Kimi Antonelli has found his way back to the top step of the podium, securing back-to-back Grand Prix victories and his second career win at the 2026 F1 Japanese GP. The 19 year-old Italian impressed throughout the weekend, once again out-qualifying his teammate George Russell and securing pole position for the second race in a row.
However, after a slow launch off the line, Antonelli dropped down the order and found himself in 6th. Keeping his composure, he fought his way back through the field, with a well-timed safety car playing into his hands as he pitted. This allowed the Italian driver to emerge from the pit lane as the race leader. While fortune aided part of his recovery, Antonelli’s pace was undeniable, pulling clear to win by 14 seconds.
Reflecting on his race in the post-race press conference, the 19 year-old said: “Yeah, it was nice to be back on the top step.”
“Obviously, a very special win and a very special track. But, you know, on one side I’m very happy, but on the other side I’m a bit disappointed with how the start went. It’s an area where I need to work a lot, because it’s definitely not good enough and I’m just making my life a lot harder.”
“So, definitely a lot of work to do still. But I was very lucky, of course, with the timing of the Safety Car, but yeah, then pace was very, very strong and really happy with that.”
Poor launch didn’t shake Antonelli’s belief in victory
While his poor start made his race much harder, the Italian driver shared the reason why his launch off the line was slower than his competitors’.
“Just, I think I dropped the clutch a bit too deep, deeper than what I should have, and obviously the tyres were also a bit colder, so obviously I went beyond the grip that was available and just lost a lot of places.”
When asked about his thoughts on finding himself in 6th by the end of Lap 1, he replied: “I cannot say, but I was very mad.”
Despite that, Antonelli believed a win was still possible, though he acknowledged that the timely safety car played a role. Without it, he was unsure he could’ve won but added that anything can happen in a race.
Antonelli said: “Probably. I think it was a bit difficult to get by when I was behind Charles because we obviously had two completely different deployments and it was just hard to find the right place to overtake. Then he went back in the pit and then we improved a lot with the pace. And then obviously I was lucky with the Safety Car.”
“But without the Safety Car, I don’t know how the outcome would have been. Definitely would have been a lot more difficult, but you never know.”
Etching his name in the history books
With back-to-back wins, Antonelli now takes the lead in the Drivers’ Championship from Russell, becoming the youngest driver ever to lead at just 19 years old.
Speaking about the record-breaking achievement, the Italian reflected on what it means for Italy while remaining mindful of the long season still ahead.
“I don’t know. I think we’ll find out pretty soon. But yeah, I’m not thinking too much about the championship.”, Antonelli said.
“Of course it’s great, but it’s still a long way to go and need to keep raising the bar because, you know, George is very quick and for sure he’s going to be back at his usual level, and also competitors eventually they will get closer. I think we need to keep our head down and keep raising the bar.”
Race starts set to be the focus for improvement
The W17 has shown its dominance in all three of the races of the 2026 F1 season so far. With the next race in Miami more than a month away, Antonelli said his focus will be on improving his starts rather than targeting a specific part of the car’s package. He said: “Difficult. I think our car is very good. For sure, maybe with the start, but I think… I mean, today was completely my fault.”
“But together, me and George, we’ve been struggling a bit more than what we would have anticipated since the start of the season, and today the McLaren got a really good start, so they’re clearly doing something better, for sure also on driver input. In this case Oscar did much better than me because… I cannot say, but I ‘effed’ it up pretty badly. But yeah, I just need to keep working on that area.”
