Italian driver Kimi Antonelli, 19 years old, from Mercedes, won the Japanese Grand Prix this Sunday (29), at the Suzuka circuit. His teammate, Briton George Russell, finished fourth behind Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, from Audi, came in 13th.
With the victory, the second of his career after winning in Shanghai two weeks ago, Antonelli becomes, at 19 years old, the youngest driver in history to lead the Formula 1 world championship.
Antonelli leads the standings with 72 points, compared to 51 for his teammate Russell. The GP, however, was not a walk in the park for the young man, who overcame a poor start when he found himself, starting from pole position, relegated to sixth position in the first few meters of the Grand Prix.
It wasn’t much better for Russell either, who despite starting second finished fourth, behind Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.
Despite his poor start, Russell overtook his rivals until he reached Piastri’s height and competed for first place.
Although the situation seemed ideal for the Briton, everything changed when cars started to enter the pits to change tires. Norris tried to surprise and brought forward his entry to lap 16 to try to gain positions, but he failed.
Later, Leclerc and Piastri entered to change tires, leaving the Mercedes in front, with Russell leading and Antonelli just over two and a half seconds behind.
Russell entered after 21 laps. Soon after, British driver Oliver Bearman suffered an accident while trying to overtake Argentinean Franco Colapinto, which forced the introduction of the safety car.
The action favored those who had not yet entered the pits, including Antonelli, who went from third position to lead the race.
From then on, the Italian never lost first place, followed at a distance by Piastri, while behind the two Ferraris and Russell fought in the final laps to get on the podium.
Behind, Norris (5th), Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson qualified, and Esteban Ocon closed the Top 10.
Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) had a poor start and was out of the points (13th), ahead of Carlos Sainz (15th), Colapinto (16th), Sergio Pérez (17th) and Fernando Alonso, who managed to finish his first race of the year (18th).
