Kimi Antonelli took his second win in succession and the lead of the world championship after being helped to 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.
There were questions as to whether the safety car really changed the result for Antonelli.
Mercedes were planning to leave him out for several more laps before he stopped, and as he was at the time lapping faster than the drivers who had pitted for fresh tyres, the team believed he would have emerged in the lead anyway. “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.”