Formula One was back in action in Japan for the FORMULA 1 ARAMCO JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2026, which was the 40th running of the grand prix. After a ten-minute delay due to an accident in one of the support races that damaged the barriers, all 22 cars lined up on the starting grid for the first time in 2026.
Mercedes again suffered a slow start from the front row of the grid, with polesitter Kimi Antonelli losing out the most. He dropped down to P6, and teammate George Russell dropped to P4. Russell was able to recover to P2 in the first four laps, while Antonelli only managed to get by Lewis Hamilton in the opening lap. Oscar Piastri inherited the lead from the slow-starting Mercedes cars.
Russell briefly returned to the lead with an overtake on Piastri in the final chicane, but Piastri was able to effectively use his battery energy to retake the position down the main straight that followed. The Suzuka Circuit proved more difficult to overtake than the previous circuits, preventing the back-and-forth trading of positions we’ve seen so far this season.
Lando Norris was the first of the leading cars to exchange his medium tyres for a new set of hards. Ferrari responded by calling Leclerc to the pits on the following lap. He rejoined comfortably ahead of the McLaren driver, showing that the undercut was fairly weak around this circuit.
Piastri pitted on lap 19 from the lead. Mercedes opted not to pit Russell immediately after, hoping they would leapfrog into the lead if they extended the stint slightly. After a few laps, Russell dove into the pit lane for fresh rubber, but it turned out to be poorly timed.
The safety car was deployed for a heavy accident at turn 13. Oliver Bearman was chasing down Franco Colapinto. On the run to the corner, Colapinto began harvesting energy, slowing his Alpine. He moved to the left, but Bearman was trying to overtake on the left. The immense closing speed forced Bearman to take evasive action into the grass, where he skidded across the circuit into the barriers. He appeared to be nursing an ankle issue when he walked away from the wreckage.
The safety car greatly benefited the drivers who hadn’t pitted. The biggest winner of all was Antonelli, who had inherited the lead when Russell pitted and, thanks to the free safety car pit stop, would retain the lead after he pitted. Hamilton was also helped by the safety car, rejoining behind Russell, but only just.
The race restarted on lap 27, and Antonelli timed the restart perfectly, building a gap early on. Russell didn’t have as strong a restart, losing a position to Hamilton. Russell also went on to lose another position to Leclerc ten laps later, seemingly running out of energy in turn 12.
As the laps ticked down, Leclerc felt he was being held up by Hamilton and asked the team to orchestrate a swap. There were no team orders from the pit wall, forcing Leclerc to take matters into his own hands. With ten laps remaining in the race, the duo fought hard into the final chicane, with Hamilton left just enough space to avoid contact. Leclerc kept his foot planted to get around the outside of his teammate in the first corner.
This turned out to be a good move, as Hamilton fell behind Russell and Norris before the checkered flag fell. Russell pressured Leclerc in the closing laps, looking like he could steal the podium position on the final lap, but Leclerc found enough speed to maintain his position on the bottom step of the podium. He stood alongside Piastri, who earned a podium in what was effectively his first race of the season.
But it was Antonelli who earned the ultimate honour of standing on the top step of the podium in front of the Japanese crowd. With his victory, Antonelli gained the lead in the World Drivers’ Championship, becoming the youngest driver in history to do so. But there is still a long season ahead.
There will now be a pause in the Formula One season, with no races scheduled for April. The races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been cancelled due to political conflicts in the region. But racing will resume at the start of May when Formula One heads to Miami for the weekend of May 3.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 53 | 1:28:03.403 | 25 |  | |
| 2 | 53 | +13.722 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 53 | +15.270 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 53 | +15.754 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 53 | +23.479 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 53 | +25.037 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 53 | +32.340 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 53 | +32.677 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 53 | +50.180 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 53 | +51.216 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 53 | +52.280 | |||
| 12 | 53 | +56.154 | |||
| 13 | 53 | +59.078 | |||
| 14 | 53 | +59.848 | |||
| 15 | 53 | +65.008 | |||
| 16 | 53 | +65.773 | |||
| 17 | 53 | +92.453 | |||
| 18 | 52 | +1 Lap | |||
| 19 | 52 | +1 Lap | |||
| 20 | 51 | +2 Laps | |||
| DNF | 30 | ||||
| DNF | 20 |
| 1 | K. Antonelli | 72 |  | |
| 2 | G. Russell | 63 | -9 |  |
| 3 | C. Leclerc | 49 | -23 |  |
| 4 | L. Hamilton | 41 | -31 | |
| 5 | L. Norris | 25 | -47 | |
| 1 | Mercedes | 135 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 90 | -45 | |
| 3 | McLaren | 46 | -89 | |
| 4 | Haas | 18 | -117 | |
| 5 | Alpine | 16 | -119 | |
