'Still early days to think about the championship' – Youngest F1 points leader Antonelli reflects on Japanese GP victory

Kimi Antonelli believes it is "still early days to think about the championship" despite taking victory in the Japanese Grand Prix and becoming the youngest driver to lead the championship in Formula 1 history.

The 19-year-old Italian made it back-to-back wins on Sunday at the Suzuka Circuit following his success in China at the previous round, where he became the youngest Grand Prix winner in the process.

Having claimed pole in Japan, Antonelli suffered a terrible start and dropped as low as sixth on the opening lap before cycling back towards the front as McLaren and Ferrari pitted their drivers.

The crucial moment came approaching the mid-point of the 53-lap race, Mercedes team mate George Russell pitting from the lead just as a Safety Car was deployed following a heavy crash for Ollie Bearman.

The caution allowed new race leader Antonelli to make a pit stop and rejoin at the front of the field before romping to victory by nearly 14 seconds.

With Russell struggling for performance and being forced to settle for fourth at the chequered flag, Antonelli now leads the standings for the first time by 9 points after the opening three Grands Prix of the season.

"It feels pretty good. Of course it's still early days to think about the Championship but we're in a good way," said Antonelli post-race.

"In the race, had a terrible start, just need to check what happened but then I was lucky with the Safety Car to be in the lead but then the pace was just incredible and was a really nice second stint. I felt very good with the car and very pleased with that.

"I think we were obviously very lucky with the Safety Car but on the medium we were really strong once I got some clean air and then on the hard the pace was just incredible.

"I don't know what would have happened, what the outcome would have been without the Safety Car but definitely made my life a lot easier."

With the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races not taking place in April, there's a gap until the next race in Miami with teams set to bring significant upgrades to the American race.

Antonelli stated his focus would be on improving his starts, which have been sub-optimal compared with Mercedes' rivals throughout 2026 so far.

He said: "Luckily I've got three weeks so now I can practice some clutch drops just to get a better feel with it because definitely it has been a weak point so far this year and we need to improve that because you can easily win or lose races with that."