Track Interviews - Conducted by Damon Hill.

Kimi Antonelli, congratulations. You are officially the youngest ever person to lead a Formula 1 World Championship. Do you have anything to say?
Kimi Antonelli: It feels pretty good. Of course, it's too early to think about the championship, but we're on the good way. I mean, in the race, I had a terrible start. Just need to check what happened. But then I was lucky with the Safety Car to be in the lead. But then the pace was just incredible and, you know, it was a really nice second stint. I felt very good with the car and very pleased with that.

Yeah, because the man next to you, Oscar, there, he swamped you at the start. You made a bad start, you said to Toto, apparently, you're going to practice your clutches.
KA: Yeah, I mean, luckily, I've got three weeks, so now I can practice some clutch drops just to get a better feel with it, because definitely it's been a weak point so far this year and you need to improve that because you can easily win or lose races with that.

But you were working way back up through the field anyway, weren't you? And then the Safety Car came out, which really handed you the lead, but after that you looked absolutely masterful, totally in control.
KA: Yeah, I think obviously we were very lucky with Safety Car, but on the Medium, we were really strong once I got some free air, and then on the Hard the pace was just incredible. I don't know what would have happened, how the outcome would have been, without the Safety Car, but yeah, it definitely made my life a lot easier.

We'll come back to you in a second. Oscar, you finally got a race in.
Oscar Piastri: Yeah, we do alright when we get to start!

And at one time you were saying that you thought you were comfortable, and you could possibly hang on to the position, but then the Safety Car arrived.
OP: Yeah, it would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without that. I think, yeah, you know, I could keep George behind and just before the stops we're actually pulling away a little bit again. So yeah, a shame that we never got to see what would have happened. But I think for us at this point to be disappointed about finishing second is a pretty good place to be. So yeah, massive thanks to the team. I think we did a really good job of executing with what we had. I think, you know, we clearly still need to find a bit of performance, but yeah, we took every opportunity we had today.

Well, it was closer anyway, wasn't it, than not even getting a race, but well done for that. And Charles, a fighting third place. You know, you had to do everything you could to hang on to it. You got a bit of pressure there from George at the end.
Charles Leclerc: Yeah, it was a bit of a sweaty one, this one. Obviously, the Safety Car, we got a little bit unlucky. So, from that moment onwards I knew I was a little bit on the back foot, especially compared to Kimi and Lewis. But then I was like, okay, let's keep pushing, let's try to keep those tyres and bring them to the end. And actually, it wasn't as much of a disadvantage as I thought. The tyres were pretty good. The few laps that I had done wasn't so bad. It's just that we lost few positions. And then yeah, it was quite a fun race, just not quite enough to get Oscar. But yeah, it was a cool race.

Well done. Kimi, we've a little bit of a gap and you're going to practise your clutches, but this is it, you won in Suzuka, one of the great tracks on the - have you got a few words to say for the Japanese fans?
KA: Yeah, I mean, really happy to have won such a special track in front of these amazing fans. I think, you know, driving and racing here is a unique experience and yeah, really, really looking forward to come back next year. Arigato.

Press Conference

Kimi, race win number two for you, and at one of the great racetracks in the world as well. Just how sweet was this one for you?
KA: Yeah, it was nice to be back on the top step. Obviously, a very special win and a very special track. But, you know, on one side I'm very happy, but on the other side I'm a bit disappointed with how the start went. It's an area where I need to work a lot, because it's definitely not good enough and I'm just making my life a lot harder. So, definitely a lot of work to do still. But I was very lucky, of course, with the timing of the Safety Car, but yeah, then pace was very, very strong and really happy with that.

What were your issues getting away from the line?
KA: Just, I think I dropped the clutch a bit too deep, deeper than what I should have, and obviously the tyres were also a bit colder, so obviously I went beyond the grip that was available and just lost a lot of places.

You knew you had a quick car, so what were you thinking at the end of lap one when you were P6?
KA: I cannot say, but I was very mad.

Did you think the win was still on at that point?
KA: Probably. I think it was a bit difficult to get by when I was behind Charles because we obviously had two completely different deployments and it was just hard to find the right place to overtake. Then he went back in the pit and then we improved a lot with the pace. And then obviously I was lucky with the Safety Car. But without the Safety Car, I don't know how the outcome would have been. Definitely would have been a lot more difficult, but you never know.

Now you're the youngest ever leader of the Formula 1 World Championship and the first Italian to win back-to-back races since Alberto Ascari. How do you imagine this news will go down back home in Italy?
KA: I don't know. I think we'll find out pretty soon. But yeah, I'm not thinking too much about the championship. Of course it's great, but it's still a long way to go and need to keep raising the bar because, you know, George is very quick and for sure he's going to be back at his usual level, and also competitors eventually they will get closer. I think we need to keep our head down and keep raising the bar.

Final one from me. We've got five weeks until the next race. Mercedes has won every race so far this year. Is there one area of car performance that you'd like to see the team work on between now and Miami?
KA: Difficult. I think our car is very good. For sure, maybe with the start, but I think… I mean, today was completely my fault. But together, me and George, we've been struggling a bit more than what we would have anticipated since the start of the season, and today the McLaren got a really good start, so they're clearly doing something better, for sure also on driver input. In this case Oscar did much better than me because… I cannot say, but I 'effed' it up pretty badly. But yeah, I just need to keep working on that area.

Very well done to you. Thank you, Kimi. Oscar, let's come to you. Why don't we start with the starts that Kimi's just been referring to? Not a bad first Grand Prix start for you of 2026, was it exceptional?
OP: I thought it was good, but I didn't think it was super special. I think, you know, I saw Kimi go into wheelspin straight away and I didn't really see what George was doing, and then obviously having to go around Kimi meant that the rest of my start was a little bit compromised. But yeah, it was good enough to get into the lead, which was great. So yes, clearly that was a good strength of ours today.

That was a strength. This is your third podium in three years here at Suzuka. Just what aspect of the car's performance pleased you the most?
OP: I'm not sure there was one that I was massively pleased with, but I think, clearly, we did a good job at the start today. I think this weekend we just did a really good job of optimising what we had, and I think from practice we were in a good window with the car in FP2 and we managed to get it back in that window for qualifying. We had a really good understanding of what we wanted from the power unit and how we had to kind of dial it in for the qualifying grip level. And then even today, I know that we did a lot of work on the starts. I think our starts through the practice sessions were really strong, and then yeah, I think the pace was probably a positive surprise. I think having clean air probably helped quite a lot at the start, but we did a good job, and I could pull away from George a little bit right before the stops. And yes, I think the strategy was good as well. So, I think we just nailed everything. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough for the win, but I think at the moment a result like today is as good as a win for us at the moment.

Do you think the timing of the Safety Car cost you the win?
OP: I would have loved to have seen how it would have panned out. I think I need to look back and see whether Kimi was quicker than George or similar pace. I think if he was the same pace as George then it would have been a pretty stressful afternoon because I probably would have had both of them right on my gearbox. But yeah, I mean, I think once Kimi had clean air, clearly, he was a lot faster than me. So, I'm not sure we would have won the race, but I certainly would have loved to have found out.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.