There was an element of good fortune for Kimi Antonelli in taking victory at the Japanese Grand Prix but the youngster demonstrated emphatically that given a sniff of a chance, he is ready to close out with the precision of a veteran,A champion’s trait which was suitably marked as in so doing the 19-year-old has become the youngest driver to lead the Formula One world championship,Antonelli, still a fresh-faced youth, whooped and hollered with abandon when he took the flag, having claimed the win after dropping from pole to sixth at the start,His sheer, unrestrained joy at delivering on his undoubted talent, and the pleasure he clearly revels in when competing, is positively infectious,With two straight wins now Formula One not only has a new star to celebrate but one who has unmistakably staked his claim to be considered as a potential champion.

The race was also marked however by a terrifying moment of jeopardy after Britain’s Oliver Bearman suffered a major crash from which he was lucky to emerge largely uninjured.An incident that will cause serious questions to be asked within the sport about the new regulations.Bearman suffered a 50G impact against the barriers when he crashed out at Spoon corner after having to swerve to leave the track to avoid smashing into the rear of Franco Colapinto, because of the extreme difference in closing speed between the two cars.The Haas driver Bearman had been deploying additional energy and was travelling at 190mph when he came up on Colapinto who was going considerably slower as part of his energy management procedure.Their closing speed was a frighteningly fast 50kph.

Afterwards Bearman blamed himself for misjudging the rate at which he would close when he deployed his energy boost but his team principal, Ayao Komatsu, insisted it had not been an error to do so; nor that Colapinto had done anything wrong, with the Alpine driver unaware Bearman was closing at such a rapid rate.The difference was illustrated emphatically in that Bearman still overtook Colapinto even as he was careering across the grass.It was a scenario that drivers and team principals had repeatedly warned could happen and Bearman reacted very sharply to avoid hitting Colapinto.Had he done so at that speed there would almost certainly have been a horrific accident.Bearman had to take to the grass and that left him powerless to stop, smashing through trackside distance markers before piling into the barriers.

He did emerge from the car, although he appeared hurt, having to be helped by the marshals and was taken to the medical centre.He was examined, was alert and communicating, and had no fractures with only bruising to his right knee.The FIA acknowledged the seriousness of the incident and confirmed that a number of meetings are set to be held to review the new regulations before the next round in Miami in five weeks.It was a lucky escape for Bearman and one which inadvertently favoured Antonelli.He went on to beat the McLaren of Oscar Piastri into second with Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari, while his Mercedes teammate George Russell’s title ambitions took a minor blow as he finished only fourth.

However for the opening phase of the race it was Piastri who had led and who might have gone on to win.When Bearman’s accident prompted the safety car, it afforded Antonelli a free pit stop, while those in front of him had taken theirs under green flag conditions.It was enough to move him into the lead when racing resumed, a position which he exploited ruthlessly.Russell, who had pitted on the lap before the accident, was left wondering exactly which deities he had offended.“Wow.

Fuck our luck in these last two races,” he expostulated, in reference to a mechanical issue which had cost him in qualifying at the previous meeting in Shanghai.He too had been stymied at the off as the Mercedes problems with getting away from the line were once more exposed as the car’s biggest weakness.He dropped from second to fourth and stuck in a dogfight with Ferrari and McLaren rather than able to exploit the Mercedes superior pace in clean air out front, it was a position he could do little about.1 Kimi Antonelli (It) Mercedes 2 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren at 13.722sec3 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari at 15.

270s4 George Russell (GB) Mercedes GP at 15.754s5 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren at 23.479s6 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari at 25.037s7 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Alpine at 32.340s8 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull at 32.

677s9 Liam Lawson (NZ) RacingBulls at 50,180s10 Esteban Ocon (Fr) Haas at 51,216s11 Nico Hülkenberg (Ger) Audi at 52,280s12 Isack Hadjar (Fr) Red Bull at 56,154s13 Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Audi at 59.

078s14 Arvid Lindblad (GB) RacingBulls at 59,848s15 Carlos Sainz Jr (Sp) Williams at 1m 05,008s16 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine at 1:05,77317 Sergio Perez (Mex) Cadillac at 1:32,45318 Fernando Alonso (Sp) Aston Martin at 1 lap19 Valtteri Bottas (Finn) Cadillac at 1 lap20 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams at 2 lapsNot Classified: Oliver Bearman (GB) Haas, Lance Stroll (Can) Aston MartinWorld drivers' championship standings1 Kimi Antonelli (It) 72pts2 George Russell (GB) 633 Charles Leclerc (Mon) 494 Lewis Hamilton (GB) 415 Lando Norris (GB) 256 Oscar Piastri (Aus) 217 Oliver Bearman (GB) 178 Pierre Gasly (Fr) 159 Max Verstappen (Neth) 1210 Liam Lawson (NZ) 10The pre-season favourite Russell, who has seven seasons in F1 under his belt to Antonelli’s one, now trails his junior partner by nine points.

While Antonelli has taken Lewis Hamilton’s record of being the youngest driver to lead the world championship that has stood since 2007.During a season when there is potential for other teams to make major performance gains, Russell is only too aware that maximising now while Mercedes enjoy an advantage is vital.Antonelli, simply enjoying the flush of victory, brushed aside talk of the title as premature but he undoubtedly knows he is very much in the mix.As McLaren yet might be.After a torrid start to the season, Lando Norris taking fifth at Suzuka behind Piastri in second marks by far their best result and an indication that they may well yet be the team that come at Mercedes.

For long periods after he took the lead at the start, Piastri had the measure of Russell in pace, suggesting McLaren are becoming more adept at exploiting their Mercedes power unit at every race.Which is going some, given both cars failed to even start in China.Aerodynamic development is expected to unlock further gains and while certainly the conditions at Suzuka – the low tyre-graining for example – did suit them, there was reason for real optimism and some smiling faces at the team as the sun began to set in Japan.Hamilton was sixth for Ferrari, Pierre Gasly was seventh for Alpine, Max Verstappen eighth for Red Bull, Liam Lawson ninth for Racing Bulls and Esteban Ocon 10th for Haas.