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Kimi Antonelli wins from Oscar Piastri at Suzuka to become youngest championship leader
Antonelli used a mid-race safety car to secure his second consecutive win and now leads the championship by nine points after three races, the youngest ever to do so.
- On Sunday, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit, becoming the youngest-ever Formula One championship leader at age 19.
- Despite dropping to sixth after a poor start from pole position, Antonelli capitalized on a well-timed pit stop during a safety car period triggered by Haas driver Oliver Bearman's 50g crash on lap 22.
- McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished second and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third, while teammate George Russell dropped to fourth after his pit-stop strategy was compromised by the safety car deployment on lap 22.
- The victory gives Antonelli a nine-point lead over Russell in the drivers' championship standings, representing a 13-point title swing in favor of the teenager following the race-changing safety car.
- Acknowledging areas for improvement, Antonelli stated, "Definitely it's been a weak point so far this year, and I need to improve that because you can easily win or lose races with that.
180 Articles
180 Articles
Antonelli wins Japanese F1 GP
SUZUKA, Japan — Italian 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes has won his second consecutive Formula 1 race, taking Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Oscar Piastri of McLaren. Antonelli finished a comfortable 13.7 seconds ahead of the Australian.
The start of the Formula 1 2026 World Cup has been marked by a clear trend: the leading role of a new generation. After the Japanese Grand Prix, played on the Suzuka circuit, the 19-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli consolidated that change as he became the youngest leader in the history of the championship. Mercedes’s driver won his second consecutive race of the season and headed a podium completed by Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc …
Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the Japan Grand Prix in Suzuka, winning his second consecutive victory after Shanghai. At the age of 19, he became the youngest driver to lead the F1 championship, with 72 points against his partner George Russell's 51.
LancasterOnline
Santa Maria TimesSUZUKA, Japan (AP) — Italian Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Mercedes driver, won his second consecutive Formula One race on Sunday, taking the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri.
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