F1. Japan 2026 Review
0
By Scott McLean, Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle, Graeme Woolf, and Aiden McLaughlin
Driver of the Weekend
Aiden: Two in a row for Kimi Antonelli. Yes, George may have had a problem or two on Saturday and yes, the safety car may gone Kimi’s way on Sunday, but those are the breaks. Kimi continues to show why he’s a serious contender for this year’s drivers championship. But like any top level athlete, he’s still not happy. Imagine what he’ll be like when he sorts these starts out…
Gavin: Oscar Piastri gets my vote, simply because this is the first race that he’s been able to take part in and he absolutely nailed it. He was in the mix all weekend long and deserved to be up on that podium. He is certainly more switched into the new car than his teammate and current champion Lando Norris who always seems to become stronger as the season progresses.
Graeme: I had a good think about this, but my Driver of the Day is Oscar Piastri. We haven’t seen anything of him yet this season because he hasn’t started a race due to issues with his car both in Melbourne and Shanghai. But today, we saw the Oscar of last year as he got into the lead right off the start line and, if it wasn’t for a safety car, would probably have won the race. But a second place for him was well deserved and it suggests that maybe McLaren have turned a corner after a rocky start to 2026.
Scott: In a recurring theme from me…… it’s Kimi Antonelli! Pole and a race win will get you that, even if he got lucky with the safety car after a poor launch off the line at the start. Special mentions to Oscar Piastri for actually starting a GP, and Fernando Alonso for finishing one.
Chelsea: McLaren have had a shocking start to the year, and Oscar Piastri himself was yet to complete a single race lap prior to Suzuka. Then, starting in third this weekend, he was away – overtaking both Mercedes off the line and leading the race through to his pit stop on lap 19. Were it not for the safety car, he might have been on track for a win, but as it was he took second place. Great driving from the Aussie who wouldn’t have had a lot to smile about over the past few weeks.
Talking Point
Aiden: Oliver Bearman’s crash highlighted what many drivers have been saying since the start of the season; drivers going at different speeds on the track because of the new regulations is going to cause serious problems. Carlos Sainz said after the race “We were lucky there was an escape road. Now imagine going to Baku or Singapore or Vegas and having this kind of closing speed and crashes next to the walls. We’ve warned the FIA these accidents are going to happen a lot with this set of regulations and we need to change something soon if we don’t want them to happen.” An enforced break will hopefully see some solutions to this issue.
Gavin: We’ve had three races at three very different tracks and whilst we are getting overtakes it is not really delivering much in terms of entertainment – well, apart from Ferrari who seem to have a No Papaya Rules Rule at the moment. The drivers need to find places on the track to make an overtake that doesn’t just lead to an immediate overtake back again, and let’s face it, these tracks are not built for that. I expect a few tweaks to the rules to be in place sooner rather than later.
As an aside, can we stop the on grid promos at every race please? They are cringey and do nothing for the sport.
Graeme:A lack of highlights at Suzuka made for a pretty boring race in all honesty. That’s a line I wrote in my review of last year’s Suzuka race, and it applies here again. The major talking point though was Oliver Bearmans crash. Whilst it looked spectacular, it was nothing of the sort for Bearman himself, as footage showed him limping from the car with the aid of track marshals. Some drivers, notably Carlos Sainz, were particularly vocal after the race that the driver’s voices need to be listened to, as they’ve been pointing out that something like this was going to happen with the new regulations and cars in 2026. Fortunately, it was nothing worse than a sore leg for Bearman.
Scott: More queries about the power units. The fast lefthander 130R is one of the great corners in F1, but you couldn’t help but hear the engines “dying” as they went through it. There’ll also be something of an inquest into the role it might have played in the rather scary accident for Oliver Bearman as the young Brit caught Franco Colapinto heading into the Spoon curve.
Chelsea: Oh how quickly we become spoiled. With a singular spin-out courtesy of Ollie Bearman, and the predictable early retirement of Lance Stroll, by 2026 standards it was quite a dull race. Thus did my brain become consumed by Japanese dance group Avantgardey, who had performed on the track immediately prior to the anthems. Featuring 17 identically-clad Japanese girls moving in almost-eerie precision complete with fixed, impassive stares, I spent much of the race convinced they were going to hunt me down and kill me. Absolutely fantastic stuff.
Gossip Time
Aiden: Move aside Wrexham and Birmingham City and come on down…Shottery United, who play in the Evesham & District Sunday Football League Division Two. Surely a Netflix or Apple TV series is on the cards given their new shirt sponsor is one Pierre Gasly! The team are based close to Alpine HQ at Enstone and a few of the Alpine workers even play for them when available. Whether Gasly can get a few loan signings from his first love Paris Saint-Germain is yet to be confirmed.
Gavin: Lot of talk about how unhappy Max Verstappen is with the current state of F1. He says he is giving 100% but the enjoyment is not there. I don’t think he would be saying this if he was leading the championship but he has said it so now it is to be seen how the FIA and F1 respond as they really can’t afford to lose someone of his calibre and status. In saying that it would cause a driver lineup reshuffle and that could be interesting.
Graeme:I get the feeling things are going to get spicy at Mercedes. The senior driver, George Russell won in Melbourne, but his young apprentice Kimi Antonelli has now gone and won the next two races. It hasn’t quite gone to script for Russell, and I bet he isn’t too happy with that. I would’ve loved to hear what he had to say but he was noticeably absent from the Sky UK coverage post-race. The last I saw of him was on the official F1 social media where he strode through the garage and hospitality to his trailer in full race suit and helmet. He’ll be seething!
Scott: Max Verstappen was an also-ran again this week, and his frustration is clearly evident. But his comments after China about F1 being “Mario Kart” did give us this utterly brilliant promo from French broadcaster Canal+.
Chelsea: These past weeks have seen further intrigue in Team Principal land, which is like the thinking woman’s driver’s market. Jonathan Wheatley has stepped away from his role at Audi and is widely tipped to join ex-colleague Adrian Newey at Aston Martin, despite Lawrence Stroll’s explicit denials. Rumour has it that Stroll Senior was very keen for the services of one Christian Horner, but Newey rightly pointed out that Horner was the very reason he left Red Bull in the first place. Horner will undoubtedly find his way back in at some point, but not today. As an aside, who’s the only Spice Girl who’s able to fill her car up at the moment? Geri can.
Looking Ahead
Aiden: A long break! The teams can work on the cars, the FIA can work on the regulations and the fans can look forward to another 19 race weekends starting in Miami at the start of May.
Gavin: Now is a good time to do all those pre-winter DIY jobs around the house. A bit of waterblasting, don’t mind if I do. Some cutting back of the trees, nice. Clean the windows from the outside, fabulous.
Graeme: There’s not much to look forward to now really. Purely from a fans point of view, we’ve barely got the season started, and now we’re into a long break thanks to that idiot in America. See you in May at Miami.
Scott: An unscheduled break with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia cancelled for high-explosive-related reasons gives the teams plenty of time before Miami to find improvements. Whether that helps them close the gap to the frontrunning Mercs will remain to be seen.
Chelsea: As we’re faced with an unexpected spring break, most teams will be grateful for the additional time to work on their 26 builds – no more than the likes of Aston Martin and Cadillac, who are yet to score points, and are barely finishing races (though kudos to new dad Fernando Alonso who managed to hold on for all 53 laps). Personally, I’m hoping that Sky Sport’s David Croft takes a breath and revisits this clanger.: “George Russell is chomping at the bit – literally chomping at the bit!” to consider when, as a wordsmith, less is more. I probably could too.
Bonus Picture(s)
Share