The 2026 F1 Japanese GP at Suzuka was one with a strong focus on pace and track position. Kimi Antonelli took another win, making it back-to-back victories and moving into the championship lead. Oscar Piastri returned strongly after missing the previous two races due to DNSs and finished second after a good start. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari came home third to complete the podium at the 2026 F1 Japanese GP.
The race briefly went under a Safety Car after a heavy crash for Ollie Bearman. He hit the barrier at around 50G, but the medical team and Haas confirmed he was okay. The race continued from there.
Charles Leclerc on handling pressure from George Russell in the fight for the podium
Charles Leclerc described the race as close and intense. The second stint saw battles with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The Safety Car had put him behind his teammate, as well as Kimi Antonelli who took full advantage of some fortune.
Having cleared and gapped his seven-time World Champion teammate, Leclerc had to deal with F1’s fastest car at present in the closing laps. With four laps to go, Russell passed car #16 into the chicane. However, the Monegasque man came right back with a stunning move around the outside into turn 1.
Speaking in the post-race press conference, the eight-time race winner explained the games getting played with deployment, as well as team radio messages going on between the engineers for George Russell and himself.
“I don’t know. I mean, it was quite tight at some points, and they were also being quite cheeky because I think his engineer was telling him things on the radio. My engineer was telling me what his engineer was telling on the radio, but he was doing then the opposite and that put me under quite a bit of pressure.
“At one point I think they told me, ‘Oh, he’s being told to use everything in the back straight,’ or vice versa, or maybe in the main straight, and then for four laps in a row he was doing exactly the opposite of that. So, I understood it pretty quickly and I could defend.
“But at one point I got surprised in the last corner and yes, but it was quite a fun race. Unfortunately, a little bit unlucky for us because of the Safety Car at the wrong moment. I don’t think it would have changed significantly our race, but it made it a little bit more difficult for our second stint for sure.”
Charles Leclerc on strong opening lap move to P2 at the 2026 F1 Japanese GP
Charles Leclerc said he was happy with his start and gained positions early, jumping both Mercedes cars into turn 1.
His focus quickly shifted to Oscar Piastri ahead who took the lead from P3 on the grid. He noted that the Aussie was very strong, especially on the opening lap. He was surprised by how quickly the McLaren pulled away, holding a 1.5s gap after lap 1.
Leclerc tried to stay as close as possible. However, Piastri had clean air and better pace through the opening laps.
He added that he was hoping to fight back later in the stint and race, but the opportunity never came.
“I mean, I was happy. Then I was obviously focusing on Oscar, but Oscar was very strong actually, especially in the first lap.
“In the first lap I was very surprised at how much he pulled away, and yes, after that I was just trying to be as close as possible to him, but he had a bit more pace and I thought also that free air was making a big difference. But I was just trying to wait for later on in the race, but it didn’t happen.”
