At just 19 years old, Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings, thanks to his victory at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. The Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. This win marked Antonelli’s second grand prix success in just two weeks, following his first win in China. Now he’s top of the championship standings with nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell.

Antonelli’s Suzuka victory has sent excitement building around Mercedes’ young driver, despite him downplaying the significance of taking the lead. “Of course it’s great but it’s still a long way to go and I need to keep raising the bar,” he said, before acknowledging that his teammate George Russell was also quick and would be back to form soon.

Antonelli led home Piastri by 13.722 seconds, with Leclerc another 1.548 seconds behind in third. Russell finished fourth to drop to second in the championship standings on 63 points. This result has pushed Antonelli ahead of his teammate and Russell now trails him by nine points.

Piastri’s first grand prix start of the season ended with a second-place finish, after he had battled for the lead with Russell over the first half of the race before pitting just before the safety car dropped him out of contention. “It would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without that,” said Piastri, about the crucial moment in the race.

With Antonelli now at the top of the championship standings, Mercedes are under pressure to continue to support their young driver as he sets a high standard for himself. The team will be eager to keep the momentum going and prevent Russell from closing the gap with his teammate in the coming races.