in the software code, triggered by a button press and a gear shift at the same time, caused the power unit to go into superclip and charge the battery which allowed Charles to pass. He battled back to P4 but it was a frustrating afternoon for George.
Clearly there is a lot that we need to work on and understand in the next few weeks. We've made a great start to the season, but our competitors are closing in. Happily, we have several areas of improvement and we will make the maximum use of the gap in the calendar to develop in the places where we are not strong enough.
Laurent Mekies: "Today we learned a lot more about where our car's current limitations are. It was important for us to get involved in those battles and for both Max and Isack to complete the race distance, so we could continue to gather more data. Of course, we have a lot of work to do and we now have a few weeks to try and find some fixes for those limitations.
"At the moment, what is important is to work on the performance gap to the guys ahead of us. There is not just one area we can pinpoint as being the cause of our difficulties and we need to work on all areas. It feels bad now, but I have full confidence in the Team. During the break, we are going to take a deep dive into our data, and take it to our simulator. We won't have solved everything by the next race, but the Team will do the heavy lifting and get to the bottom of our difficulties.
"I have full confidence that, with everyone giving a massive push in Milton Keynes, we will make the most of the coming weeks to move forward and bring improvements to Miami."
Scuderia Ferrari HP leaves Japan with a third podium from as many races, thanks to a third place finish from Charles Leclerc. A sixth place for Lewis Hamilton delivered a total of 23 points and the team thus maintains second place in the Constructors' standings. This was Leclerc's second podium of the season, his 52nd overall and number 839 for Ferrari. The race was one of the most spectacular seen at Suzuka, with an unprecedented number of overtaking moves, not just down to energy management, but also a testament to driver skill on the demanding Japanese track.
It was an action-packed race right from the start, with Charles getting off the line really well, going from fourth to second. Lewis also made up two places, confirming that the SF-26 deals well with starts. The key moment in the race was the arrival of the Safety Car on lap 22, after OIiver Bearman hit the barriers with considerable force. This penalised those who had already pitted, including Leclerc who thus found himself passed by Kimi Antonelli and Lewis, losing two places. But he staged a determined fightback, passing George Russell and then his own team-mate to reclaim third spot. There then followed a thrilling duel in the closing stages with Russell as Charles defended his place cleverly, especially through the final chicane, where the power of the Mercedes allowed it to close considerably. The Englishman did actually get ahead, but Charles passed him back immediately with a breath-taking move round the outside at turn 1. After Lewis was passed by Leclerc, Russell also got ahead and while defending, he pushed his tyres quite hard which made him vulnerable to an attack from Lando Norris, so that in the end, he had to settle for sixth place.
The season now faces an enforced break of almost a month, because of the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Grands Prix. The time will be spent usefully, analysing all the data from the first three races, carrying out simulation work and getting a better understanding of the energy management, while preparing for the next round, the Miami Grand Prix on 3 May at the Miami International Autodrome.
Fred Vasseur: I think this race was good for Formula 1 and good for the championship, as it was an exciting show. There was much more overtaking than we had at this track in the past. For us, this is a third consecutive podium. It was a very strong race from Charles in his battle with Russell, keeping him behind in the closing stages. It was a clever drive, sometimes making sure the Mercedes was in front so that he could pass him going into turn 1. It was good for the team and for everyone back in the factory to see that we were able to do this. It's a good way to go into the enforced break. We know that we have to push, we have to work to develop the car. As for Lewis, it's clear that once you do not have overtake mode you lose pace and a train forms on track. When the gap to the car ahead is more than a second, everything becomes more difficult. We know we have a deficit in terms of straight-line performance and we will work on that over the next weeks.
James Vowles, Team Principal: "We need to maximise these next five weeks in front of us. It was a painful day today, and I want to make it a line in the sand and make sure we add performance every race going forward this year and fight back towards a point-scoring position every weekend. Well done to Carlos, it was a faultless drive and he did everything he could but that's just where the car is today. And well done to Alex, he drove perfectly and then completed a test programme that will be invaluable for us for future learning. These next five weeks will be some of the hardest for us, purposefully so, as we dig deep and make sure that we come back with a car in Miami that is worthy of scoring points.
"On the huge accident for Ollie, I consider him a friend and I'm glad he has walked away with minor injuries. It's a reminder to us that we need to make sure we're not putting ourselves in this situation. He's a great racer, I'm glad he's ok, and I look forward to seeing him in Miami."
Alan Permane: "It was a good result for us to finish in the points again and we feel very happy to have scored points at every race so far this year. Liam drove a superb race to fend off Esteban, although he didn't look in danger of losing that position. The timing of the Safety Car was unfortunate for Arvid, however circumstances like that will inevitably even out over a season. His learning continues, and despite that, he drove a strong race. We're looking forward to a break now with some good upgrades to the car planned for Miami. Liam and Arvid will do a mix of training and simulator work in preparation for the upcoming races, but importantly some well-deserved rest as well."
Mike Krack: "The objective today was to complete a race distance, which we achieved with Fernando in P18. That is a significant moment for the team and our technical partner, Honda, at their home race. We have shown reliability is improving, but the water pressure issue on the ICE of Lance's car [on lap 30] shows there is still much work to be done. It's also clear the performance level of our package is far from where it needs to be and we must work hard to deliver improvements. I want to thank the drivers for their determination and racing spirit today."
TGR Haas F1 Team finished with Esteban Ocon 10th, while Ollie Bearman retired, at the Japanese Grand Prix, held Sunday at the Suzuka Circuit.
Ocon started from 12th place on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and picked up a spot through the opening lap, before slotting into the top 10 at the expense of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar. Ocon then passed Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad on lap six for ninth place, before pitting on lap 19 for White hard tires. Ocon missed out on track position due to the timing of a subsequent safety car phase, allowing rivals to pit at reduced racing speed, and re-emerged P11. Ocon overhauled Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto to return to the top 10 and gave chase to Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, eventually taking the checkered flag in tenth. Ocon's result ensured TGR Haas F1 Team has finished in the points at each race so far in 2026.
Bearman took the start from 18th position on medium tires and moved up two places on the opening lap to hold P16, before battling against Bortoleto to move into P15. Bearman pitted on lap 16, taking on hard tires, and re-emerged behind Alpine's Franco Colapinto. Bearman chased Colapinto but had to take avoiding action due to the extreme closing speeds between the two cars approaching Spoon curve, and spun into the barriers at high speed. Bearman suffered a 50G impact, and after extricating himself from the wreckage, underwent an X-ray in the medical center. Bearman suffered a right knee contusion following the impact but was cleared of any further injuries, and was swiftly released by the medical crew.
TGR Haas F1 Team maintains fourth position in the Constructors' Championship on 18 points.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "First and foremost, it's good that Ollie is okay. It was a big shunt and Ollie is really gutted about it. The closing speed was huge, it was close to 50kph, and it was a pretty scary moment, but I'm glad that he came out okay. Race-wise, we had a good start. Our pace wasn't as strong, but I think in the opening laps we made some good places and Esteban raced very strongly. It's a shame that the safety car happened at the wrong time for Esteban as we lost two positions, but he was able to gain one back, he just couldn't overtake Lawson, which is a shame. I think there's a lot that we can take from this race. It's good that in these brand new regulations, as the smallest team, we've scored a point in every single race, which is really positive. We are still P4 in the championship, which is amazing, with 18 points. The competition is really tough from P4 to P7, there are only four points in it, so I think we need to maximize this time in April to look at all the things we've learned until now to try to refine our operations, refine the car, and understand how we can perform better every single time we go out. I'm really keen to hit the ground running in Miami. Well done to everyone so far, let's use this time to refresh and refocus."
Audi Revolut F1 Team finished just over one second away from a point as Nico Hulkenberg charged to P11 in a Japanese Grand Prix that delivered battles from lights to flag. The German recovered from 19th in the opening stages, and his fightback ended with him catching up the final point-scoring position, only for the laps to run out before an attack could be made. On the other side of the garage, Gabriel Bortoleto also had a busy afternoon, battling in the midfield but ultimately crossing the line in P13.
As Formula One goes on a hiatus until the Miami Grand Prix in May, the team will take the learnings of the opening three races of the season to continue working on its package. With a proven ability to fight around points-paying positions, the aim will be to return to action in Florida having made a further step forward.
Mattia Binotto, Head of Audi F1 Project: "The race leaves us with mixed feelings, with both positives and areas to improve. On the positive side, having both cars start the race and complete the full distance is an important step forward for the team. Reliability was strong throughout, and operationally the race was well executed, including consistent pit stops without issues.
"The pace of the car was also encouraging. We have shown that we can compete around the top ten, and Nico's race in particular demonstrated that, fighting well through the field and making overtakes on some quick cars to finish just outside the points. It underlines the underlying potential of the package. Gabriel had a strong weekend, but today we didn't put him in the conditions to express all his potential: he would have probably been up there on the cusp of the points with Nico, based on the good job he did yesterday and in practice.
"At the same time, there are clear areas where we need to improve. Our start performance is not yet where it needs to be, and we lost significant ground on the opening lap, which ultimately nullified the good work done yesterday and compromised the race for both drivers. More broadly, drivability and energy management remain key areas of focus. As a young package, which is what we are, we still have a lot to learn and refine.
"We now have some time ahead of us to analyse the data and continue developing the car. While we did not achieve the points we were targeting, there are solid foundations in place, and our focus is on coming back stronger in the next phase of the season."
Flavio Briatore: "It was another positive weekend for the team, with another strong points finish to add in the early part of the season. Also, to repeat it at a different track configuration like Suzuka, confirms the gains we made in Shanghai and shows we're in the mix with Red Bull as the fourth quickest car currently. Pierre drove a fantastic race again and extremely well under pressure to keep Max [Verstappen] behind him for more than 25 laps. The Safety Car fell at a bad time for Franco who was running very close to the points in the opening stint. With Franco, the result on Saturday was a limiting factor and meant he was always chasing in the race. The aim should be to put himself in a better position to race more competitively in the coming races. With the short break, we absolutely won't stand still and will be working hard at Enstone to add more performance to the car and continue to give equal opportunity to both drivers to perform and score points."
The Cadillac Formula 1® Team continued its strong 2026 progress in today's Japanese Grand Prix, with a double car finish for the second consecutive race. Checo Perez passed the flag 17th and Valtteri Bottas 19th, with Checo finishing on the lead lap for the first time this season.
With Valtteri finishing his second race, and Checo passing the checkered flag in every race in 2026, including the Sprint in China, the American squad has collected significant mileage and information to continue its momentum at the next Grand Prix in Miami.
Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal: "Today's result has capped off another strong weekend for us. Just three races into our debut season, we can be very proud to have achieved another two-car finish, with one car on the lead lap. Sadly for Valtteri, he wasn't waved past the safety car with time to regain his place on track, which destroyed his race. I'm particularly pleased to see another significant step forward by the whole team in terms of execution and reliability. We have an upgrade package coming for Miami and I'm excited to see what that can deliver - thank you to all the teams in Indianapolis, Charlotte, Silverstone and Germany for their continued hard work. Finally, I was very relieved to see that Ollie Bearman was OK after his big impact."
Kimi Antonelli has claimed his second Formula 1 race win. Despite a poor getaway at the start, the Mercedes driver fought his way back into contention, making the most of a Safety Car period by timing his pit stop perfectly. Oscar Piastri finished in second place, while Charles Leclerc secured third.
As with the previous two rounds, the third race of the season saw significant shuffling through the field after lights out. While Antonelli struggled off the line, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc enjoyed excellent starts. This allowed Piastri to seize an immediate lead, which the McLaren driver maintained until his scheduled pit stop.
Although his stop was clean, a Safety Car was deployed just a few laps later, playing right into Antonelli's hands. Having not yet pitted, the young Italian capitalised on the situation to retain the lead, a position he did not relinquish for the remainder of the afternoon. Clearly the fastest man on track, Antonelli quickly pulled a gap on the chasing pack following the restart.
Behind him, Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, and Leclerc were in a superb battle for the remaining podium spots. Notably, Hamilton also made the most of the Safety Car, mirroring Antonelli's strategy by pitting immediately.
Piastri eventually emerged at the head of that pack to finish secon. Behind the McLaren driver, Leclerc ultimately claimed third; the Monegasque driver came out on top after a brilliant wheel-to-wheel battle with Russell, who had to settle for fourth at Suzuka.
As anticipated, weather conditions remained fair on Sunday, though slightly cooler than during Friday and Saturday's sessions. While the sun dominated the early part of the weekend, the race was held under overcast skies with temperatures around 18 degrees Celsius.
Consequently, the race unfolded largely as expected from a strategic standpoint. Most of the grid opted for a one-stop strategy, with every driver - except Valtteri Bottas - starting on the Medium (C2) compound. Bottas chose to start on the Hards (C1); while the rest of the field switched to the Hard tyre for their second stint, Bottas moved onto the Mediums.
Antonelli now leads the World Championship standings with 72 points. Russell drops to second place with 63 points, while Charles Leclerc moves up to third with 49 points. Furthermore, Antonelli has made history as the youngest driver and the first teenager ever to lead the Formula 1 World Championship.
Dario Marrafuschi: The quickest strategy on paper was essentially the one adopted by all the drivers in the race, with Valtteri Bottas the only driver to do something different. No team evidently considered it worthwhile to take a risk on the Soft compound, either at the start or in the final stages, despite it remaining a viable option thanks to the low degradation recorded in the preceding days. Albon's use of the C3 was clearly not driven by strategic considerations, given the high number of pit lane visits he made. During the Grand Prix, the compounds did not restrict the cars' race pace.
The safety car triggered by Bearman's off-track moment certainly benefited those who had not attempted the undercut, including race winner Kimi Antonelli. Without the neutralisation, we still believe that the pit stop would have taken place in the laps immediately thereafter.
Pirelli's Japanese trip will not end today, as on Tuesday and Wednesday we have scheduled two days of testing at Suzuka for the development of next season's dry-weather tyres. Assisting us on track, with one car each, will be the Red Bull and Racing Bulls teams.
