POWER RANKINGS: Who impressed our judges at the Japanese Grand Prix?

Kimi Antonelli made it two wins from two Grands Prix in Japan – impressing our Power Rankings judges along the way. But who else reached the top 10 on our Suzuka list? Check out the latest scores and overall leaderboard below...

How it works

• Our five-judge panel assess each driver after every Grand Prix and score them out of 10 according to their performance across the weekend – taking machinery out of the equation
• Our experts’ scores are then averaged out to produce a race score – with those scores then tallied up across the season on our overall Power Rankings Leaderboard (at the bottom of the page)

Antonelli arrived in Japan fresh from his first Grand Prix pole position and victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, and the young Italian looked full of confidence from the outset – setting an impressive pace in practice and beating more experienced Mercedes team mate George Russell in Qualifying again. A tricky start to the race cost him several places, but he recovered well and made the most of the Safety Car to seal back-to-back wins.

Oscar Piastri endured a nightmare start to the 2026 season, having crashed on his way to the grid in Australia and then encountered terminal pre-race technical issues in China. It proved to be third time lucky for the McLaren driver at the Japanese Grand Prix – qualifying a fine P3 and turning that into P2 on race day. Had it not been for the Safety Car, the Australian might even have fought for victory.

Outside the front-running teams, Pierre Gasly has been one of the stars of the campaign so far – the Frenchman appearing to extract everything possible from Alpine’s package to score points in all three Grands Prix. Suzuka brought another competitive weekend-long performance, which was topped off by a fierce defence against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the chequered flag.

Charles Leclerc secured his second podium finish in three weekends with another battling display at the Japanese Grand Prix. While the timing of the Safety Car did not help him, he made another rapid getaway, came out on top in the latest wheel-to-wheel scrap with Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton, and fended off a charging Russell at the finish.

Liam Lawson was one of the drivers who benefitted from the Safety Car, having run behind the sister Racing Bulls machine of Arvid Lindblad early in the race. He did well to convert that advantage once he gained it, though, showing strong pace to reach the flag in ninth position and earn his second points finish in a row.

Esteban Ocon needed a good weekend after Ollie Bearman’s stellar first two rounds of 2026. It started well in Japan when he led the squad’s charge during Qualifying and, in the wake of his team mate’s scary mid-race crash, the Frenchman ensured Haas boss Ayao Komatsu left his home race with a point on the board.

Russell was left to rue a Suzuka weekend where nothing quite went his way. First there were balance issues through Qualifying, giving Antonelli a clear run to pole, then another difficult race start, the timing of the Safety Car working against him, and restart battery gremlins. It meant he came home a frustrating fourth, just behind Leclerc, and lost the championship lead to his team mate.

As mentioned above, Lindblad was the lead Racing Bulls driver in the opening exchanges at Suzuka, having brilliantly made his way into Q3 – at the expense of Verstappen – and then flexed his muscles with the other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar. The timing of the Safety Car cost him dearly, however, and he wound up a point-less 14th.

Lando Norris was another driver to experience misfortune in Japan, with his practice running plagued by technical problems and leaving him on the back foot for Qualifying. He claimed a respectable fifth on the grid, edging out Hamilton’s Ferrari, and converted it across the race. It represented damage limitation for the Briton, given team mate Piastri’s much smoother weekend.

It is very well documented just how difficult the start to the season has been for Aston Martin, but Fernando Alonso has still shown up for the team on and off the track. In what has to be seen as a positive at this stage, he marked the outfit’s first race finish of 2026 by keeping his head down en route to 18th – ahead of Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac and the Williams of Alex Albon, who was conducting tests for Miami.

Hamilton was on a high a couple of weeks ago in China, having earned his first Grand Prix podium since joining Ferrari. He could not quite get in the mix to add another this time out, completing a top six of the Mercedes drivers, the McLaren pair and team mate Leclerc in both Qualifying and the race.

Missing out

Just missing the top 10 cut by 0.2 of a mark were Verstappen (who battled his way to eighth), Carlos Sainz (a respectable 15th given Williams’ troubles) and the lead Audi of Nico Hulkenberg (who was little more than a second away from a point in 11th).