F1-leading Mercedes can make it three out of three at Japanese Grand Prix

SUZUKA – Formula One leaders Mercedes go into the March 29 Japanese Grand Prix chasing a season-opening hat-trick of one-two wins, with Kimi Antonelli fired up after a maiden victory and George Russell seeking to cement his status as title favourite.

The pair have won one Sunday race each but Russell, winner of the season-opener in Australia and the Saturday sprint in China, leads his Chinese Grand Prix-winning teammate Antonelli by four points.

Mercedes last kicked off with a hat-trick of wins in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic-hit season in which Austria’s Red Bull Ring hosted the first two races.

But the last time they started with three one-two finishes was in 2019.

Having made a similarly dominant start to the sport’s new era this season, including locking out the front row in every qualifying session, they could tick off both milestones this weekend.

“We have made a positive start to the season, but it is only that,” warned Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. “We know that the moment you think you’ve got this sport figured out, you are usually proven wrong.”

Despite his caution ahead of the 40th Japanese Grand Prix, either Russell or Antonelli should be celebrating a first win at Suzuka, a 5.8km figure-of-eight layout widely hailed as a drivers’ track.

Ferrari, who last won at Suzuka in 2004 and have been second-best to Mercedes in the first two races, will hope to rise to the challenge.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, thanks to their fast starts and intra-team duels, have served up plenty of wheel-to-wheel entertainment.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton, in particular, has shown plenty of fight and ended his podium drought in China with a third-place finish. A five-time Suzuka winner, the Briton will be hoping that run continues.

Circuit owners Honda, meanwhile, will be hoping for a happier homecoming as power unit suppliers to Aston Martin after a dismal start to their year.

Neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll have finished the opening two races, with vibrations from the Japanese manufacturer’s engine severely limiting running.

Just getting to the chequered flag would be big progress for Honda, which powered Max Verstappen to four successive wins on the circuit from 2022 to 2025 when they were partners to Red Bull.

The four-time world champion, who now has a Ford-badged Red Bull power unit in his car, will also be looking to bounce back after retiring in China.

“Heading into Suzuka, this is one of my favourite tracks to race at with lots of high-speed corners,” said the Dutchman. “There is a lot of history at this circuit for the team and it is one I always look forward to coming back to.”

McLaren will be hoping for a solid outing after reigning champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were unable to start in China.

“We just have to take it on the chin, learn what the problem was and make sure it never happens again,” Norris said. “All of us want to go racing and score points.”

Piastri will be especially keen to get a full race under his belt, having completed only the China sprint so far after also crashing out on a reconnaissance lap ahead of his home race in Melbourne.

Haas could provide some cheer for the Japanese fans.

The US-owned team have Toyota’s motor sports division as their title sponsors and are led by Japanese team principal Ayao Komatsu.

The team, with a special Godzilla-themed livery for this weekend, are an impressive fourth in the constructors’ standings, with the team’s British racer Oliver Bearman fifth in the drivers’ battle.

Meanwhile, the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said on March 26 that it is tweaking its energy management rules for qualifying this week to allow drivers to push harder.

The maximum energy teams will be allowed to draw from their hybrid power units during the March 28 grid-deciding session will be reduced to eight megajoules (MJ) from nine MJ.

The change, agreed following unanimous support of the sport’s power unit manufacturers, will “ensure that the intended balance between energy deployment and driver performance is maintained”, a statement said.

But Verstappen believes the tweak would help just “a tiny bit” as the basics are the same.

Earlier, the 28-year-old had asked a British journalist to leave before starting his media briefing, clearly still upset over a question from the reporter last December.

At that time, the reporter had asked Verstappen if in hindsight he regretted an incident with Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix last June for which the Dutchman was given a 10-second penalty that dropped him from fifth to 10th, costing him nine points and potentially a fifth drivers’ title.

Then, Verstappen had replied: “You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season. The only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come. You’re giving me a stupid grin now. It’s part of racing at the end. You live and learn.”

The Japanese Grand Prix will be the last race until the Miami Grand Prix on May 3, with April’s Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds cancelled due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. REUTERS, AFP