But that’s about all that’s needed from me. I’ve been Joey Lynch and it’s been great to have your company once again, watching on as Kimi Antonelli won his second-straight race, became the youngest driver to ever lead the F1 Championship, and flirted with breaking Japan’s underage drinking laws.

Stay tuned for Giles Richards’ full report from Japan.

Due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi races, the F1 season will now go on a one-month break until it returns on the first weekend in May from Miami.

Until then, thanks and success!

Oh lord. The legal drinking age in Japan is 20. 19-year-old Antonelli legally can’t be given a bottle of champagne to celebrate his win. He’s got an unlabelled bottle while Piastri and Leclerc have branded ones. Bless.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it’s all rendered moot when Piastri and Leclerc immediatly spray him with their bottles.

For the second-straight race, the Italian national anthem rings out over the podium.

After waiting two decades to see one of their countrymen salute, those of an Italian persuasion have now heard their anthem played twice in a fortnight.

Leclerc on the broadcast, also wondering what may have been without the safety car.

With the Safety Car we got unlucky [with the timing], so I was on the back foot, and I just had to bring the tyres to the end. But the feeling was not that bad. It was a fun race, just not enough to get Oscar.

Piastri’s thoughts on the coverage:

Would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without [the Safety Car]. A shame to not see what would have happened.

But a massive thanks to the team, we did a good job executing with what we have.

Antonelli speaking with Damon Hill on the broadcast:

It feels pretty good! It’s still early to think about the championship but we are in a good way. A terrible start, I need to check what happened but the safety car helped. A good second stint, I felt good with the car.

I have a few weeks, so I can practice some clutch drops as it has been a weakness this year.

We were lucky with the safety car, but on the hard, the pace was incredible. Definitely made my life a lot easier!

After going back-to-back, Antonelli has almost vaulted to the top of the drivers’ standings, making him the youngest driver to ever lead the F1 World Championship.

The turning point of the race, ultimately, proved to be the safety car that followed Bearman’s crash – Russell having come in a lap prior and thus falling behind Antonelli (Piastri was also making up a bit of time at that moment), who was able to grab a cheap pit when it emerged.

Piastri on the radio: “Turns out when we start these things, we’re pretty good.”

Very good, Oscar. Very good.

Lap 52/53: Norris goes down the inside of Hamilton and, this time, is able to hold onto P5 heading into turn one! The defending champion perhaps using the lessons of the prior lap to better execute his overtake on this occasion.

Antonelli leads, followed by Piastri and Leclerc in the race of the podium.

Lap 51/53: Russell darts past Leclerc and Norris gets past Hamilton!

But the Ferraris respond immediately, with both using seizing their place back coming down into turn one.

Lap 50/53: As we hit the half-century of laps, Antonelli is well out in front and set to take out this GP short of disaster. Piastri looks set for a P2 in his first completed race of the campaign, with Leclerc and Russell fighting for the last spot on the podium.

Hamilton continues to hold off Norris for P5, as does Gasly with Verstappen for P7. Lawson and Ocon round out the top ten.

Lap 49/53: Remarkably, if you’ve been following the team’s travails this season, the Aston Martin of Alonso is still out on the track. He’s not last, either: sitting in P18 in front of Bottas and Albon – the latter of whom just pitted for the fourth time in what is now a glorified testing session.

Lap 48/53: No further investigation of Hamilton for his lock-up and subsequent corner. Norris attacks his Ferrari as that news flashes up and takes P5, only for the veteran Brit to react quickly and snatch the position back almost immediately.

Lap 47/53: Hamilton has fallen away and is now more than two seconds back of Leclerc and Russell’s battle for the former’s P3 slot.

Bearman is shown picture-in-picture on the screen limping a bit but otherwise looking well. That’s a relief.

Lap 46/53: Antonelli continues to lead from Piastri and Leclerc. Russell is less than half a second back of the Ferrari for P3, with Hamilton and Norris battling for P5. Gasly and Verstappen are fighting for P7, while Lawson and Ocon round out the top ten.

Lap 45/53: With Norris on his tail, Hamilton has a lock-up and leaves the track.

Norris gets on the radio, saying that the Ferrari needs to give up the position after cutting the apex. The stewards will have a looksie.

Lap 44/53: Verstappen is on the radio talking about how quick the Alpine of Gasly is, with the Red Bull driver attempting to vault over him into P7.

Imagine saying that last year.

Lap 43/53: Antonelli has just set a new quickest lap of the race – going also a second quicker than Piastri behind him did. The gap is now more than 11 seconds.

The only thing that could stop the 19-year-old from going back-to-back, at this point, you’d think, is himself.

Lap 42/53: Russell now moves up to put the pressure on Hamilton and blasts past him on the home straight.

The Brit’s Ferrari had been losing time on the straights, meaning it was probably only a matter of time once the Mercedes had him in its sights.

Lap 41/53: Leclerc again tries to dart down the outside of Hamilton but, again, the Brit slams the door shut!

But then Leclerc gets ahead coming down into turn one! They almost took each other out in the process but the Monégasque driver has P3!

Lap 40/53: Antonelli is streaking away into the clear air in front of him, now nearly ten seconds clear of second-placed Piastri.

Hamilton sees Leclerc looking to overtake and slams the door shut. Then he does so again. The Ferraris are racing; YLTSI.

Lap 39/53: Antonelli leads from Piastri and Hamilton.

Hamilton, though, doesn’t have the speed of teammate Leclerc, so it looks like the Ferraris are, again, are going to racing at some point.

Russell sits in P5, followed by Norris, Gasly, Verstappen, Lawson, and Ocon.

Lap 38/53: Ok, looks like just a blip from Russell as he’s now looking unencumbered once more – only now he’s got both Ferraris in front of him. Maybe a battery issue? Ran out of juice for a moment?

Lap 37/53: Russell has a problem?!?! He loses power and is straight-up overtaken by Leclerc.

Lap 36/53: Russell continues to duck and dive but, ultimately, remains frustrated in his efforts to overtake Hamilton.

In the other Mercedes, the clear air in front of Antonelli is being greedily taken advantage of: the 19-year-old the fastest man on the track and now nearly six seconds clear of second-placed Piastri.

Lap 35/53: The McLaren pit wall has briefly lost power. That’s something you don’t get every race day.

Antonelli leads from Piastri and Hamilton, with Russell, and Leclerc rounding out the top five. Next is Norris, followed by Gasly, Verstappen, Lawson, and Ocon.

Lap 34/53: A gap of a second has opened up between Piastri in P2 and Hamilton in P3 – both bolstering the Australian’s hold on a podium and making Russell’s task of chasing down his teammate even more difficult with every lap he’s held off by Hamilton.

Lap 33/53: Russell, left highly frustrated by the timing of the safety car and then being vaulted by Hamilton following the re-start, is doing his best to try and overtake the Ferrari but, for now, is being held at bay by the veteran.

Lap 32/53: Good news, as confirmation filters through that Bearman has been cleared of any fractures after his hard hit into the wall.

Lap 31/53: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Aston Martins are having a few issues – Stroll coming into the pits.

Up the other end of the grid, Antonelli continues to create separation and is taking hold of what would be back-to-back wins.

Lap 30/53: Antonelli is really accelerating away into the clear air in front of him, the gap on the young Italian and the pack trailing behind him now almost three seconds.

Stewards, meanwhile, have determined there is no further investigation required into the battle between Colapinto and Bearman that preceded the latter’s crash.

Lap 29/53: Antonelli has opened up a gap of just under two seconds to the trailing pack of Piastri, Hamilton, Russell, and Leclerc – who themselves are all less than a second separated from each other.

Lap 28/53: Antonelli leads from Piastri and Hamilton, with Leclerc putting the pressure on Russell as he, too, looks to try and move up past Russell for P4, as well.

Gasly is under pressure from Verstappen for P7, followed by Lawson and Ocon.

Lap 27/53: The safety car has come in and we are racing once more, with Antonelli getting a great re-start but Hamilton an even better one – launching past Russell and up into P3!

Lap 26/53: Safety car remains in place as work continues to clear the debris from Bearman’s crash.

When we do resume, Antonelli will do so in first, followed by Piastri, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Norris, Gasly, Verstappen, Lawson, and Bortoleto.

Lap 25/53: Bearman is back on his feet and, supported by marshals on either arm, is limping away for treatment on what looks to be quite a sore ankle.

The Hass driver is our first and so far only retirement from the race.

Lap 24/53: Russell continues to fume at his poor luck: pitting a lap before the safety car and watching on as his teammate Antonelli was able to take advantage and emerge from his stop in first place.

If these results were how we finished, the 19-year-old Italian would become the youngest-ever driver to lead the F1 Championship.

The safety car remains on track as marshals look to clear Bearman’s Haas.

Lap 23/53: With the benefit of the safety car, Antonelli comes back out his pitstop in P1. Piastri is in P2 and Russell has been able to just get in front of Hamilton.

This isn’t good. Bearman is limping and can’t stay on his feet, falling to sit on ground. The medical car has been called for.

Lap 22/53: Russell comes out behind Russell but, importantly, he comes out in front of Verstappen.

Bearman, meanwhile, has gone into the barrier at Spoon! Yellow flags are out.

Safety car is coming out! Russell is spitting chips at the timing of it all: “unbelievable”.

Lap 21/53: Piastri gets past Verstappen and, after that slight delay, looks to accelerate back up and keep the pressure on the yet-to-pit Mercedes duo.

“Box, Box",” is the radio call from Russell, darting into the pits.

Lap 20/53: Talk now between Russell and his garage about just when they need to pit, with the latter telling the championship leader that, as it stands, they’d project him to come out behind Piastri.

Lap 19/53: Piastri has come out in front of Leclerc and Norris, sitting in P6.

Russell, Antonelli, Hamilton, Gasly, and Verstappen occupy the top-five, none of whom have pitted yet.

Lap 18/53: Leclerc comes out well in front of Norris – that undercutting strategy not coming off.

Our race leader Piastri now comes into the pits, leaving the yet-to-pit Mercedes’ of Russell and Antonelli leading.

Lap 17/53: Norris re-emerges in P9, with a decent chunk of space between him and Lindblad in P10.

Leclerc now makes a move to come in – looking to come back out in front of Norris.

Lap 16/53: We’re now entering the period where we could be seeing cars coming in – the McLaren garage is up and about and ready for Piastri, who has suggested coming in, to dart through.

But no, it’s Norris that comes in, looking for an undercut on the pack around him.

Lap 15/53: “If we hold track position, I think we can hang onto this,” is the message to the garage from Piastri, who maintains his lead from Russell.

Behind that battle, Antonelli darts beyond Leclerc, only for the Monégasque driver to see it coming and re-claim third on the home straight.

Lap 14/53: Norris has dropped away from the battle between Leclerc and Antonelli, with the Italian driver continuing to monster the back of the Italian car.

Lap 13/53: Piastri leads from Russell and Leclerc. Antonelli remains close to the Ferrari as he looks to move into a podium place, followed by Norris, Hamilton, Gasly, Verstappen, Ocon, and Lindblad.

Lap 12/53: Hadjar tries to gate-crash the top ten but is denied, repeatedly, by Lindblad.

Lap 11/53: Russell is closing in on Piastri once more – the gap just under a second – but the three-way dance between Leclerc, Norris, and Antonelli is the most absorbing of the contests taking place on the circuit.

And, finally, Antonelli is able to make his move, moving past Norris for P5 on the penultimate turn of the circuit.

Lap 10/53: After ten laps, Piastri leads the Japanese GP from Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Antonelli, Hamilton, Gasly, Verstappen, Ocon, and Lindblad.

Lap 9/53: In the battle for P3, Leclerc is doggedly holding off Norris who, in turn is battling to see off the threat of Antonelli.

Hamilton remains perched in P6, ready to pounce on any kind of error from any of the trio.

Lap 8/53: Russell gets past Piastri! He leads! Wait, no he doesn’t! Piastri reacts and, with the added battery he has, darts back around him on the main straight and re-takes the lead!

Lap 7/53: Russell is lurking menacingly in the rear-view mirror of Piastri, getting right up the back of Piastri. Does he look to overtake on the home straight? No. Not yet.

Lap 6/53: Piastri – who recorded back-to-back DNS’ to start the season – leads in Japan. Russell follows less than a second behind, with Leclerc, Norris, Antonelli, Hamilton, Gasly, Verstappen, Ocon, and Lindblad rounding out the top ten.

Lap 5/53: Antonelli is all over the back of Norris but the reigning champion is doing well to keep the youngster at bay – with Hamilton watching on from behind and ready to pounce on an error from either of them.

Verstappen, who started eleventh, has moved up into P8 after getting past Lindblad.

Lap 4/53: Russell slips past Leclerc and moves up into P2.

Leclerc is third, followed by Norris, Antonelli, Hamilton, Gasly, Lindblad, Verstappen, and Ocon.

Lap 3/53: That home straight speed comes up big for Mercedes again as Russell moves past Norris for P3, setting his sights on Piastri in P1 and Leclerc in P2 ahead of him.

Antonelli is now all over the back of NOrris, with Hamilton attacking to keep pace.

Lap 2/53: Antonelli blasts past Hamilton on the home straight as the second lap begins, with Piastri continuing to lead from Leclerc and Norris.

Russell and Antonelli follow, with Hamilton sixth, Gasly seventh, followed by Lindblad and then Verstappen and Hadjar.

Hulkenberg has had a calamitous start of his own, losing six places and now finding himself down in P19.

Lap 1/53: Piastri races out of the blocks and, alongside Leclerc, vaults in front of the Mercedes, as does Norris!

Russell has fallen down into P4 while it’s a disastrous start for Antonelli, who has also gone behind Hamilton and now finds himself in P6!

Piastri looks to have got through the formation lap unscathed. He’s actually going to be able to record a lap!

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown was questioned earlier on the broadcast – both his cars recording a DNS in Shanghai.

“[Ferrari’s] starts are great but our starts are very good. I think we can have a good battle with the Ferrari, Mercedes all things being equal are out of touch here in this race. Lando [Norris] has done well and Oscar [Piastri] has been on his A-game, which is not unusual for him.

“We’ve had some reliability issues but I have a lot of belief in the men and women of McLaren. Hopefully we can have a clean race today.”

The formation lap is underway in Suzuka.

Every car on the grid looks set to start on mediums var one – Bottas and his Cadillac, who will commence the race on a new set of hards.

Jack Black is now doing the pre-race monologue on the broadcast, too. Someone must have dropped an absolute bundle on promoting this new Mario movie.

If you’re just joining us and wondering why the race hasn’t started yet, we’ve had a ten-minute delay to the commencement of today’s action due to damage to the barriers in one of the support races.

Oh hey, Avantgardey are there, too. I recognise them from Tik Tok.

A metal take on the Japanese national anthem is played.

That was sick (approving).

Jack Black and Anya Taylor-Joy have popped up on the broadcast. Black didn’t realise they were live for a few moments, which could have been interesting.

Jensen Button just asked Taylor-Joy who she would give a mushroom boost for the race. Her answer: Lewis Hamilton. Black, meanwhile, has started gyrating, as he does.

After starting from pole the last four times F1 visited Japan, Verstappen will commence today’s race from P11 and, for the first time ever at Suzuka, out-qualified by a teammate: Isack Hadjar starting from P8.

Here’s what the Dutchman had to say after qualifying:

“We have had quite a few issues the whole weekend, so we need to understand why qualifying felt quite bad to drive,” said Verstappen. “We were having difficulty with sliding and when we turn the car mid-corner experienced quite a lot of understeer in particular. So, there are quite a few things we need to look at ahead of tomorrow. FP3 was a little bit better, but we struggled again in qualifying. Sometimes it is a little more predictable and sometimes not and that makes it quite tricky to understand. It’s something that we need to evaluate in the debrief. Let’s see how tomorrow goes. There is a lot to analyse overnight, but let’s see what we can do.”

The cast of the new Super Mario movie – The Super Mario Galaxy – are guests at today’s race.

Ok, obviously Mario is a creation of Nintendo, meaning he’s Japanese. But does he also count as Italian?

“Is Mario an Italian icon” - the greatest thread in the history of forums, locked by a moderator after 12,239 pages of heated debate.

General consensus is that a one-stop strategy is the way to go for today’s race, with both a soft>hard or a medium>hard approach both carrying their own pros and cons.

A safety car, however, which we saw in Australia and in China, would throw up new considerations.

While the Mercedes have been well out in front across the opening two races of the season, they’ve had moments where they’ve been pushed by Ferrari, thanks to their fast starts and quick cornering speed.

If qualifying is any guide, however, the Italian side is set to be pushed by McLaren today, with Piastri qualifying ahead of Leclerc on the second row and Norris edging Hamilton on the third.

“At the moment, we are still going through the learning process regarding how to approach qualifying and how to improve from Q1 to Q3, without being too aggressive,” team principal Fred Vasseur said after qualifying.

“It’s not just about energy management or about pure performance: it’s about how to extract the best from the car. That can sometimes be counterintuitive for the driver, and we will have to fully understand why we had a better Q2 than Q3. Tonight, we will focus on tomorrow’s race as it is Sunday when the points are given out. So, let’s hope we get a good start, choose the right strategy and then see what we can do. So far, our race pace has been solid, let’s see how many points we can score tomorrow.”

Quick, can you remember the last driver not named Verstappen to salute at Suzuka?

That would be Valtteri Bottas, who claimed the 2019 race (2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to COVID) while he was partnering Hamilton at Mercedes – a win that secured them a sixth-consecutive constructors title.

These days, of course, the veteran Finn is driving for Cadillac, and will start from 20th on the grid.

Aussies and Piastri fans would be forgiven for forming some kind of prayer circle leading into today’s race – anything to make sure their driver is actually able to complete a lap (let alone all 53 of them).

The McLaren driver will start from third on the grid in Japan, ostensibly putting him in a good position to challenge. However, still yet to experience proper race conditions under the new regulations, will that prove an impediment?

“A good Qualifying session, it was nice to be in the top three and closer to the leading team, so overall we can be pretty happy with this afternoon’s result,” Piastri said after qualifying. “All weekend, I think we’ve looked reasonably good, and the team has executed every session well, getting things right for the moment across each day, which is pleasing.

“We clearly don’t have the pace or the grip to match Mercedes still, but we’re getting closer and that’s the most important point in our on-track performance. There are plenty of positives today, and it was good to be able to qualify ahead of Ferrari too. We’ll now continue to work hard to make important further gains as a team overnight, working on power management and exploiting maximum performance in preparation for the race tomorrow.”

Alas, today’s race will be the last time that we’ll be racing for a month; the Championship next scheduled to meet for the Miami GP on the opening weekend of May.

This is because of the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia GPs due to the ongoing stability caused by the war between Israel and the United States and Iran, which, unfortunately, continues.

_{hopefully they don’t vibrate too much}

You may have read about the exchange between Verstappen and a journalist in his press conference earlier this week, with the former refusing to commence until the latter had departed the room.

Said journalist was Giles Richards and, loathe as he is to be the story, rather than reporting on it, he’s penned this on the matter.

News has come through that there will be a ten-minute delay to the start of the race due to damage to the barriers in one of the support races.

New start time: 2.10pm local/6.10am GMT/4.10pm AEDT

Preseason expectations that the Mercedes would be the class of the field in 2026 and been pretty soundly validated across the opening two rounds, with Russell leading the championship standings from Antonelli by four points thanks to his sprint victory in China.

And Russell he told Giles Richards this week, the lumps he took when he first arrived in F1, finishing up near the back in a troublesome Williams, have helped turn him into the title favourite he is today.

Here’s Giles Richards’ full report on qualifying from Suzuka.