Rise and shine everyone, and welcome to the third round of this year’s Formula One world championship. My name is Holly, and I’m going to be taking you through all the action today and keeping you up to date with everything happening on track.
Yesterday, it was Kimi Antonelli who claimed pole ahead of his Mercedes teammate George Russell. In both races so far this season, it has been either Russell or Antonelli taking the win, so will that trend continue or is today the chance for McLaren, Ferrari or even Gasly in the Alpine starting seventh?
Due to damage to a barrier around the Suzuka track, the formation lap will be delayed by 10 minutes, starting now at 6:10 UK time.
20 MINUTES TO GO
Above is a reminder of today’s starting grid, and so far, it is looking like all 22 cars will be starting the race, which is something that hasn’t managed to happen in the first two races this year.
15 MINUTES TO GO
We’ve just heard a pretty impressive version of the Japanese national anthem, a very interesting rock and roll take, which was a welcome change.
10 MINUTES TO GO
If you’re wondering why the formation lap hasn’t started yet, as it was set to start at 6 AM, damage earlier on in the day meant repairs had to be made to a barrier, pushing back the start time by 10 minutes.
Embed from Getty Images5 MINUTES TO GO
This is your five-minute countdown to the start of the formation lap everyone, so get your popcorn or morning coffee and get seated.
4 MINUTES TO GO
There will be 53 laps, hopefully completed by everyone today. Will Antonelli be able to achieve what he only just missed out on last race and lead from lights out to the chequered flag?
Formation Lap
Valterri Bottas is the only one not starting on the medium tyre today, with the Cadillac driver opting for the hard instead.
Lights out
Oscar Piastri makes an incredible start and is in to first!
Lap 1/53
Both Mercedes have had a bit of a shocking start, both dropping just out of the top three positions.
Lap 2/53
Max Verstappen has now made it ahead of his teammate and into ninth, but it looks like Isack Hadjar is going to try and fight this one
Embed from Getty ImagesLap 4/53
Russell is 1.4 seconds behind leader Piastri now and seems to be gaining quickly
Lap 5/53
Top three update
- Piastri
- Russell
- Leclerc
Lap 7/53
For someone who hasn’t even started a race this year, Piastri doesn’t look to be missing any confidence at the front of the field.
Lap 8/53
We’ve just had a change for the lead around 130 R, but Piastri has taken it straight back along the start-finish straight.
Lap 10/53
It doesn’t look like that hard tyre strategy has worked out incredibly well so far for Bottas, as he is down in 22nd place and 1.8 seconds behind Fernando Alonso.
Lap 11/53
It is still currently the same top three, but behind Antonelli has managed to overtake Lando Norris and get into fourth.
Lap 13/53
There may be changes happening to the team’s strategy plans for the race after seeing Bottas on the hard tyres. It looks like the medium is the better choice at this point.
Lap 15/53
If you’re a McLaren fan, you will be enjoying this as Piastri has come over the radio saying that he thinks they could hold onto first place if he keeps track position.
Embed from Getty ImagesLap 16/53
Lewis Hamilton has now pulled up to the back of this battle for third, which is now only a battle of three as Norris has pulled into the pits. It was a 2.5-second stop for the McLaren pit crew, so not bad at all.
Lap 18/53
Norris’ pit stop has made Ferrari squirm and pull Leclerc in to make sure they are covered, and the undercut does not happen.
Lap 19/53
In comes the leader, a 2.4-second stop for him, and he’s come out around five seconds ahead of Leclerc.
Lap 20/53
The top five all still need to pit, and Russell is starting to question his team on whether staying out is really the right idea.
Lap 22/53
The team have listened, and Russell has been brought in, but just as he’s come out behind Piastri, we see Ollie Bearman has had a big crash at Spoon Curve, which brings out the safety car.
Lap 23/53
This safety car means everyone who hasn’t pitted now will. Antonelli is in, and due to the safety car slowing everyone else on track, it means he’s come out into the lead of this race.
Lap 24/53
We’ve just seen Bearman out of the car, but he is limping. I’m sure we all hope that he isn’t too injured and will recover quickly from that big impact.
Lap 25/53
Interestingly, both Aston Martins have pitted twice under this safety car. I think, unfortunately for them, the races so far this year have come across as testing for them rather than racing.
Lap 27/53
Quick work from all the marshals means the safety car will be coming in at the end of this lap.
Lap 28/53
We are back in action! Antonelli timed his getaway to perfection and is already 1.2 seconds ahead of the McLaren.
Embed from Getty ImagesLap 29/53
Hamilton is going aggressive and has made it into third after jumping Russell on the restart and now looks to be putting Piastri under some pressure as well.
Lap 30/53
Everyone other than Bottas and the two Aston Martins are on the hard tyres.
Lap 31/53
Hamilton must be feeling pretty happy with how this race is playing out so far; he’s made up three positions from where he started, and as it stands, looks to be getting back-to-back third-place finishes.
Lap 32/53
Great reactions from all the medical team means we have just heard that Bearman has already had an X-ray and they can happily report there are no broken bones for the Haas driver.
Lap 34/53
A couple of laps ago, Lance Stroll was pulled into his garage, and despite the timing screens saying he’s in the pits, it is pretty safe to assume that he has retired from this race.
Lap 36/53
There has been a whole lot of action in this race, not just up the front but also further down the grid. Gasly and Verstappen have been putting up a good fight for P7, Esteban Ocon is now only 0.6 seconds behind Liam Lawson in P9 and the Audi drivers have stayed in pretty close contact with each other throughout this race in 12th and 13th.
Lap 39/53
A strange issue for Russell has just seen him get overtaken by Leclerc. Seems like it was something to do with his energy deployment.
Lap 41/53
It’s Ferrari on Ferrari currently, as the two drivers start to squabble for third position.
Lap 42/53
In the Ferrari garage, everyone will be holding their breath as their two drivers get very close together. It was close but fair racing as Leclerc swooped around Hamilton at the first corner to get the third position.
Lap 43/53
With 10 laps till the chequered flag, Russell has also decided to have a go at Hamilton and, with a bit less difficulty, has made his way past his ex-teammate and into fourth place.
Lap 44/53
Someone who deserves a shout-out is Gasly in the Alpine. He has been defending from the charging Verstappen for a long while now and doesn’t look to be shaken.
Embed from Getty ImagesLap 46/53
Unless there’s a major mistake or incident, it looks like Antonelli might be cruising to victory now as he’s managed to pull a 12.9-second gap on Piastri.
Lap 47/53
Only two retirees from this race, Bearman and Stroll, make this, as it stands, the race with the most drivers making it to the chequered flag this season.
Lap 49/53
Another driver who would probably rather forget this weekend as a whole is Alex Albon. He faced difficulties from practice one, and the race hasn’t seemed to go much better for him. He’s just pitted again, possibly going down the same route as Aston Martin and treating this race as more of a testing session.
Lap 51/53
If you thought that was it for the action, you would be wrong, as Russell and Norris have both just made positions on the two Ferraris, but as quickly as they gained those places, they’ve both just lost them as Hamilton and Leclerc both used turn one to grab them back.
Lap 52/53
On attempt number two, Norris has managed to make it stick as he’s taken P5 away from Hamilton.
Chequered Flag!
It wasn’t as easy as last week for the Italian, but the teenager has made it back-to-back wins for Mercedes, as Antonelli claims the win.
Piastri’s first race start has ended in P2 for him. At one point in that race, the win was definitely on the cards for the Aussie, but just completing the race must feel like an achievement for him and the team.
Another podium for Leclerc this season means three P3’s for Ferrari this year, which, compared to last year, is a much better position for the team.
That’s it for the on-track action today, but make sure to head back over here later as I wrap up the weekend for you.