Verstappen Wins fourth Consecutive Japanese Grand Prix after Fending off McLaren – With a “perfection” drive, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, his primary victory of the season so far and his third in as many races.
Verstappen ended the winning streak of Lando Norris as well as Oscar Piastri, who had been riding high after winning the opening two races of the season in China and Australia, with his fourth consecutive triumph at the central Japanese Suzuka track. Verstappen Wins fourth Consecutive Japanese Grand Prix
“We are far from done,” Verstappen stated. “But it does show that we can be up there if we nail everything,” she said.
He accomplished precisely that.
After setting a circuit record in qualifying—a feat he described as “insane”—the four-time reigning Formula 1 champion, Verstappen, began the race from pole position. Piastri came in third, while Norris took second. There were no incidents since the track remained dry even though it had rained earlier in the day.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari took fourth place, George Russell of Benz second, and Kimi Antonelli sixth. In his debut race for Red Bull’s elite squad, Japanese racer Yuki Tsunoda placed twelveth.
“We will not stop pushing,” Verstappen stated. “Total fabrication. Our ideal weekend.
After three races out of twenty-four, Norris has 62 points, while Verstappen has 61.
After qualifying on Saturday, Verstappen took pole position thanks to his record lap. This shifted the tide of the weekend. Plus, Sunday’s race had just one noteworthy occurrence, which has been called the “grass-cutting moment.”
Verstappen and Norris nearly came out of the pits at the same moment, causing Norris to drive over grass as he attempted to get past Verstappen and onto the track; most of the top drivers pitted near the 20-lap mark.
On the radio, Verstappen stated, “He drove himself through the grass.”.
According to Norris, he was not angry with Verstappen in any way.
“He was in a position of authority and completely justified in his actions,” Norris stated. “He remained in the lead. It fits really snugly into one. Plus, I don’t think Max will ever be the type of guy to give me space.
Verstappen paid tribute to Honda, a Japanese engine manufacturer, after the race. Honda will no longer equip the Red Bull team this season. Naturally, Honda’s home track, Suzuka, was the site of the victory.
“Just pushing really hard at the finish was fun,” Verstappen remarked. Both McLarens were making tremendous efforts to overtake. We kept working to make the car better, and today it really shone.
“Obviously, getting a head start was the key to winning this race.”
Due to the tight Suzuka circuit, Norris stayed close behind Verstappen for most of the race.
As expected, Verstappen performed faultless and gave Norris no opportunities, despite the fact that he could see Max clearly throughout the race.
“No one needs to tell me whatever Max is capable of,” he declared.
Both Piastri and Norris hinted that their vehicles were marginally faster than the rest of the field this season. However, there is only a small distance between the current leaders and Red Bull, Mercedes, as well as Ferrari.
It was Piastri’s opinion that they had a slight edge. “However, there is a great deal of competition to take advantage of even the smallest slip-up.”
The top-ranked drivers on Sunday fell into line behind Verstappen, who got off to a clean start. With a gradual increase in his lead, Verstappen passed Norris by two seconds after ten of the fifty-three laps and maintained that lead after fifteen.
During the race’s middle, Antonelli had a brief lead due to his extended use of the first pair of tires. When he was 18 years old, he evolved into the youngest driver to ever start a Formula One race by himself. And he wasn’t only the youngest; he had the quickest lap as well.
After 32 circuits, Verstappen regained the lead, behind Norris by just 1.3 seconds and Piastri by 3.4. He received the order to “Push from here” on the 36th round on the team radio. And that’s exactly what he did—full steam ahead to earn his 64th victory of his career. Verstappen Wins fourth Consecutive Japanese Grand Prix
