When is the F1 Japanese Grand Prix 2026? Race start time, weekend schedule for Suzuka<\/a><\/p>\nHeading into the Japan race, there have been encouraging signs with Piastri impressing during Saturday\u2019s qualifying sessions to start third on the grid, behind only Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.<\/p>\n
Of course, Saturdays haven\u2019t been the issue with the Aussie previously qualifying fifth in both Melbourne and Shanghai, only for disaster to strike on Sunday before the lights have even gone out.<\/p>\n
It may only be the third race of the season, but with the next two Grand Prix cancelled and Mercedes already holding a healthy lead in the constructors\u2019 and drivers\u2019 championships, McLaren must get their 2026 challenge started in Japan.<\/p>\n
But for them to do that, their cars first need to make it to the starting line.<\/p>\n
F1 Japanese Grand Prix: Start Time<\/p>\n
The\u00a0F1 Japanese Grand Prix 2026\u00a0takes place at the\u00a0Suzuka Circuit\u00a0on\u00a0Sunday March 29\u00a0and begin at\u00a02:00 p.m.\u00a0local time.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how that start time translates across\u00a0Australia:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Date<\/p>\n
Start time<\/p>\n
AEDT<\/p>\n
Sun, Mar. 29<\/p>\n
4:00 p.m.<\/p>\n
AEST<\/p>\n
Sun, Mar. 29<\/p>\n
3:00 p.m.<\/p>\n
ACDT<\/p>\n
Sun, Mar. 29<\/p>\n
3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
AWST<\/p>\n
Sun, Mar. 29<\/p>\n
1:00 p.m.<\/p>\n
F1 Drivers World Championship 2026 standings, points<\/p>\n
Standings updated after the Chinese Grand Prix<\/p>\n
Position<\/p>\n
Driver<\/p>\n
Team<\/p>\n
Points<\/p>\n
1.<\/p>\n
George Russell<\/p>\n
Mercedes<\/p>\n
51<\/p>\n
2.<\/p>\n
Kimi Antonelli<\/p>\n
Mercedes<\/p>\n
47<\/p>\n
3.<\/p>\n
Charles Leclerc<\/p>\n
Ferrari<\/p>\n
34<\/p>\n
4.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton<\/p>\n
Ferrari<\/p>\n
33<\/p>\n
5.<\/p>\n
Oliver Bearman<\/p>\n
Haas<\/p>\n
17<\/p>\n
6.<\/p>\n
Lando Norris<\/p>\n
McLaren<\/p>\n
15<\/p>\n
7.<\/p>\n
Pierre Gasly<\/p>\n
Alpine<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
8.<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen<\/p>\n
Red Bull<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
9.<\/p>\n
Liam Lawson<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
10.<\/p>\n
Arvind Lindblad<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
11.<\/p>\n
Isack Hadjar<\/p>\n
Red Bull<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
12.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri<\/p>\n
McLaren<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
13.<\/p>\n
Carlos Sainz<\/p>\n
Williams<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
14.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Bortoleto<\/p>\n
Audi<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
15.<\/p>\n
Franco Colapinto<\/p>\n
Alpine<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
16.<\/p>\n
Esteban Ocon<\/p>\n
Haas<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
17.<\/p>\n
Nico Hulkenberg<\/p>\n
Audi<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
18.<\/p>\n
Alexander Albon<\/p>\n
Williams<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
19.<\/p>\n
Valtteri Bottas<\/p>\n
Cadillac<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
20.<\/p>\n
Sergio Perez<\/p>\n
Cadillac<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
21.<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso<\/p>\n
Aston Martin<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
22.<\/p>\n
Lance Stroll<\/p>\n
Aston Martin<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forget winning at Suzuka.\u00a0 The big question facing McLaren at Sunday afternoon\u2019s F1 Japanese Grand Prix is will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-570987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}