(Suzuka) Max Verstappen and Red Bull set the record straight! Two weeks after his retirement in Australia, the Dutchman won the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix without trembling in front of his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez on Sunday at Suzuka.
The three-time world champion, who started in the leading position for the fourth time in four races this season, took 57e victory of his career, the third in a row on the magnificent Japanese circuit.
The Red Bull team, absent from the podium in Melbourne against all expectations, took its revenge by achieving its third double of the year and confirmed its overwhelming superiority over its competitors.
“It’s a very nice victory. We made changes to the car before the race and it showed. I felt very comfortable. »
It couldn’t have gone better. This is what we want to do every weekend.
Max Verstappen
Pérez, only fifth in Melbourne, made up for it well at Suzuka. Solid in qualifying, the Mexican had a good race and finished second for the third time this season. This result allows him to regain the runner-up place in the world championship with 64 points, 13 less than Verstappen.
PHOTO GIUSEPPE CACACE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
From left to right: Sergio Pérez, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc on the podium
“Everything went very well for me and the team. I’m in a good period at the moment and here last year it was perhaps my most complicated weekend of the season so I’m very happy,” he said.
Solid Ferrari
Two weeks after the unexpected double in Australia with the victory of Carlos Sainz ahead of Charles Leclerc, Ferrari also had a good weekend in Japan since the Spaniard confirmed his excellent start to the season by taking third place, ahead of his teammate, who nevertheless started in eighth position.
The Scuderia’s one-stop strategy has paid off for the Monegasque, who is third in the championship with a lead over Sainz and has twice as many points as last year at the same time.
“I’m very happy with my race because I think we couldn’t have done better. As in Australia, the negative this weekend was my pace in qualifying so we will have to work on that,” said Leclerc.
The Italian team is probably the one that has progressed the most this winter and is already 51 points ahead of McLaren and 86 over Mercedes in the constructors’ standings.
The British team, less comfortable than in qualifying, limited the damage with the fifth and eighth places of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, while the German team disappointed since George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished seventh respectively. and ninth on a track that hardly suits their car.
“No one is going to catch Max, his car and his driving are impressive. Now, we will have to be content with the fight for second place between the other drivers,” said Toto Wolff, Mercedes boss, suggesting that the outcome of the season was already known.
The Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) was once again in the fight with the best and finished the race in sixth place, while the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) snatched tenth place and the last point at stake, to the greatest delight of the approximately 102,000 spectators present at Suzuka on Sunday.
The next Grand Prix will take place in two weeks in China, where the paddock has not made a stopover since 2019 due to the pandemic. The Shanghai circuit will host the first of six sprint races of the season on this occasion.
Consult the final classification of the race
View the Drivers’ Championship standings