Italian driver Kimi Antonelli became the 116th driver to win a F1 race last time out in China, and the 19-year-old is hoping to carry that momentum into the 2026 Japanese GP.
Enjoying the glory
Speaking in a print media session at Suzuka on Thursday afternoon, the Mercedes driver discussed how he celebrated victory with friends and family back in Italy.
Nonetheless, he thinks it would have been even more enjoyable had there been a longer break post-Shanghai.
“I have celebrated, but not as much as I would have liked.
“Obviously I wanted to celebrate Sunday night with the team, but I had to fly back home.
“But I had a good celebration night with my friends on Monday, obviously after the race. They made me a surprise. They surprised me at my house.
“We had a nice evening. We didn’t do anything crazy, but it was very nice to spend time with them, as well as with the rest of the family.
“Very soon after, I flew to the UK and started to work on Japan.
“I have to say, I’ve been enjoying the moment. But I think with a bigger break, I would have probably enjoyed it even more.”
No change in approach for Kimi Antonelli ahead of the 2026 F1 Japanese GP
It has been a strong start to 2026 for the Italian youngster. Despite a big crash in FP3 in Australia, he recovered to the front row in qualifying.
Even a bad start did not stop him from finishing P2, outpacing George Russell in the second stint. Unfortunately for him, he lost too much time early on clearing traffic.
Taking advantage of his teammate’s issue in Q3 in China to grab a first Grand Prix pole, Antonelli was outstanding on race day. He quickly reclaimed the lead from Lewis Hamilton on lap 2 after Ferrari’s mega start.
From there he completely controlled the race, once again displaying outstanding speed in race trim and continued to ease slowly away from George Russell once his teammate moved into P2. Only a lock-up at turn 14 with four laps left was a little blot on his copybook.
Following that first win in Shanghai, Kimi Antonelli says there will be no change in his approach to a race weekend. It did give him great insight to what is possible when everything is put together, however.
“No, it’s still the same.
“I think the only difference is that the win gave me a bit more awareness of the potential and what is possible to achieve.
“But in terms of approach, I want to keep the same, to be fair. Because I’ve been working well so far. Obviously there’s areas where I need to work on and where I can do better.
“But yeah, I’m just going to approach the weekend as another one without putting too much pressure on myself. And trying to focus again on the basic driving well. And as well enjoying the driving because it’s very important that as well.”
Antonelli excited to take on Suzuka once more
Ahead of the 2026 F1 Japanese GP, Kimi Antonelli reflected on one of his strongest races in his rookie season: the 2025 edition of this great event.
A long first stint saw the Italian become the youngest ever race leader in Formula 1 history. On top of that, he also sealed the youngest driver to bag a fastest lap in a Grand Prix that Sunday afternoon. In the end, he finished only 1.3s behind George Russell as he claimed a strong P6.
With the track completely resurfaced now, the driver of car #12 is excited to tackle the legendary Suzuka circuit over the next three days. Despite energy and lift and coast concerns, it remains a huge challenge for the drivers.
“Yeah, I’m very excited. It’s a very good track to drive.
“And obviously they’ve done as well resurfacing, so I think the grip is going to be incredibly high and even more enjoyable to drive, especially with this car that they have a bit less downforce, it’ll be more challenging.
“But when you have a new tarmac it’s always very enjoyable because you have low tyre deg and you can push a lot.
“And also, it’s such a beautiful track, old school.
“And yeah, looking forward to it. I obviously have the experience from last year. Hopefully this year is going to be a really good weekend.”
Heading into the 2026 F1 Japanese GP, Kimi Antonelli is 2nd in points. He is four adrift of Mercedes teammate George Russell.
