Verstappen returns to winning ways as he takes victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, giving Red Bull their sixth Constructor’s championship.
It was a chaotic start as Hamilton was forced slightly onto the grass by Sergio Perez, whilst Albon and Bottas would make contact just behind. This brought out the safety car as a result of the debris, and whilst they were initially able to continue, they would both have to retire as a result of their damages, but not before Bottas could be hit again by the other Williams of Logan Sargeant.
Perez had decided to pit under the safety car after picking up damage to his front wing in that incident with Hamilton, although as he went into the pitlane he had overtaken Alonso before the safety car line, and received a 5 second penalty for his troubles. His race would then continue to get worse after he would damage his front wing once again on lap 12, having hit Magnussen from behind. He would retire just a few laps later.
The race start had seen Lando Norris get a better launch than his teammate and take 2nd place from Oscar Piastri. However, Piastri was able to get quite fortunate in that he began to pit right as the Virtual Safety Car came out following Perez’s incident with Magnussen. This allowed him to take back 2nd after Norris had pit on lap 18.
The early portion of the race saw Hamilton and Russell jostle to be the lead Mercedes driver, which Russell would seem to gain control of after lap 16. Hamilton would pit on the next lap, with Mercedes splitting the strategy between their two drivers, with Hamilton looking for the two stop, and Russell staying out for the one stop.
Russell’s strategy appeared to worry Norris, who was now right on the back of Piastri. He requested to be let through for fear of losing out on second or third, a request that was granted within a couple of laps. This proved to be the right call as Norris was able to build a gap very quickly.
The Mclarens made their second stops on lap 36 and 37, and by lap 38 Norris had overtaken Russell to regain 2nd place once again. Russell’s one stop strategy left him as a sitting duck, as Piastri would then be able to overtake him for 3rd just a few laps later, followed by Leclerc not long after that.
A bizarre situation had began to play out in the Red Bull garage as it appeared Perez was gearing up to being sent back out on track after having retired. This was to remove the unserved 5 second penalty he received, which would turn into a grid penalty in Qatar. He would go out on lap 40, over an hour after he had retired from the race. He would subsequently re-retire on lap 43.
Back to Russell and he was now under threat from Hamilton. He was able to defend for long enough to the point that Sainz was able to get onto the back of Hamilton, with both Mercedes now under threat from the Spaniard. Russell wanted to stay ahead and provide Hamilton with DRS to protect both of them, but Hamilton wanted to have the cars swapped round given his superior pace. In the end, Russell was made to give up the position, and whilst Hamilton did try to protect his teammate by giving him DRS, Sainz’s traction proved to be too good. Russell would end up in 7th, though Sainz was unable to snatch away 5th from Hamilton.
The race ended with Verstappen being joined on the podium by Norris and Piastri, with the latter becoming the first driver since Lance Stroll since 2017 to get on the podium in their rookie season.
Despite Perez’s struggles, beating Mercedes and Ferrari today meant that Red Bull won their sixth constructors championship. Verstappen winning his 14th race of the season means that he will be able to win the Drivers Championship as early as the Sprint Race in Qatar next time out, so long as he gets a podium finish.
