A delayed start, then Suzuka does what Suzuka does

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka ended with Kimi Antonelli celebrating his second career win, but the route there was anything but tidy. The race was scheduled for 53 laps around the 5.807 km circuit with 22 drivers on track, and it still managed to produce the usual mix of tension, overtakes and the occasional bit of chaos that keeps everyone employed.

Before the field even got going, race control had already shifted the schedule. The formation lap was delayed by 10 minutes because barriers needed repairing after an incident in the Porsche Carrera Cup support race. Safety, unfortunately, remains a popular concept in motor racing.

Piastri leads early, Antonelli claws back

When the lights went out, Oscar Piastri made the best start and jumped into the lead. Charles Leclerc slotted into second, with Lando Norris also getting away well and moving in behind the early front-runners. George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Antonelli followed close behind.

Antonelli’s opening lap was less than ideal. By lap 4, he had dropped five places after the start, but he began recovering immediately and soon had Norris in his sights. Russell also found his way back through the field and climbed to second, passing Leclerc, who stayed on the podium in third.

A few laps later, Piastri still led, but Russell was close enough to challenge. On lap 7, the Mercedes driver briefly took first place, only for Piastri to fight straight back and reclaim the lead. A lap later, the Australian was still ahead, though the gap remained small enough to make everyone nervous.

By lap 14, Piastri was still leading, Russell was still pressuring him, and Leclerc had drifted a little farther back from the front pair. Antonelli sat fourth, followed by Norris and Hamilton. Max Verstappen had already climbed into eighth after starting 11th, while Esteban Ocon was having a quietly excellent race in ninth from 12th on the grid.

Pit stops, safety car and the Bearman crash

The first wave of pit stops started to reshape the race around the midfield. Norris pitted on lap 17 for hard tyres, rejoining in ninth. Ferrari responded on lap 18 by bringing in Leclerc to cover Norris’s undercut, and he came back out in seventh, just ahead of the McLaren.

Things got more complicated on lap 22 when Ollie Bearman hit the wall in Turn 13. The Safety Car came out, and the timing handed Antonelli and Hamilton a useful opportunity to pit. Antonelli stayed in the lead after his stop, while Hamilton rejoined behind Russell in fourth and ahead of Leclerc.

At that stage, Bearman had already exited his Haas, though there were obvious concerns about the impact on his legs. Later, the good news came from Suzuka’s medical centre: he had not suffered any fractures, only a contusion to his right knee.

The stewards also reviewed the Bearman-Colapinto incident. Their decision was brief and, for once, mercifully dull: no investigation.

Antonelli and Hamilton pitted under the Safety Car on lap 23, while five laps later the caution period ended. Once racing resumed on lap 28, Antonelli still led, having effectively gained a pit stop thanks to the Safety Car. Piastri sat between the two Mercedes cars, with Russell third. Hamilton and Leclerc were fourth and fifth.

Not long after, Antonelli put his foot down and opened a gap to Piastri. Russell, meanwhile, had a messy restart and lost out to Hamilton.

Leclerc against the clock, Hamilton under scrutiny

The middle phase of the race belonged to Antonelli’s control and Leclerc’s stubborn refusal to disappear. On lap 37, Russell suddenly lost a second and dropped back from Leclerc. By lap 41, the two Ferraris were running close together, with Leclerc tucked behind Hamilton and trying to find a way through.

On lap 43, Leclerc finally pulled off a superb move on Hamilton after several laps of fighting. Russell also got past the seven-time world champion shortly after, leaving Hamilton to defend and complain in equal measure, which remains a time-honoured Formula 1 tradition.

Hamilton then came under investigation on lap 46 after running off track and rejoining. By lap 48, he was still in a fierce duel with Norris. The two traded passes and counter-passes, but Hamilton managed to stay ahead of his compatriot.

Final laps and the podium fight

With just a few laps left, Leclerc kept pushing hard for the podium. On lap 51, Russell passed him, but Leclerc responded immediately with an outside move to take the place back. He gave away nothing, which is how he ended up with one of the standout drives of the afternoon.

At the front, Antonelli held firm to the finish and secured his second career victory. Piastri followed in second, while Leclerc completed the podium in a deserved third.

Russell finished just off the podium in fourth, Norris came home fifth, and Hamilton took sixth. Pierre Gasly produced an excellent race to finish seventh and keep Verstappen behind him in eighth. Lawson and Ocon rounded out the top ten.

Final classification

  • 1st: Kimi Antonelli
  • 2nd: Oscar Piastri
  • 3rd: Charles Leclerc
  • 4th: George Russell
  • 5th: Lando Norris
  • 6th: Lewis Hamilton
  • 7th: Pierre Gasly
  • 8th: Max Verstappen
  • 9th: Liam Lawson
  • 10th: Esteban Ocon

Suzuka delivered the usual mix of strategy, pressure and late-race scrambling. Antonelli got the win, Piastri stayed in the fight, and Leclerc did enough to make sure this one was never just about the front row.