2026 Japanese Grand Prix: Recap
The 2026 Japanese Grand Prix marked the first race this season where all 22 cars were on the starting grid! With all the drivers in the race, fans saw strong competition from start to finish. The track has limited overtaking opportunities, which created many intense battles and thrills this grand prix.
What you missed or maybe want to reminisce—a race recap.
The starting grid included Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) in P1, George Russell (Mercedes) in P2, and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) in P3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was in P11 after he was eliminated from Qualifying due to issues with his car. On lap 1, Antonelli quickly fell back to P6. This was later revealed to be caused by a personal clutch error, rather than an issue with his car. Piastri swiftly took the lead, and his teammate, Lando Norris, moved up to P3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) made his way into P2, passing Russell. Overall, not the best start for Mercedes, but a great one for Piastri, who showed he is still one to watch out for in his first race of the season. Given more time to develop their cars, the competition had certainly increased. On lap 4, Russell passed multiple cars and took back P2. Verstappen worked his way to P9. The commentators noted that there is less downforce on the cars this year with the new designs, meaning they can get closer to each other than before. This created some close battles as drivers competed for a higher position. On lap 6, Antonelli fought to earn back his starting position, battling Norris for P4. On lap 8, Russell overtook Piastri for P1, but Piastri immediately retook the lead.
The commentators stated at this race, the strategic pit window was between laps 15-21. When a driver pits can often make or break their race. Norris, Leclerc, and Piastri all chose to pit, while the Mercedes team continued on. Even though all seemed to be going well for Mercedes, on lap 21, Russell ultimately decided to go in as well, coming out behind Piastri, which allowed Antonelli to take back the lead. Unexpectedly, on lap 22, Oliver Bearman (Haas) crashed into a wall after avoiding a much slower Franco Colapinto (Alpine). The crash led to Bearman injuring his knee, but luckily, he will have time to recover over the break. The Safety Car was then deployed. “Unbelievable,” Russell exclaimed. With the Safety Car out, the drivers’ speed had reduced, and it was the perfect time to pit. Unfortunately for Russell, if he had waited one more lap to do so, he would have maintained his position.
The lineup was Antonelli, Piastri, Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), and Leclerc just behind. The Safety Car put Piastri in an unlucky position and he lost the lead. After the Safety Car had gone, Hamilton and Russell battled for P3, continuously passing each other back and forth. On lap 37, Leclerc took P4, overtaking Russell. It appeared that Russell was dealing with issues with his car, later revealed to be a software bug. With Russell falling behind, the Ferrari teammates continued the battle for P3. On lap 51, Russell passed Leclerc, but Leclerc, who used Ferrari’s corner speed, immediately took it back. On the last lap, leading by 15 seconds, Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix, making him the youngest ever Drivers’ Championship leader! Antonelli stated, “I was lucky with the Safety Car, but pace was good at the end.” Piastri secured P2 and said to his team, “turns out when we actually start these things, we’re pretty good.” By four-tenths of a second, Leclerc came in P3, just ahead of Russell, who could not quite make the podium. Verstappen finished in P8 and ending out the points, Esteban Ocon (Haas) in P10.
With the unexpected break coming to an end, we will finally get to see how the teams are progressing. Tune in to the LIVE 2026 Miami Grand Prix this Sunday, May 3, with East Bay F1 at Griffin Motorwerke in Berkeley. More details available here.
