Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Japanese Grand Prix victory flips the championship lead in Mercedes’ favour, moving him to 72 points ahead of George Russell’s 63. Behind them, Oscar Piastri’s surge to second at Suzuka fires him into the top six overall.
By Nadia Okafor
Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Suzuka weekend didn’t just add another 25 points to his tally — it changed the shape of the 2026 title fight. Starting and finishing first in the Japanese Grand Prix, he turns a one-place swing at the top into a nine-point cushion in the standings: 72 plays 63, with George Russell displaced from P1 to P2 despite Mercedes still holding the top two spots.
That Mercedes lockout at the summit frames the rest of the early-season story: three rounds in, the championship’s most important battle is internal, and it’s already defined by small margins with big consequences. Charles Leclerc remains best of the rest in third on 49, a full 14 behind Russell and 23 off Antonelli — close enough that the next swing matters, but far enough that the Mercedes pair have immediate control of the narrative.
Further back, Suzuka produced the round’s most dramatic positional change as Oscar Piastri jumped from 12th to sixth. His second place from third on the grid was worth 18 points on the day, taking him to 21 total and into the top 10 as the week’s headline mover. The flip side was Oliver Bearman’s slide: after qualifying 18th and retiring after 20 laps, he dropped two places from fifth to seventh and sits on 17 points, one behind Piastri despite having arrived in Japan ahead.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 12 | 6 | +6 | 21 |
| Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 5 | 7 | -2 | 17 |
| Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 2 | 1 | +1 | 72 |
Three races in, the championship lead has already changed hands: Antonelli’s 72 puts him nine clear of Russell, while Leclerc (49) needs to arrest the gap to the Mercedes pair. Piastri’s leap to sixth on 21 tightens the fight around the top 10 as Bearman’s 17-point total now comes under pressure.