The event was held at the Suzuka International Racing Course for the 36th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 27–29 March. The Grand Prix was the third round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship and the 40th running of the Japanese Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.
Going into the event, George Russell (Mercedes) led the Drivers' Championship with 51 points, 4 points ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli in second. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was third, 17 points behind George Russell. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship with 98 points, 31 points ahead of Ferrari and 80 points ahead of McLaren.
The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list. During the first practice session, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) was replaced by Jak Crawford, as required by Formula One regulations.
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds, designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.
Three free practice sessions were held. The first session on 27 March 2026 was topped by George Russell (Mercedes) ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris (McLaren). The second session on the same day was topped by Oscar Piastri (McLaren) ahead of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. The third session on 28 March 2026 was topped by Kimi Antonelli ahead of George Russell and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).
Qualifying was held on 28 March 2026, at 15:00 local time (UTC+9), and determined the starting grid order for the race.
The race was held on 29 March 2026, and was scheduled to start at 14:00 local time (UTC+9). It was delayed to 14:10 following an accident in the Porsche Carrera Cup Japan support series. The race was run for 53 laps.
At the start, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) had good starts, taking first and second. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli had slow starts, with Kimi Antonelli falling to sixth. George Russell recovered to second by lap three. Kimi Antonelli recovered to fourth by lap 10. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing), who started eleventh, was dueling with Pierre Gasly (Alpine) for seventh.
Lando Norris was the first of the frontrunners to pit on lap 16, followed by Charles Leclerc on lap 17. Oscar Piastri pitted on lap 18. George Russell pitted on lap 20, relinquishing the lead to Kimi Antonelli. Later that lap, Oliver Bearman crashed his Haas at Spoon curve due to a speed differential with Franco Colapinto (Alpine).
The safety car was deployed, allowing Kimi Antonelli to retain his lead after pitting. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly, and Max Verstappen also benefited. On the restart, Kimi Antonelli had a good getaway. Charles Leclerc overtook Lewis Hamilton on lap 41, and George Russell overtook Lewis Hamilton the next lap. Kimi Antonelli won from Oscar Piastri for his second career win, becoming the youngest World Drivers' Championship leader. Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium. George Russell, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon rounded out the remaining points positions.
The regulation changes surrounding the increased usage of the battery and electric power deployment modes came under scrutiny after Oliver Bearman's crash. The FIA held a review with power unit developers on 9 April regarding potential refinements. Solutions included reducing the deployment rate of electrical energy while increasing the amount that can be harvested during "super clipping". Further meetings were held on 15, 16 and 20 April, with the intention that these changes would be introduced for the following Miami Grand Prix.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 4 related images
