The 19-year-old Mercedes driver’s historic championship accomplishment came after he won his second F1 race in a row.Published On 29 Mar 202629 Mar 2026Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday for his second straight victory as the 19-year-old Italian became the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the world championship standings.Antonelli took advantage of a mid-race safety car to leapfrog into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position at Suzuka and eventually led home McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listHe whooped with delight as he crossed the line, telling his team, “The pace was unbelievable today.”He leads the championship after three races, building on the first Grand Prix win of his career two weeks ago in China.George Russell of Mercedes, who started the day on top of the championship standings, finished fourth.Russell battled Piastri for the lead over the first half of the race but pitted just before the safety car to drop back out of contention for the win.McLaren’s world champion Lando Norris was fifth ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who had won in Japan for the past four years, was eighth after starting from 11th on the grid. Antonelli leads during the Japanese Grand Prix [Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP]Antonelli recovers from poor startAntonelli was in pole position for the second straight race, having become the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history in China.But the Italian had a shocking start, sinking to sixth by the first …
