ANTONELLI WINS AGAIN IN SUZUKA AHEAD OF PIASTRI AND LECLERC

Antonelli triumphs once again in Suzuka, securing his second victory of the season and of his career, and rising to the top of the World Championship standings for the first time.

On the podium, Oscar Piastri takes second place alongside Charles Leclerc, while George Russell has to settle for fourth, also affected by a Safety Car that came out immediately after his pit stop. A tense moment for Bearman, involved in a serious incident: the driver walked away limping from his car, fortunately without more serious consequences.

THE GRADES BY GIOVANNI
At the start, something seems to have changed: the race launch was more lively and spectacular, but also significantly more dangerous. Overtakes increased, though often due more to battery dynamics than actual differences in pace.
Kudos to the commentators for making this Formula 1 exciting, but at the moment the spectacle remains debatable. The only real highlight was Kimi Antonelli’s consistency, flawless throughout the race.

MERCEDES – 10
The Brackley team was perfect from the very beginning: dominance in every session and a second career win for Antonelli. The Bolognese driver was nearly flawless, except for a poor start, which he managed to recover from with maturity.

Score: 9.5 for the nineteen-year-old Italian.
The other side of the coin is George Russell: a disappointing race, also influenced by the Safety Car. Score: 7, though more courage was expected—the second place was within reach.

FERRARI – 8.5
Charles Leclerc, score 8.5, benefited from the Safety Car and returned to the podium, keeping Russell behind.
Slight step back for Lewis Hamilton: 6.5 for the seven-time world champion, from whom more was expected after an excellent Chinese Grand Prix.

MCLAREN – 8
The 2025 champion team confirms its progress. Oscar Piastri returns to the podium and remains in contention for victory: well-deserved 9 for overcoming car issues.
Lando Norris struggled more than expected, hampered by some technical problems and a below-par performance. Score: 6.5.

RED BULL – 6
Max Verstappen continues to struggle, but still manages to score points. Hadjar suffers and finishes with zero points, partly due to the Safety Car. An anonymous weekend for both: score 6.

RACING BULL – 8
Excellent weekend for the Faenza team. Lindblad (7.5) was prominent until the Safety Car removed him from the points zone. Lawson (7) scored points, thanks to Bearman’s incident. Still struggling to match his teammate’s pace, but more consistent.

ALPINE – 7
Pierre Gasly delivered yet another great performance: score 10, extracting the maximum from a limited car. Colapinto, on the other hand, disappointed: anonymous and responsible for the risky move that caused the incident with Bearman. Score: 4.

HAAS – 7
The team’s good run continues. Bearman (6) suffers from difficult qualifying and a complicated race. Ocon (6) capitalizes on circumstances to score a point.

WILLIAMS – 5
A challenging weekend for the British team. Carlos Sainz (6.5) fought hard and maximized the result. Albon (4.5) could not make a difference with an underperforming car.

AUDI – 6
Continuous internal changes seem to affect performance on track. Bortoleto (7) delivered a great race, spoiled by the Safety Car. Hülkenberg (5.5) remained anonymous and ineffective.

CADILLAC – 5
No progress for the new team. The choices of Bottas (4) and Perez (5) are not paying off: two experienced but uninspiring drivers, while young talents could deliver more.

ASTON MARTIN – 4
Fernando Alonso tried to limit the damage: passing mark for the Spaniard. Stroll, however, was completely absent: insufficient performance. The team is now at the back of the grid, even behind the new Cadillac.

Author: Gabriele Bovio