Red Bull’s Max Verstappen produced a stunning performance to defeat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Dutchman recorded his first victory of the season and his fourth consecutive triumph in Japan.
He defeated Norris by just 1.4 seconds when both drivers were paired together on Lap 22, and the pair exited the pit lane almost side by side before Norris moved onto the grass.
Norris fought off competition from his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, to secure the third position.
The victory takes Verstappen to within one point of leader Lando Norris. The Briton driver has accumulated 62 points from three races, while Verstappen can boast of 61 points. Piastri is in third with 49 points.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finished in fourth place, followed by the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Yuki Tsunoda finished 12th in his first outing for Red Bull since his return.
Verstappen is the first driver to win the Japanese Grand Prix four times in a row; he described the race as difficult.
He said, “It was tough. The McLarens were pushing me very hard.
“It was a lot of fun, but not easy pushing the tyres. I am incredibly happy. This weekend started off quite tough, but we didn’t give up and kept improving the car. Today it was in its best form. Starting on the pole made it possible to win.”
Norris claimed that Verstappen pushed him on his way to victory in the race. He opened up on the incident at the end of the race.
He said, “It’s racing, I think. He was still ahead; it kind of squeezes into one.
“Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space… in a good way, in a racing way. So, nothing more than that.
“I think it’s still been a very good weekend. Obviously, we didn’t get the positions that we wanted.
“We’re fighting for a win every weekend, but they deserved it. Both Red Bull and Max deserved it this weekend. They’re quick; they’ve been catching up; and they’ve obviously made some improvements.
“As a team, we didn’t have enough this weekend. So we’re going to have to work harder for the next one.”
Italian Antonelli is the youngest driver in Formula 1 history to lead the race at 18 years and 224 days.
Up next is the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir next weekend.
