Verstappen’s lead was challenged on the run to the first corner by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri but he clung on to his advantage and dominated from there.
Piastri got ahead of Norris when he benefited from a virtual safety car while in the pits, but Norris was faster in the middle stages of the race, so McLaren swapped their positions.
Mercedes’ George Russell looked to be a threat to McLaren’s 2-3, due to gambling on a one-stop strategy, but was passed in the late stages by Piastri, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari).
2023 F1 Japanese Grand Prix results
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Laps | Gap |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 53 | - |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 53 | -19.387 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 53 | -36.494 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 53 | -43.998 |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 53 | -49.376 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 53 | -50.221 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 53 | -57.659 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 53 | -1'14.725 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 53 | -1'19.678 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 53 | -1'23.155 |
| 11 | 40 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 52 | - |
| 12 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 52 | - |
| 13 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 52 | - |
| 14 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 52 | - |
| 15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 52 | - |
| - | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 26 | - |
| - | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 22 | - |
| - | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 20 | - |
| - | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 15 | - |
| - | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 7 | - |
How the 2023 F1 Japanese Grand Prix unfolded
Polesitter Verstappen, who started on mediums like most of the top 10, was almost beaten to the first corner by the fast-starting McLarens of Piastri and Norris, the latter sweeping through to second ahead of his team-mate.
The safety car was required almost immediately, as a clash between Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Alex Albon (Williams) before the first turn left debris strewn all over the track, which also damaged Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) also touched in a four-wide moment with the Ferraris, which caused Perez to pit for a new front wing.
Leclerc held fourth from Sainz, with soft-shod Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) getting ahead of Hamilton – who had sustained slight damage – and George Russell (Mercedes).
A lap after the restart, Russell and Hamilton swapped places at the chicane and Turn 1, while Bottas was punted into a spin at the hairpin by the other Williams of Logan Sargeant.
Alonso pitted on lap 12, switching from softs to hards, while Perez’s recovery drive – which already included a 5s penalty for a safety car infringement – ended soon after he smashed into Kevin Magnussen’s Haas at the hairpin.
Piastri pitted from third on lap 14, just as a brief virtual safety car was required to allow track cleaning.
Under green, Verstappen pitted on lap 17 for more mediums, as Norris stayed out to lead for a lap from the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz. Norris and Leclerc stopped a lap later, with Norris falling back behind Piastri due to the Australian’s VSC pitstop advantage.
Sainz led for a lap before pitting, and then Russell inherited the lead for half a lap before Verstappen regained top spot at the hairpin. Sainz passed Alonso at Spoon, and Hamilton overtook the struggling Alonso with a brave move at 130R.
Russell was the last of the frontrunners to stop on lap 25, going for a one-stop strategy, dropping to ninth. Verstappen was 11s clear of Piastri by half distance, with Norris – who set fastest lap at this point despite running hards – running right behind his team-mate.
McLaren swapped the cars over on lap 27, although it appeared to take a lap for Piastri to comply, much to Norris’s chagrin.
Leclerc and Hamilton pitted again on lap 35, with Piastri stopping a lap later and Norris the tour after that. Verstappen made his final stop on lap 38, setting fastest lap to lead by over 15s from Norris, with Sainz stopping with 15 laps to go.
The fresher-tyred Piastri grabbed third from Russell around the outside of Turn 1 on lap 42, and Leclerc did likewise a couple of laps later to take fourth.
Hamilton and Sainz caught Russell with five laps to go, with Russell being ordered to give up fifth to Hamilton. Sainz passed Russell a lap later for sixth.
Verstappen won by 19s from Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Sainz and Russell, which wrapped up the constructors’ championship for Red Bull.
2023 F1 Japanese Grand Prix fastest laps
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Km/h |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'34.183 | 221.963 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'35.247 | 1.064 | 219.484 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1'35.611 | 1.428 | 218.648 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1'36.187 | 2.004 | 217.339 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'36.328 | 2.145 | 217.021 |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1'36.362 | 2.179 | 216.944 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 1'36.371 | 2.188 | 216.924 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1'37.203 | 3.020 | 215.067 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 1'37.250 | 3.067 | 214.963 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 1'37.398 | 3.215 | 214.636 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1'37.653 | 3.470 | 214.076 |
| 12 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'37.768 | 3.585 | 213.824 |
| 13 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'37.791 | 3.608 | 213.774 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1'37.842 | 3.659 | 213.662 |
| 15 | 40 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'38.267 | 4.084 | 212.738 |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 1'38.848 | 4.665 | 211.488 |
| 17 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1'39.050 | 4.867 | 211.057 |
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 1'39.185 | 5.002 | 210.769 |
| 19 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'39.704 | 5.521 | 209.672 |
| 20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 2'02.755 | 28.572 | 170.300 |
2023 F1 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategy
| Driver Info |
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| Cla | Driver | # | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |  M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing |
1 |  |
Red Bull | Red Bull |
M : 16
|
M : 21
|
H : 16
|
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| 2 |  L. Norris McLaren |
4 |  |
McLaren | Mercedes |
M : 17
|
H : 19
|
H : 17
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| 3 |  O. Piastri McLaren |
81 |  |
McLaren | Mercedes |
M : 13
|
H : 22
|
H : 18
|
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| 4 |  C. Leclerc Ferrari |
16 |  |
Ferrari | Ferrari |
M : 17
|
M : 17
|
H : 19
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| 5 | L. Hamilton Mercedes |
44 |  |
Mercedes | Mercedes |
M : 16
|
H : 18
|
H : 19
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| 6 |  C. Sainz Ferrari |
55 |  |
Ferrari | Ferrari |
M : 18
|
M : 20
|
H : 15
|
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| 7 | G. Russell Mercedes |
63 |  |
Mercedes | Mercedes |
M : 24
|
H : 29
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| 8 | F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing |
14 |  |
Aston Martin | Mercedes |
S : 14
|
H : 14
|
H : 28
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| 9 |  E. Ocon Alpine |
31 |  |
Alpine | Renault |
M : 1
|
H : 27
|
H : 25
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| 10 | P. Gasly Alpine |
10 |  |
Alpine | Renault |
M : 18
|
H : 16
|
H : 19
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| 11 |  L. Lawson AlphaTauri |
40 |  |
AlphaTauri | Red Bull |
S : 10
|
M : 15
|
H : 27
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| 12 |  Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri |
22 |  |
AlphaTauri | Red Bull |
S : 12
|
M : 21
|
H : 22
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| 13 |  G. Zhou Alfa Romeo |
24 |  |
Alfa Romeo | Ferrari |
S : 1
|
S : 9
|
S : 19
|
H : 23
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| 14 |  N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team |
27 |  |
Haas | Ferrari |
S : 8
|
M : 13
|
H : 16
|
M : 15
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| 15 |  K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team |
20 |  |
Haas | Ferrari |
M : 12
|
H : 19
|
H : 21
|
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 A. Albon Williams |
23 |  |
Williams | Mercedes |
M : 1
|
M : 12
|
S : 13
|
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 L. Sargeant Williams |
2 |  |
Williams | Mercedes |
M : 2
|
M : 5
|
M : 16
|
H : 1
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 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing |
18 |  |
Aston Martin | Mercedes |
S : 14
|
M : 6
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 S. Perez Red Bull Racing |
11 |  |
Red Bull | Red Bull |
M : 2
|
H : 10
|
S : 4
|
S : 4
|
S : 7
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 V. Bottas Alfa Romeo |
77 |  |
Alfa Romeo | Ferrari |
S : 1
|
S : 5
|
H : 1
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