Max Verstappen becomes the first driver to win four consecutive races at Suzuka in what was an uneventful Japanese Grand Prix.
The start of the race proved rather uneventful, with every driver managing to keep it clean on the first lap, though there was also a significant lack of overtakes as well, as everyone in the top 10 ending the first lap in the same place they started it.
Yuki Tsunoda was able to overtake the man he replaced at Red Bull in Liam Lawson as the two entered Spoon Curve on lap 1, though this was only for 13th place, the Japanese driver starting his home grand prix lower down the order than he would have wanted.
Overtaking proved to be a very difficult task throughout this race, though Hamilton was able to work his way up to 7th on lap 6, utilising DRS to pass the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar.
Verstappen had complained about his upshifts early on in the race, but even with some technical issues he was able to build a two second gap, though throughout the race this lead would not stretch much further than that.
Lance Stroll would be the first to pit on lap 10, being one of only a handful of drivers to start the race on the soft tyre. Hulkenberg, who also started on softs, would be able to last another six laps.
On lap 19, McLaren attempted to bait Verstappen into pitting early by making a dummy pit call of their own. Red Bull were wise to this, and both drivers carried on as normal.
Two laps later, Piastri would pit, potentially with an eye on not being caught out by George Russell, who had pit two laps earlier from fifth, but could have made up decent ground if McLaren stayed out for too long.
Verstappen and Norris came in the next lap, which saw drama between the two after Norris, who had a much better stop than Verstappen, came out of the pit exit alongside the Dutchman, and had to head out onto the grass. He was fortunate in that it didn’t cost him any positions, nor did it appear that there was any damage that affected performance.
Some drivers were able to last a lot longer on their tyres, potentially with the aim of trying to wait out for a potential safety car, which would ultimately never arrive. Hamilton pit on lap 30 having started the race on hard tyres, whilst Kimi Antonelli would stay out until lap 31, despite starting on a softer tyre than Hamilton.
The closing stages of the race saw little action, but plenty of intrigue as the top three all remained within only a few seconds of one another. Piastri looked close to potentially overtaking his teammate a few times, though his speed coming out of the final chicane lost him some momentum whenever he would try to gain with DRS, not quite being able to be close enough to overtake.
He had also suggested that he and Norris should swap places, as he was confident he had the pace to get Verstappen, though this was not followed up on by the team.
Ultimately, the top three would finish the race the way they started it – with Verstappen in first, Norris second and Piastri third.
This marks the fourth consecutive race at Suzuka that Verstappen has won, a feat that no one else has managed to achieve at this track. It also marks the third different winner in three different grand prix, and fourth different winner in four races when considering Hamilton’s sprint victory in China.
Norris’ lead in the driver’s championship is now down to just one point after three rounds, with Verstappen jumping Piastri to second in the standings. Piastri is 13 points off top spot.
The next race is the Bahrain Grand Prix, which will be held on April 13.
