Kimi Antonelli knocked George Russell off the F1 world championship summit after he claimed his second win in a row at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Antonelli took advantage of a safety car period following British driver Ollie Bearman’s enormous 191mph crash at Suzuka to land a free pit stop and leapfrog his rivals.
The Italian teenager, who landed his debut win in China a fortnight ago, took the chequered flag 13.7 seconds clear of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, while Charles Leclerc kept Russell at bay to finish third.
Russell, who yelled, “Unbelievable!” after he changed tyres just moments before the race-changing safety car, now trails Antonelli by nine points following a 13-point title swing in favour of his 19-year-old Mercedes teammate.
Lando Norris finished fifth, one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with four-time world champion Max Verstappen eighth.
Antonelli, aged 19 years 216 days, becomes the first teenager to lead the world championship. He started from pole position but was sixth by the first corner following a desperately slow start in his Mercedes.
Russell, who was alongside him on the front row, lost two places, with Piastri clearing both Mercedes drivers to take charge of the race.
Leclerc slotted into second with Norris third, Russell fourth and Hamilton in fifth, ahead of Antonelli.
Russell picked off Norris and then Leclerc on the third and fourth laps, with Piastri just 1.8 seconds up the road. And at the final chicane on lap eight, Russell swatted Piastri aside, only for the McLaren man to race back past on the pit straight.
On to the sole round of pit stops, and Piastri changed tyres on lap 18 with Russell briefly promoted to the lead before his stop three laps later.
But just moments later, Bearman was in the wall and the complexion of the race changed in a heartbeat.
Japanese Grand Prix Top 10
1. Kimi Antonelli
2. Oscar Piastri
3. Charles Leclerc
4. George Russell
5. Lando Norris
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Pierre Gasly
8. Max Verstappen
9. Liam Lawson
10. Esteban Ocon
Bearman lost control of his Haas as he attempted an aggressive pass on Alpine’s Franco Colapinto for 15th at the Spoon Curve on the 22nd lap.
He ended up on the grass on the left-hand side of the circuit, crashing through multiple polystyrene distance boards and ending up in the barrier.
Bearman was assisted away from his Haas by two marshals before he slumped to the floor. He was then taken away in a car to the on-track medical centre for X-rays, which determined he had suffered a right knee contusion.
Russell knew the safety car had cost him. “Unbelievable!”, he yelled over the radio. In came Antonelli, who had been running a net third, for his free change of tyres as the field was neutralised. And the Italian emerged at the head of the pack.
Russell was back on the radio: “Wow. F***! Our luck in these last two races.” The comments referenced a mechanical problem in qualifying at the previous round in China.
His mood deteriorated further when Leclerc and Hamilton relegated him to fifth after the safety car peeled in on lap 27.
Russell did see off Hamilton on lap 43 and then thought he had cleared Leclerc at the final chicane with three laps left, only for Leclerc to swoop back ahead on the main straight.
It would be Antonelli’s day, while Piastri also deserves credit for a fine drive, having failed to even start the first two races of the season.
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