Race report
Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix with a commanding drive for Red Bull, sealing the constructors’ title for the team and all but concluding the drivers’ title race as well. The Dutchman won with a flawless drive from pole unchallenged once he had kept his nose in front at the first corner.
McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with his first podium, were in second and third. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth with Lewis Hamilton in fifth for Mercedes.
Here is Giles Richards’ full report:
Righto, that’s all from me this afternoon, or whatever time of the day it is from where you’ve been following along. The Japanese Grand Prix has been run and won and normal service resumed: Max Verstappen and Red Bull taking back first place. The result sealed the latter a sixth constructor’s championship and Verstappen will all but certainly take out the drivers’ title in two weeks’ time in Qatar to continue the domination. McLaren, though, will also head to the Middle East on a high after getting both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the podium.
Giles Richards’s race report will be up on the site at some point soon and that will absolutely be worth hanging around for. But Thanks for following along.
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How it finished in Japan
1. Max Verstappen (25 Pts)
2. Lando Norris (18)
3. Oscar Piastri (16)
4. Charles Leclerc (12)
5. Lewis Hamilton (10)
6. Carlos Sainz (8)
7. George Russell (6)
8. Fernando Alonso (4)
9. Esteban Ocon (2)
10. Pierre Gasly (1)
11. Liam Lawson
12. Yuki Tsunoda
13. Zhou Guanyu
14. Nico Hulkenberg
15. Kevin Magnussen
DNF: Albon, Sargeant, Stroll, Perez, Bottas
Verstappen gives the trophy a kiss and it responds by lighting up in the colours of the Dutch flag, some new-fangled technology matching his lip prints to a trigger to do so.
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Now time for the anthems, the now familiar-Dutch anthem ringing out as Verstappen takes out another race, followed by the Austrian one for Red Bull.
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Race winner Verstappen on Sky: “Unbelievable weekend. To win here was great. I think the car was working really well on every compound. The most important thing was to win the constructors’, so I’m very proud of everyone working at the track but also at the factory. We’re having an incredible year and i”m proud of everyone.
“Bit too much wheel spin [at the start] but after that it was a straightforward race, luckily.”
Piastri speaks on Sky: “It feels pretty special. Definitely. I’ll remember this for a very long time. I can’t thank the team enough for giving me this opportunity. There’s not very many people that get this opportunity in their whole life and I’ve managed to have it in my first season. It wasn’t my best race ever but it was enough to get a trophy in the end.”
Norris adds his thoughts: “Another amazing day for us. Couldn’t have asked for any more. The team did an amazing job.
“We’re not close to Max but we’re not a million miles away, either.”
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McLaren takes out the rest of the podium, Norris crossing the line in second-place and Piastri takes out third-place – the Aussie rookie securing his first ever podium in Formula One and being named driver of the day. McLaren continues to strength and a very happy Norris on the radio says “We’re coming for Red Bull.”
What a result for @McLarenF1 🥈🥉#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/tK0D230gty
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2023
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Max Verstappen wins the Japanese grand prix!
It was chaotic early, there were thrusts and parry when it came to strategy but that didn’t matter much for Verstappen, who led from start to finish to bounce back from a disappointing Singapore Grand Prix and secure his 47th career win.
His garage is in raptures, as the win secures Red Bull a sixth constructors’ championship. Total domination from the team this season.
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS AT SUZUKA 🤩#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/LRN97ums7H
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2023
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Lap 52/53: Sainz is now trying to hunt down Hamilton for fifth-place, with his teammate Leclerc well out in front of Hamilton in fourth.
Lap 51/53: Verstappen is way out in front and also has the race’s fastest lap to his name. A great return to form after Singapore. Norris remains in second and it looks almost certain that Piastri will grab his first podium finish in his rookie season.
Lap 50/53: Final laps of the race and now Hamilton is being told to give Russell the DRS so he can defend against Sainz. It doesn’t matter, as the Ferrari blasts through to take sixth-place. The inversion of their two positions the lap prior now being questioned by the broadcast, was it the right call?
Lap 49/53: Russell is being told to invert the positions with Hamilton and he complies. Russell is now going to come under massive pressure from Leclerc – broadcast isn’t a fan of the move.
Lap 48/53: If Mercedes are going to switch around Russell and Hamilton to allow the latter to try and chase down Leclerc, they’re going to have to make a move soon. Complicating matters, though, is that Sainz is lurking behind both of them.
Lap 47/53: Race control look at Leclerc’s overtake of Russell, if he left the track to gain an advantage but ultimately don’t act. Mercedes getting on the radio telling Hamilton to give Russell “plenty of room” in their battle for fifth.
Lap 46/53: Right now, it’s looking like Verstappen might win the driver’s championship in the Qatar sprint next Saturday. A bit of a squib considering his dominant season.
Lap 45/53: Leclerc finally gets around Russell! An audacious move to get around the outside on turn one and move into fourth-place.
Lap 44/53: Third-placed Piastri gets on the radio and indicates that if there’s another safety car called for he’s coming in for soft tyres – the Aussie desperately seeking a podium finish.
Lap 43/53: Leclerc is monstering Russell in trying to move into fourth but the Mercedes man, for now, is holding firm.
Lap 42/53: Russell’s one-stop strategy doesn’t look like it’s going to pay dividends, overtaken by Piastri and being hounded down by Leclerc, with Hamilton lurking in the distance.
Lap 41/52: After a number of attempts, Piastri chases down Russell on the home straight at the end of the lap and moves into the podium places.
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Lap 40/53: Verstappen sitting pretty in front, Red Bull look set to win the constructor’s championship: outscoring Mercedes and avoiding being outscored by 24 or more by Ferrari.
Lap 39/53: Perez is still sitting in pit lane waiting to be spent back out there. Meanwhile, Hamilton, the main chasing him down in the driver’s championship, sits in fifth-place, trying to chase down Leclerc and hold off Sainz.
LAP 34/53
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2023
Red Bull are preparing to send Perez back out
Could the team be looking for the Mexican to serve his 5-second time penalty after contact with Magnussen so it doesn't carry over in some form to the next race?#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/WwGYSgkkoj
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Lap 38/53: Sainz finally moves into the pits at the end of the lap and emerges in seventh-place – ahead of Alonso and behind Hamilton.
Lap 37/53: Second-placed Norris pits and emerges with a fresh set of hard tyres. He emerges in fourth-place just behind Russell, who is on much-much older tyres. Verstappen goes into the pits at the end of the lap but retains first-place.
Lap 36/53: Piastri now pits as well and emerges back out in fifth position ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton. Sainz is still yet to pit again.
Lap 35/53: Leclerc and Hamiltion both pit and it’s a good one for the Ferrari driver, just two seconds. They emerge in sixth and seventh.
Lap 34/53: Hamilton continues to hunt down Sainz for fifth-place as Russell behind him is asked to find a bit more pace by his team, with projections showing they’re likely to be under a bit of pressure at the end of the race.
Lap 33/53: Verstappen is going to win this at a canter, effectively ensuring he’ll win the tile in Qatar next time out.
Lap 32/53: Verstappen leads, followed by Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, and Russell.
Lap 31/53: Perez is being sent back out there to serve his penalty after contacting the FIA to make sure they can do that. Apparently they can. He’ll come back out seven laps down. How fun.
Lap 30/53: Verstappen continues to put some distance between himself and the chasing pack on his mediums – nearly 15 seconds clear of second-placed Norris.
Lap 29/53: Leclerc and Sainz are bunched up pretty close together in fourth and fifth chasing the pair of McLarens and with the Mercedes behind them. Alonso has pitted again and is now up into ninth.
Albon is now out as well, Williams first double-retirement since Singapore in 2022.
Lap 28/53: Is Red Bull going to send Perez back out there? He’s in the car again. Sky commentators pontificating on if he’ll be sent out there for testing or to wipe away any possible penalties heading into the next race in Qatar. It very much looks like he’s coming out.
Lap 27/53: And now Norris is ahead of Piastri, as the Australian moves aside without much fuss as McLaren try to strategise on how to keep Mercedes and their other rivals at bay.
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Lap 26/53: Norris continues to try to get ahead of his teammate Piastri for second.
Lap 25/53: Russell has pitted and emerges at the back of the leading pack – before promptly overtaking Alonso despite his best efforts. Norris is on the radio not so subtly looking for approval to attack his teammate Piastri for second.
Logan Sargeant’s day is done, the fourth retirement today.
Lap 24/53: Verstappen is now over ten seconds clear at the front of the pack, followed by Russell, Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Ocon, Alonso, and Gasly. Alonso telling his team to think of something because Ocon has him beat for pace on straights.
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Lap 23/53: Sky commentary crew suggesting that second-placed Russell might be on a one-stop strategy. Norris’ team think similar, which leads them to tell him on the radio he’s only a threat if they abuse their tyres.
Lap 22/53: Verstappen continues to lead, opening up an almost seven-second gap on second-place Russell with his fresher medium tyres.
Lap 21/53: The Aston Martin of Alonso just doesn’t have the pace to go with his rivals as Hamilton moves up to monster him for eighth and takes it from him. Alonso is complaining on the radio that he’s been thrown to the lions with his team’s strategy as his teammate Stroll appears set to become the third car forced to retire.
Lap 20/53: Lando Norris set a new fastest lap on lap 19, having put a fresh set of hard tyres on. He sits in fourth, trailing Verstappen, Russell, and Piastri. Sainz with a neat little move to get past Alonso and take over seventh place.
Lap 19/53: On fresher tyres, Verstappen re-takes the lead from Russell.
Lap 18/53: All of the leading crew are beginning to enter pit lane for the first time, with Norris and Sainz also going in. Russell, yet to stop, leads from Verstappen and Piastri.
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Lap 17/53: Verstappen pits and emerges back in fifth. Norris now leads from Ferrari duo Leclerc and Sainz, followed by Russell, Verstappen, and Piastri.
Lap 16/53: Hamilton briefly goes off the track and is immediately treated to his teammate Russell getting right up behind him and looking to take fifth-place. The Mercedes duo are absolutely going at it.
Perez forced to retire
Lap 15/53: Verstappen is well out in front but his teammate and closest rival for the championship is forced to retire. Good news for the former’s title hopes but it will fall on him and him alone to secure Red Bull the constructor’s championship.
Lap 14/53: It gets even better for Piastri as the virtual safety car departs already – meaning that his rivals will be unable to take advantage of the second-saving advantage it provides.
Virtual Safety Car
Good timing for Piastri as he pits at the almost exact same moment that a virtual safety car is called for – great timing for the Aussie.
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Lap 13/53: Sky broadcast says that a virtual safety car is expected by the teams as Perez is forced to pit. Piastri pits.
Lap 12/53: Alonso is the first of the leading pack to pit and falls down to 14th, Verstappen leads from Norris and Piastri.
More contact for Perez! This time with Magnussen, sending the Haas driver the wrong way. The Red Bull driver has already replaced his front wing once and now has more damage. He’s also going to get another penalty.
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Lap 11/53: Sainz is on the radio saying that the tyre degradation is as expected: pretty bad.
Lap 10/53: The top 12 have thus-far avoided pit lane, with Verstappen still leading.
Perez has been assessed a five-second penalty for a safety car infringement after he overtook a number of cars coming out of the pits.
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Lap 9/53: Verstappen continues to set the pace out front, almost three seconds clear of second-placed Norris. Piastri in third, Leclerc in fourth, and Sainz in fifth.
Bottas is forced to retire and is out of the race.
Lap 8/53: Stewards say that the incident at turn one is no longer being looked at but is Perez still under investigation for a safety car infringement. Bottas and Sargent’s collision also under scrutiny.
Lap 7/53: Perez finds himself all the way down in 16th after all the excitement of the opening laps. Will have a lot of work to do to find a way back up the places.
Lap 6/53: Bit of a battle between Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Russell; the latter pinching seventh off the Brit only for Hamilton to promptly take it back.
Lap 5/53: Back racing. Verstappen leads, followed by Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Lawson and Tsunoda.
Bottas is having a mare of a day, spinning off during that lap.
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Lap 4/53: Safety car exits and perhaps we can get some racing in now. One wonders how this will have already affected team’s strategies. Stewards are examining Perez’s exit from pit lane for an infringement.
Lap 3/53: A number of cars have been forced to pit already. Bottas, Sargent, Perez, Albon, Guanyu, and Ocon.
Lap 2/53: Safety car still out as we try to figure out what’s all going on.
Lap 1/53: Lando Norris has jumped Oscar Piastri into second from the start and slotted in behind Max Verstappen already. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are into fourth and fifth and Fernando Alonso has jumped up from 10th to fifth. A safety car is already out, though, because it looks like Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas have had a coming together. Zhou Guanyu perhaps has some damage too. Lewis Hamilton also collided with Sergio Perez per his radio. Bit happening.
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Lights out! We are away at Suzuka!
Here we go!
Formation lap is underway, and Max Verstappen set a good pace – so quick he had to be told to slow down!
Tyre watch: The medium’s are preferred by most to start the race. Bucking the trend is Yuki Tsunoda, Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson, who will all start on softs in positions ninth through eleventh on the grid, as will Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg and Zhou Guanyu at the back. Both cohorts are hoping to make good time on the rest early at the expense of pitting sooner.
A lot of home support for Yuki Tsunoda
From everyone in Japan...
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2023
Go Yuki! 🤩#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/w70hj18QJA
George Russell is briefly grabbed on Sky. “It will definitely be a two-stop,” he says. “I think the other strategies are off the cards.”
Japanese anthem is performed as lights out approaches at Suzuka.
Zak Brown on Sky again: “Realistically Max is still in another league this weekend,” he said. “All we can do is run our own race. We feel like we have a really good race pace. Maybe we can cause some problems for Max if we get the opportunity.”
Ferrari’s team principal Frédéric Vasseur thinks it’s going to be tight behind Verstappen. “It’s so tight between P2 and P7 or P8 it’s very difficult to make a forecast or to think about something,” he told Sky. “We just have to be focused on ourselves to do a proper management of the situation and strategy and we will get what we have to get.”
It’s looking like it’s going to be a hot one at Suzuka - Mercedes are doing a lot of work to keep their cars cool on the grid - and combined with the smoother surface increasing degradation that’s going to open up a new dimension of tyre management and strategy - a two-stopper with hard tyres looks like the best strategy.
Two sets of hards, however, are a luxury that few on the grid actually have: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell of Mercedes, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, and Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen the only ones to have two sets of hard tyres to play with during the race, potentially giving them an advantage over their rivals.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is on Sky. “Tyre strategy is going to play a big role today,” he said. “It’s pretty warm, there’ll be multiple stops. There’s a couple of different tyre compounds people can choose from. So it should be an exciting show.”
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Yuki Tsunoda was asked by Sky Sports if points are a realistic target today. “I think it’s possible,” he said. “It’s a realistic target. So far this season our car seems quite good in race pace so I’m looking forward to it.”
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Oscar Piastri also locked in his future this week, a multi-year contract extension that will tie him to McLaren through at least 2025 announced on Wednesday. It’s a significant show of confidence in the 22-year-old Aussie just 15 races into his rookie season, one he responded to by becoming the first rookie to secure a start on the front row since Lance Stroll at Monza in 2017. He’s keeping a lid on things, though, telling Sky during the build-up that “Realistically, we’re going to need something pretty special to win the race.”
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel is on hand at Suzuka, unveiling a set of specially-created ‘insect hotels’ at turn two on Thursday to bring awareness to biodiversity in the ecosystem. How old is Vettel? He’s obviously beekeeping age.
There's an extra buzz about Suzuka when Seb's around 😍#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/wphnXA4J11
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2023
Yuki Tsunoda sent a bit of a thrill through his home crowd when he qualified in ninth for today’s race, adding another positive to a week in which the Japanese driver’s 2024 future was confirmed.
The 23-year-old will join veteran Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo in AlphaTauri’s lineup next season, with Liam Lawson, who has impressed while filling in for the injured Ricciardo across the last three races and secured his first career points in Singapore, tapped to serve as a reserve driver across AlphaTauri and Red Bull.
That announcement left the seat alongside Alex Albon at Williams as the only one still undetermined for 2024: Logan Sargeant battling to retain his place. The American’s efforts in that pursuit won’t be made any easier this afternoon, assessed a ten second penalty for breaking ‘third car’ rules when he was already starting from pit lane after a crash in Q1.
Of course, while Max Verstappen has looked ascendant heading into this one it is Carlos Sainz and his Ferrari that took out the last race in Singapore. The Sky Sports commentariat, though, has talked about how that race is looking like it might be an outlier and noting that the Spaniard has been a few tenths of a second behind teammate Charles Leclerc in Japan. Combined with their discussion about the team’s struggle with tyre degradation in the past, the general tone from the broadcast is not to expect back-to-back wins.
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And speaking of regulations, Lando Norris is having a whale of a time driving his newly resurgent McLaren – Singapore the team’s best race since the Jenson Button days - but he’s much less impressed with the current regulations governing the sport, which he sees as unduly limiting what drivers are capable of.
Giles Richards again:
It’s not often you’ll hear an F1 driver tell people to go and “suck on an egg,” but that was the… gastronomical, let’s call it, advice from Verstappen following his blistering qualifying performance; responding to the pontifications surrounding Red Bull’s disappointing time in Singapore possibly being down to new technical directives that were imposed.
That and more can be found in Giles Richards’ report on qualifying.
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The grid after qualifying
How they’ll line up behind Verstappen
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. Lando Norris (McLaren)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
8. George Russell (Mercedes )
9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
10. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
11. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri)
12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
13. Alex Albon (Williams)
14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
15. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
16. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
19. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
20. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
Preamble
Welcome one and all, we’re almost set to go at the legendary Suzuka Circuit and after the rare sight of Max Verstappen and his Red Bull not being among the podium places in Singapore last week, normal service appears ready to resume. The runaway championship leader will start from pole position in Japan as he closes in on a third title: setting a qualifying time of 1min 28.877sec that was over half a second clear of the next-best McLaren of Oscar Piastri on Saturday. It was the largest qualifying margin at this track since Rubens Barrichello and his Ferrari finished just a shade under seven-tenths of a second ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya back in 2003.
It’s Verstappen’s ninth pole on the season and though he can’t secure the title today, a win today would all-but make sealing the title at the next race in Qatar a fait accompli. His Red Bull, team, however, can take out the constructor’s title today – a remarkable feat with six races still remaining – so long as they are able to equal or better the points that Mercedes take from the weekend while also ensuring that Ferrari do not outscore them by 24 points or more.
It’s not all about Verstappen, though, especially for those Down Under, as rookie driver Piastri will line up on the front row for the first time in his career today – just the fifth time that an Australian driver has accomplished the feat. His teammate Lando Norris, meanwhile, will slot in just behind them in third as the McLaren continues to benefit from the upgrades debuted last week in Singapore. If they or Charles Leclerc, who starts alongside Norris on the second row, want to upset the applecart, though, they’ll likely need to be ahead of Verstappen at the end of the first lap – the Suzuka Circuit one that plays to his RB19’s strengths.
Racing at 6am BST / 2pm JST
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