Antonelli becomes the first Italian to win successive races in 73 years, Mercedes equal Williams for third on the all-time podium list and Alonso overtakes Schumacher for the most laps raced at Suzuka. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix!
ANTONELLI WINS THE 2026 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
Kimi Antonelli took the second victory of his Formula 1 career at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, winning for the second race in a row. He is the first driver to take his first two wins at successive events since Charles Leclerc at the 2019 Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.
Antonelli became the first Italian driver to win two successive races since Alberto Ascari at the 1953 Dutch and Belgian Grands Prix 73 years ago. He is only the sixth Italian driver to have won multiple Grands Prix.
Antonelli moved to the top of the Drivers’ Championship as a result of his win, becoming the youngest-ever championship leader in the sport’s history, eclipsing the previous record set by Lewis Hamilton at the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix. He is the first Italian to sit atop the standings since Giancarlo Fisichella won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in 2005.
With Antonelli’s win, Mercedes equalled Williams for third place on the list of most podium finishes in Formula 1. Williams have sat in the top three places on the list since the 1993 Portuguese Grand Prix.
This was the first victory for Mercedes at Suzuka since Valtteri Bottas won in 2019.
Antonelli is the 18th different driver to win at Suzuka in its time on the F1 calendar.
The 2026 Japanese Grand Prix was the 500th race in World Championship history to be won from pole position. The 1st race to be won from pole was also won by an Italian (Giuseppe Farina at the 1950 British Grand Prix).
Antonelli is the first driver to have won multiple Grands Prix as a teenager. Max Verstappen, the only other teenager to have taken a Grand Prix, took his second win the day after his 20th birthday.
This is the first time that Antonelli has finished on the podium at three consecutive races.
Despite starting from pole position, Antonelli was in sixth place at the end of the first lap. It was the lowest position for a polesitter at the end of the first lap since Carlos Sainz ran 20th before retiring at the end of the opening lap at the 2022 United States Grand Prix.
Antonelli was the first polesitter not to lead at the end of Lap 1 at Suzuka since Sebastian Vettel in 2019.
ON THE PODIUM
Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc joined Kimi Antonelli on the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix podium.
Piastri, in his first Grand Prix start of the season, led the opening stint of the race before finishing as runner-up. His podium finish made McLaren the first team to record as many as 30 top three finishes in Japanese Grand Prix history.
Piastri has finished second on each of the last three occasions that he has been classified in a Grand Prix.
Piastri has recorded podium finishes at the Japanese Grand Prix in three of the last four seasons.
With Piastri leading 16 laps of the race, McLaren became the first team to surpass 400 laps led in Suzuka’s history on the F1 calendar.
Finishing in third place, Charles Leclerc recorded his second podium finish of the season.
IN THE POINTS
George Russell finished the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix fourth having started second. It is the first time he has lost positions from where he started in his six appearances at Suzuka.
Lando Norris finished fifth, recording his fourth consecutive top five finish at the Japanese Grand Prix. Only Charles Leclerc has a longer active run of top five finishes here. His dates back to 2022.
Pierre Gasly scored points for the third race in a row, finishing seventh in the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix.
Gasly equalled his best-ever result at Suzuka. He last finished seventh here in 2019.
This was the first time an Alpine driver scored points at Suzuka since 2023 and the first time the team finished in the top seven at the track since 2022.
Max Verstappen gained three places in the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix to finish eighth. It is the first time he has finished a race at Suzuka in a better position than where he started since 2017.
With ninth place in the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, Liam Lawson scored points for the second race in a row. It is the first time has scored in successive Grands Prix since the 2025 Belgian and Hungarian Grands Prix.
This was the first time Lawson scored a point at Suzuka.
Finishing tenth, Esteban Ocon scored his first point of the season. Haas have scored in every race to date this year, with Ollie Bearman having finished in the top seven in each of the first two races.
This was the fifth time Ocon scored points from his eight appearances at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The 2026 Japanese Grand Prix is only the fourth Suzuka race in which a Haas driver has scored since the team joined the sport in 2016. It is only the second time, after 2017 and 2018, that the team has scored in successive years at the track.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
Nico Hulkenberg finished 11th for a second consecutive race, this time missing out on a point by just 1.065 seconds. 2016 remains the last time Hulkenberg scored a point at Suzuka.
Gabriel Bortoleto finished 13th, meaning 2013 remains the last time that the former Sauber team scored a point at the Japanese Grand Prix.
With Max Verstappen finishing eighth and Isack Hadjar 12th, this was the first Japanese Grand Prix in which neither Red Bull driver finished in the top four since 2015.
Fernando Alonso finished 18th in the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the first Aston Martin driver to cross the finish line in a Grand Prix this year.
During the race, Alonso overtook Michael Schumacher as the driver who has raced the most Grand Prix laps at Suzuka in the circuit’s history on the F1 calendar. Alonso has now raced 889 laps in total at the track.
Both Cadillac drivers crossed the finish line for the second successive race.
Valtteri Bottas finished 19th in the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix. His win here in 2019 is the last time he scored a point at Suzuka.
THE RETIREES
Ollie Bearman crashed out of the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, failing to score a point for the first time this season. This was his first retirement since the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll failed to finish the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, recording his third successive retirement and his fifth non-finish in the last six races.
It was Stroll’s third retirement at Suzuka, after 2017 and 2023.
This is the first time Stroll has recorded retirements at three races in a row since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.
With all 22 cars starting the race, the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix was the first race to have as many as 22 drivers on the grid since the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.