Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest driver to ever lead the F1 world championship following victory in the Japanese GP.
At 19 years, 6 months, and 25 days, Antonelli's win in Japan, coupled with George Russell finishing in fourth, moved the Italian onto 72 points, with Russell now on 63. Antonelli is the first teenager to lead the world championship, and beats Lewis Hamilton's record of 22 years, five months, six days from the 2007 Spanish GP.
Antonelli is also the first Italian to lead the standings since Giancarlo Fisichella after the 2005 Australian GP.
Mercedes also consolidated its lead in the constructors', moving to 135 points, ahead of Ferrari on 90, a gap of 45 points.
McLaren, following a slow start to the year, also moved onto 56 points from 18, handing it a 40-point lead over Red Bull, which has just 16 points after three races following Max Verstappen's eighth place and Isack Hadjar's non-score.
Check out the full 2026 F1 drivers' and constructors' championship standings following the Japanese GP below!
Formula 1 standings 2026
| # | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72 | ||
| 2 | 63 | ||
| 3 | 49 | ||
| 4 | 41 | ||
| 5 | 25 | ||
| 6 | 21 | ||
| 7 | 17 | ||
| 8 | 15 | ||
| 9 | 12 | ||
| 10 | 10 | ||
| 11 | 4 | ||
| 12 | 4 | ||
| 13 | 2 | ||
| 14 | 2 | ||
| 15 | 1 | ||
| 16 | 1 | ||
| 17 | 0 | ||
| 18 | 0 | ||
| 19 | 0 | ||
| 20 | 0 | ||
| 21 | 0 | ||
| 22 | 0 |
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding as they look ahead to this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix. Jonathan Wheatley's Audi exit is a key talking point, as is whether Max Verstappen's critical comments are damaging F1.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Explore the latest F1 results and every stat you can imagine - From Max Verstappen to Michael Schumacher and from Ayrton Senna to Lewis Hamilton — explore every stat from the first Grand Prix to the latest race.
Explore the RN365 Stats HubMost read
In this article
Join the conversation!