Fresh off his maiden win in Shanghai, Mercedes F1’s Kimi Antonelli carried his momentum into Qualifying at the 2026 F1 Japanese GP, claiming his second pole position of his career and season.The 19 year-old, who secured his first Grand Prix pole in Shanghai, appeared to be quick finding his rhythm and pace around the high-speed Suzuka Circuit.
After finishing three tenths ahead of his teammate George Russell in FP3, the young Italian looked to be in top form and remained unbeatable for most of Qualifying. Speaking in the post-Qualifying press conference, Antonelli reflected on his session, saying: “I had a really clean session, it felt good. I had a strong Run 1 and then from there on I just built the momentum.”
“Obviously, it was a bit trickier than FP3, especially at the start of qualifying. I think the wind increased a little bit and it felt a little bit more difficult, the car, overall. But then we just tried to adapt and we made some tweaks with aero balance and found a good compromise. Then the lap in Q3 was good. It was a shame for the last one, but I think it was, overall, a very strong session.”
Not counting out Russell in the race fight
For the second consecutive weekend, the 19 year-old has out-qualified his veteran teammate, who has years more experience. Antonelli admitted he was surprised by the gap but noted that the current regulations make such results more likely. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the Italian isn’t counting out Russell in the fight for victory.
“Yeah, I am, but with this regulation it’s very easy to gain or lose three tenths, whatever the gap was. It’s really easy to gain and lose time, so it was the same for me in Melbourne.”
He added: “But, you know, he’s super quick, he’s been super quick around here and we’ll see tomorrow in the race how we’re going to do.”
Qualifying tweaks didn’t dampen Antonelli’s enjoyment of Suzuka
Ahead of the 2026 F1 Japanese GP, the FIA announced an amendment to Qualifying rules, reducing the maximum permitted energy recharge per lap from 9.0MJ to 8.0MJ.
While the change sparked concerns over how Qualifying would unfold, Antonelli said that, despite the limitations at certain parts of the track, he still found joy in driving around Suzuka—especially through the Esses.
The 19 year-old said: “I mean, I think obviously there are parts of the track where you’re a little bit limited, a bit handcuffed on driving because of energy, but I think still the Esses are pretty good fun because at the end of the day the car on the chassis side is very good fun. The Esses in qualifying were getting pretty quick, so it was good fun.”
He noted that while there’s still room for improvement in energy management on longer tracks, overall, the Italian had fun behind the wheel.
“Of course, there’s still work to do and work around, on these big tracks with the energy, trying to find a solution that allows us to push even more and drive without thinking too much, especially in certain places.”
“But overall, I think it was good fun, the qualifying, because at the end also you look at the lap times and they’re not so far off from last year, so I think qualifying today has been good fun.”
All focus on tomorrow
Suzuka has held a reputation as a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. While the past two races have delivered some exciting action for fans, Antonelli expects overtaking to remain a challenge but noted that anything could happen tomorrow as the race unfolds.
Antonelli said: “Probably. I mean, we’ve seen obviously how much easier it is to follow and obviously when you get the overtake mode, how much more battery you can harvest and then deploy on the straights, so you never know, it can give good racing.”
“But still, I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as China and Melbourne because obviously the track, first of all, is quite a bit tighter and you don’t have as many straights where you can overtake, or straights and then big braking, where you can make the move.”
“You have a lot of fast entries, so it’s not going to be easy, but that’s why it’s crucial to have a good start and then we’ll see from there how the pace is going to be.”
Encouraged by their long-run pace, Antonelli remains confident in his chances for tomorrow but remains mindful of factors beyond his control, such as the weather, and noted that there will be preparation to do overnight.
“Yeah, I mean, the long run has been good. Of course, let’s see tomorrow how the weather is going to be, how the wind is going to be, because you never know, it can shift. Let’s see also with temperatures, how hot it’s going to be, and then I’ll try to be ready, try to cover as many scenarios in order to be ready for tomorrow.
