SUZUKA — Kimi Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit on Sunday, becoming the youngest driver in Formula 1 history to lead the drivers' championship. The 19-year-old Italian, racing in his second F1 season, moved to the top of the standings with 72 points after three races.

Antonelli qualified on pole position Saturday but dropped from first to sixth on the opening lap after a poor start. His fortunes changed on lap 22 when Oliver Bearman's Haas car crashed heavily at Spoon Curve, resulting in a 50G impact and a right knee contusion for Bearman. A safety car was deployed, and Antonelli, who had not yet pitted, made his stop during the caution period, which cost him less time than his rivals and allowed him to take the lead.

At the restart, Antonelli extended his lead and won the race by nearly 14 seconds. Oscar Piastri finished second, and Charles Leclerc finished third. George Russell, Antonelli's Mercedes teammate, finished fourth and sits second in the championship standings with 63 points.

Antonelli broke the record previously held by Lewis Hamilton, who led the world championship at age 22 in 2007. On the podium, Antonelli was denied the customary Champagne for being under Japan's legal drinking age of 20 and was given an unlabeled bottle instead.

"It feels pretty good," Antonelli said. "I'm not thinking too much about the championship. Need to keep raising the bar because, you know, George is very quick and for sure he's going to be back at his usual level, and also competitors, eventually they will get closer. I think we need to keep our head down and keep raising the bar."

Russell, who won the opening race of the 2026 season at the Australian Grand Prix, said of his weekend at Suzuka: "We've had a lot of bad luck this weekend and that is unfortunate as we were definitely in the fight for the win today. It was pretty frustrating but that's the way racing goes sometimes."

Piastri, who failed to start the first two Grands Prix of the 2026 season, said of his runner-up finish: "It would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without that. I could keep George behind, and just before the stops we're actually pulling away a little bit again. But I think for us at this point to be disappointed about finishing second is a pretty good place to be."