How Antonelli, McLaren, and Suzuka Shook Up an Already Chaotic F1 Season

Formula 1 is trying to make sense of the most radical regulations change in its history, and many teams and drivers are up in arms about it, though not all. Sure, Max Verstappen can stand in front of the microphone every chance he gets, threat he’s leaving F1, and say that he’d still be complaining about the rules even if he was winning, but the truth is that, no, he wouldn’t. He’s a racer, and he loves nothing more than to dominate, so he certainly wouldn’t be whining about having an advantage over his rivals. Just look at Mercedes; they ain’t complainin’ (much).

Saturday night’s Japanese Grand Prix was an exciting race packed with lots of overtaking, good strategy, and even a nasty crash by Oliver Bearman. However, it also proved slightly different from the first two races of the season, almost as if drivers and teams are getting a better grasp of their cars and tweaking them to extract better performance. Just look at McLaren, which went from only completing the Australian GP with Lando and suffering a double DNS in China, to putting both cars in the top five in qualifying and finishing second and fifth on Sunday. They’re learning, and quickly.

But before discussing McLaren’s resurgence, we gotta talk about F1’s brightest rising star: Kimi Antonelli.

Kimi Bolt

The young Italian’s rise to an F1 seat with the most dominating team in modern F1 was nothing short of impressive, but like most teenagers, Antonelli has struggled to find balance and let his incredible talent shine. At least that was until Japan, when he overcame an awful start to eventually pass for the lead and maintained it until the end of the race. That marked two in a row for him, and while at it, he became the youngest-ever driver to lead the F1 World Championship. What were you doing at 19?

Despite the FIA lowering the maximum battery recharge rate for the Japanese GP to reduce clipping during qualifying, drivers complained that the “Mario Kart Mushroom effect,” as Charles Leclerc dubbed it, still dictated whether they set a decent flying lap. This didn’t stop Antonelli from adapting to the changes much better than his teammate George Russell did—a trait typical of young drivers—and securing pole position yet again.

Despite messing up the clutch procedure during the start and dropping down to fifth, Antonelli kept his head down, drove smart, and took advantage of a well-timed pit stop to charge back to the front. For Russell, it was the opposite, as he struggled with his tires and pitted one lap before a Safety Car period, ruining his strategy and killing his chances of fighting Antonelli for the win.

When the young Italian arrived at victory lane, he promptly hopped out of his Mercedes and celebrated with his new signature move, though it isn’t really his. It belongs to Usain Bolt, whom Antonelli had told the media in days prior that he truly admired. I had a front-row seat to this and to his podium celebration, as you can see in these photos. It was such an emotional moment to witness a young kid push away all the noise and deliver back-to-back wins.

McLaren Is Back. Or Is It?

During a Friday press conference, team principal Andrea Stella said that McLaren has never been in better shape in terms of talent, performance, and execution. And he even went on to clarify that he didn’t just mean in the team’s most recent iteration—but all of McLaren’s history, dating back to the ’60s.

The standout remark from that chat was Stella’s reassurance that McLaren is learning and adapting quickly, so as not to write off the reigning constructor simply because of its performance in the first two races of the season. And after seeing what it did in Japan’s qualifying and race, it’s easy to see that Stella is right.

Lando Norris didn’t have the best of weekends, but it wasn’t awful either. It certainly could’ve been worse. While he finished fifth on Sunday, he crossed the finish line 8 seconds behind his teammate Oscar Piastri, who clinched second place on the podium.

I’m not a betting man, but I’d put some money on McLaren coming back from the impromptu April break with a vengeance. They’ll be a force to reckon with in Miami and Montreal, and Ferrari better watch out.

Honda-Aston

I knew there’d be a huge show of support for Honda at Suzuka, no reason to expect otherwise. But how much love and passion Japanese fans have for their beloved automaker was truly moving to see over the entire weekend. I may have seen about 10 people wearing some sort of Toyota or Haas merch, but then about 10 million Honda fans.

Sadly, despite all the well-wishes, Aston Martin’s woes continue, and so far, the narrative is that Honda is to blame. Honda is publicly putting up with that for now, but rumblings within the paddock suggest this is largely corporate diplomacy. With Adrian Newey stepping down as team principal and returning to technical matters, hopefully the two parties will take giant leaps over the next four weeks. For what it’s worth, Fernando Alonso was able to finish the race, and he wasn’t even in last place. That title belongs to Valtteri Bottas in his Ferrari-powered Cadillac.

Suzuka

Lastly, this weekend we saw The Suzuka Effect. It’s a challenging track for drivers and machines, and one that everyone had to adjust in order to make the 2026 package work. Or, at least, work as much as it could. It’s a track that demands skill, patience, and good strategy, so it certainly played a role in making a chaotic season even more volatile.

I’m here for it.

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