Kimi Antonelli admits he was ‘very lucky’ to beat Oscar Piastri in Japanese Grand Prix

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Kimi Antonelli admits he was fortunate to win the Japanese Grand Prix after a safety car helped him leapfrog McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Piastri had stormed into the lead from third place and he survived an early assault from George Russell. By the time he pitted, the Australian seemed to be controlling the race, even if the gap was still fairly small.

However, Oliver Bearman’s heavy crash brought out a safety car, effectively giving Antonelli a free pit stop after he extended his stint. The Italian had fallen from pole to sixth but was back in the lead by the time the race restarted.

No Mercedes one-two in Japan!

Oscar Piastri takes second, with Charles Leclerc third

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Kimi Antonelli says Japanese Grand Prix safety car made his life ‘a lot easier’

Speaking immediately after the race in parc ferme, Antonelli admitted that the safety car was a stroke of luck. He had found it difficult to clear Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc after losing ground.

But Antonelli, who was closing on Russell by the time his teammate pitted, says his pace was ‘incredible’ once he had free air.

His eventual winning margin over Piastri was almost 14 seconds, which underlines Mercedes’ lasting advantage over McLaren despite the progress made by the world champions.

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“I had a terrible start, just need to check what happened,” said Antonelli. “I was lucky with the safety car to be in the lead, but then the pace was just incredible. It was really nice. Second stint, I felt really good with the car. Very pleased with that.

“We were very lucky with the safety car, but on the medium, we were really strong once I got some free air. On the hand, the pace was just incredible. I don’t know what would have happened, what the outcome would have been, without the safety car, but it definitely made my life a lot easier.”

Oscar Piastri satisfied despite missing out on Suzuka win

Piastri hadn’t even started the opening two races of the season. He crashed on the laps to the grid in Australia before a technical issue sidelined him in China.

There was a sense of relief from Piastri, then, despite the frustration of losing a potential victory. As he indicated over the radio at the time, he was confident he could hold off Russell based on his pace at the end of the first stint.

McLaren’s no-show in China was a source of embarrassment for the team, but Piastri hailed their flawless ‘execution’ at Suzuka.

“It would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without that [safety car],” said Piastri. “I could keep George behind and just before the stops, we were actually pulling away a little bit.

“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 really good place to be.

“Massive thanks to the team, I think we did a really good job of executing with what we had. We clearly still need to find a bit of performance. We took every opportunity.”