After his convincing victory in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday gave Red Bull a second consecutive constructors’ title, Max Verstappen expressed his gratitude for the team.
At the beginning of the race, Verstappen withstood an assault from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren before taking control of the situation and pulling nearly 20 seconds ahead.
The outcome gave Verstappen his first chance to win the drivers’ title in Qatar the following race while mathematically eliminating Red Bull’s closest competitors, Mercedes and Ferrari.
“It’s an unbelievable weekend,” said Verstappen after jumping out of the car. “To win here was great. I think the car was working really well on every [tyre] compound.
“But of course, the most important was also to win the constructors’. I’m very proud of everyone working at the track but also back at the factory. We’re having an incredible year.”
Asked if there were any moments of concern, he added: “Only the start, probably a bit too much wheel spin, but after that it was quite a straightforward race luckily.”
After surviving a harrowing opening lap and pulling comfortably ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, Max Verstappen and Red Bull confirmed another constructors’ championship for the Milton Keynes outfit.
Verstappen was first attacked by Piastri and Norris but managed to repel both of them. He then sailed through the Virtual Safety Car and Safety Car periods and sprinted off into the distance to win the race for the 13th time this season.
As a result, Red Bull mathematically eliminated their competitors’ chances of winning the constructors’ championship to follow up their victory in 2022 and make it two victories in a row. This highlights the team’s dominance during the current F1 ground effect era while also adding to the teams’ titles they won in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.
The final outcome of a duel between the McLaren drivers was in Norris’ favor; the Briton started out in front, fell behind when Piastri pitted under a Virtual Safety Car, but then showed enough speed for the team to switch spots.
Fourth-place finisher Charles Leclerc spearheaded Ferrari’s assault after making a daring late pass on Mercedes opponent George Russell, who was the sole front-runner to undertake a one-stop strategy rather than a two-stop one, around the outside of Turns 1 and 2.
Russell lost control to teammate Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps and was told to allow him pass, which he consented to do after the Mercedes drivers had almost crashed earlier in the race when they went wheel to wheel.
Carlos Sainz took advantage of Russell’s worn-out tires to pass him and move up to sixth place behind Hamilton. Fernando Alonso of the Aston Martin team and Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly of the Alpine team earned the day’s last points, despite the former’s first-lap accident.
As it happened:
Verstappen and Red Bull returned to their best after a thrilling qualifying session, but significant repairs at the back of the field caused Sargeant to drop to P20 and be given a 10-second time penalty. This was because Williams had built up what the stewards determined to be a new car and more than the two allowed per event as a result of his Q1 crash.
The focus on race strategy and the tyre compounds each driver would select for their opening stints increased as the heat intensified in the hours before the start. F1 supplier Pirelli predicted at least two-stop strategies would be used in light of the high degradation and high temperatures experienced over the weekend.
The majority of the field and the leaders would start on medium tyres when the drivers lined up on the grid, while Tsunoda, Alonso, Lawson, Bottas, Stroll, Hulkenberg, and Zhou would start on soft tyres.
Pole-sitter Verstappen was quickly attacked by Piastri on the inside and Norris on the outside during a very close run down to Turn 1 as the lights went out, but the reigning double world champion managed to maintain his advantage with just enough effort.
Norris took advantage of Piastri’s boxed-in position to jump his teammate and briefly run alongside Verstappen, as drama unfolded in the background as Perez swerved to the left to avoid Sainz, collided with Hamilton, and knocked the seven-time world champion to the ground.
Verstappen coasted to the finish line to finish about 20 seconds ahead of Norris as the circuits wound down. Piastri trailed behind him by about 17 seconds as his pace dipped, but not by enough to prevent him from earning his first-ever podium finish in Formula One.
Following Lusail will come the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, which runs from October 6–8, on the 2023 F1 schedule.
