Kimi Antonelli took advantage of a timely safety car entry after a heavy crash by Oliver Bearman to take first place and en route to his second consecutive F1 victory on Sunday at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Italian driver started from pole position, but fell to sixth place in the opening meters. He recovered two positions, but was only fourth while his teammate, George Russell, fought for the lead with a surprising Oscar Piastri, who went from third to first at the start.

It seemed like it would be a difficult day for Antonelli to repeat his victory in China, but the neutralization of the race due to Bearman’s crash came just after the pit stops of Piastri, Russell and Leclerc, leaving the Italian the way clear to stop and start first.

Once the competition restarted, Antonelli moved away from Piastri towards the checkered flag while behind them they were fighting for the last step of the podium, which was left to Leclerc ahead of Russell.

Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton completed the top six places, while Pierre Gasly won a close battle with Max Verstappen to be seventh with the Alpine. Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon were ninth and tenth.

Franco Colapinto had to settle for 16th place after the safety car made him lose positions and the possibility of fighting for the points, since he had stopped in the pits shortly before, and Sergio Pérez arrived one place behind the Argentine.

This is how the Japanese Grand Prix unfolded:

The Mercedes of Antonelli and Russell occupied the first starting row, but it was of little use to them because Oscar Piastri made a great start from third place and took first place, followed by Leclerc and Norris.

Russell was fourth and Antonelli dropped to sixth, although he managed to quickly overtake Hamilton to get behind his teammate.

Gasly remained best of the rest in seventh place, followed by Lindblad, Verstappen and Hadjar on the opening lap.

Further back, Colapinto advanced one position to place 14th and Checo Pérez placed 18th in the classifier at a start where everyone, except Valtteri Bottas, who did so on hard tires, started on medium tires.

Russell passed Norris at the start of the third lap to take third place and then repeated the maneuver on the next lap to overtake Leclerc, while Antonelli failed to progress from fifth position.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

On the eighth of the planned 53 laps, Russell dived into the chicane to pass Piastri and take first place, but the Australian returned the kindness on the main straight to regain the lead.

Behind the leaders, Leclerc held third place with Norris and Antonelli close to the Ferrari driver, who did not show the pace to fight for victory as in the first two rounds of the season. Hamilton, in fact, could not follow that group.

Gasly, for his part, was riding alone in seventh place with ten laps completed, as he was four seconds behind Hamilton and had a similar difference over Verstappen. Colapinto, with the other Alpine, was 13th in the classifier, behind Lawson and ahead of Bortoleto, whom the Argentine had overtaken on the third lap.

On lap 11, Antonelli repeated Russell’s maneuver in the chicane on Norris, but the Italian did manage to maintain the position he had gained and consolidate his position in fourth place. Four laps later, Antonelli did the same with Leclerc, but his car moved when accelerating at the exit of the chicane, allowing the Ferrari driver to regain third position against the Mercedes driver.

On lap 16, Norris was the first in the entire field to enter the pits to change from medium to hard tires. The world champion returned to the track in ninth position, behind Ocon and ahead of Lindblad.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Leclerc responded to Norris’ move and stopped at the next turn, while Colapinto did the same at the same moment. The Monegasque returned to the race in seventh place and the Argentine finished 18th, behind Checo Pérez and in front of Bearman, who had stopped on the previous lap.

McLaren completed its two driver stops by calling out Piastri on lap 18, leaving Mercedes 1-2 until Russell pitted on lap 21, leaving Antonelli in front, followed by Hamilton and a surprising Gasly.

The moment of the pit stop could not have been worse for Russell, since as soon as the race stopped it was neutralized with the safety car due to a crash by Bearman against the barriers in the Cuchara area, when he lost control of his car while trying to overtake Colapinto.

Given this situation, all those who had not stopped did so under the safety car, which left Antonelli as the leader, followed by Piastri, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Norris, Verstappen, Lawson and Bortoleto in the top 10. Colapinto, again harmed by the neutralization as in China, was 16th, two places ahead of Pérez.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

Things got worse for Russell, as he was overtaken by Hamilton on the restart on lap 28, while Antonelli escaped to the front with a lap record of 1m33.649s included.

Russell put pressure on Hamilton to regain third place, but he was unsuccessful and, to make matters worse, he dropped to fifth place on lap 38 after being passed by Leclerc. For his part, Antonelli pulled away from Piastri and built a lead of up to seven seconds after 40 laps of the race.

The Ferraris, as in China, then began to fight each other, with Hamilton closing the door on Leclerc at the chicane. However, the seven-time champion ended up losing to his teammate, and also to Russell shortly after.

With 47 laps completed, Antonelli led with 13 seconds over Piastri, who in turn had less than two seconds ahead of Leclerc, who was under pressure from Russell, as was Hamilton regarding Norris.

Outside the top six, Gasly and Verstappen were fighting for seventh position while the Red Bull driver sought to place himself ahead of the Alpine driver, who had been the best of the rest from the start.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Clive Mason/Getty Images

On lap 50, Russell passed Leclerc at the chicane, but the Monegasque returned to third place on the outside in turn one of the following lap. Hamilton, meanwhile, could not do the same with Norris and fell to sixth place.

Antonelli ultimately took victory for the second consecutive grand prix, with Piastri in second place after taking the lead for the first time this season.

Leclerc resisted Russell’s attacks to take third position, with Norris and Hamilton closing the top 6.

Gasly managed to keep Verstappen behind by three tenths to give Alpine seventh position. Lawson and Ocon completed the top 10.

Colapinto crossed the finish line in 16th place and Checo Pérez was 17th, 26 seconds behind the Argentine driver.

With the victory in Japan, Antonelli at 19 years old became the youngest to lead the drivers’ championship, where he has a nine-point difference over Russell.

The Formula 1 season will continue on May 3 with the Miami Grand Prix, after the cancellations of the events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

We want your opinion

– The Motorsport.com team