Verstappen wins comfortably at Suzuka to win Red Bull the Constructors Championship. A lead of 19 seconds at the end of the race that also brought the Dutchman one step closer to winning his third consecutive World Championship title.
After qualifying on pole, Verstappen made it through the first lap unscathed narrowly avoiding being overtaken by Norris who started third on the grid. Not everyone made it cleanly through however with the safety being brought out due to debris on the track. A collision between Bottas and Albon saw the Williams driver airborne with a damaged front wing and the Alfa Romeo driver with a puncture.
The safety car allowed for Perez to change his front wing after colliding with Hamilton going into turn one which signified the start of an interesting race for the Red Bull driver. Perez changed his front wing for a second time only a few laps later, also serving a five second time penalty he received for a safety car infringement. During this, Bottas and Sargeant collided which ultimately led to both cars retiring at separate points in the race.
A Virtual Safety Car on lap 14, caused by debris in the track due to a collision between Perez and Magnussen, saw the Red Bull driver collect his second five-second time penalty of the race after blocking Norris under VSC conditions. This led to his pit wall ordering him to retire on lap 15. Stroll became the third driver of the day to retire, later followed by both of the Williams drivers.
Perez’s eventful race continued into the race when his team brought him back out on track on lap 40 a total of 25 laps after he had originally retired. This FIA approved move, allowed him to race an extra few laps before being instructed to pit on lap 41 to serve his penalty so that it was not changed to a grid penalty for Qatar. Sergio Perez then officially retired for the second time of the race on lap 42.
Mercedes saw an internal battle between both drivers in Suzuka. Russell was attempting to complete the race on a one stop strategy with Hamilton having fresher tyres towards the end of the race having pitted for a second time. The battle for fifth between the drivers saw Russell instructed to swap positions to avoid the Ferrari of Sainz overtaking both of the drivers. Not long after petting Hamilton pass, Sainz overtook Russell on lap 50.
On the final lap, Verstappen was the first to take the chequered flag in a win that saw him break Michael Schumacher’s record by winning for a 13th consecutive time from pole position. He was followed by both McLarens who achieved their first double podium of the season. Norris finished the race in P2 and Piastri completed the podium finishing in P3. the result saw Oscar Piastri become the first rookie to finish on the podium since Lance Stroll in 2017.