Kimi Antonelli took his second win in succession and the lead of the world championship after being gifted victory in the Japanese Grand Prix by a safety-car period. The 19-year-old Italian had not yet made a pit stop, while his rivals for victory McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Mercedes team-mate George Russell had, when Oliver Bearman's Haas crashed heavily. That gave Antonelli a pit stop that cost him less time than the others and ensured he could retain the lead. A frustrated Russell, who finished fourth behind Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, said over the radio unbelievable as he realised Antonelli would beat him for the second consecutive race. Antonelli becomes the youngest driver in history to head the championship and leads his team-mate by nine points. It feels pretty good, it is too early to think about the championship but we are on [a] good way, said Antonelli. In the race, I had a terrible start. Just need to check what happened but then I was lucky with the safety car to be in the lead and then the pace was just incredible. Top 10 1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 4. George Russell (Mercedes) 5. Lando Norris (McLaren) 6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 8. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 10. Esteban Ocon (Haas) What's next? F1 now has an unplanned five-week break because the conflict in the Middle East led to the cancellations of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which were due to take place in April. The next event of what is now a 22-race calendar is the first of three visits to the United States this year - the Miami Grand Prix, from 1-3 May. Click here to read more.
