Japanese GP starting grid confirmed as Mercedes target third consecutive victory

Following a repeat of his Shanghai heroics last time out, F1’s youngest ever pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli locks out the front row ahead of teammate George Russell.

Oscar Piastri will hope to finally get his season underway having failed to start the opening two races, he starts on the final podium space ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Lando Norris has endured a tough weekend so far in Suzuka, with limited practice time due to technical problems, but he starts P5 ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Alpine continue their promising start to 2026 thanks to Pierre Gasly in P7, with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar just behind him in eighth.

Speaking of Verstappen, his shock Q2 exit means he starts in P11 behind Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad, respectively.

The other big shock to come out of Qualifying on Saturday was Ollie Bearman’s Q1 exit, the Haas driver finished P18 ahead of each of the two drivers from 2026’s early backmarkers, Cadillac and Aston Martin.

Despite his P11 start, the four-time world champion might be in luck, as Pirelli have confirmed the range of tyres still available to the drivers in Japan, with Verstappen able to rely upon an extra set of soft tyres compared to most of the grid.

Pirelli believe a one-stop strategy is the fastest strategy for Sunday’s race, and note that the medium-hard and soft-hard combinations will be very close in terms of total race time.

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