Red Bull hailed Constructors’ Champions as Piastri scores first F1 podium

Max Verstappen’s Japanese Grand Prix victory led his team to their sixth Constructors’ Championship win, finishing on the podium alongside Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as the young Australian secured his first podium finish in F1.

As the five lights went out, it was a chaotic start to the Japanese Grand Prix for the entire grid.

Following a quick formation lap led by Max Verstappen, the Dutchman lined up in his P1 grid box with his sights set on defending from Oscar Piastri in P2, and that he did, with the Red Bull squeezing the first-time front-row starter onto the grass on the run down to Turn 1.

With Verstappen occupied, it allowed Lando Norris to take a shot at gaining the lead, however, into the first turn he was unable to, instead taking second place from his teammate.

Slightly further behind, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton were all involved in a Turn 1 incident that left the Mercedes driver taking to the grass, losing crucial positions to start his Japanese Grand Prix. 

A spray of debris was also seen on the run down to the first corner, with Alex Albon’s car riding the front wheel of Valtteri Bottas, getting slightly airborne as he was squeezed in a domino effect of the moment by the Alfa Romeo. 

The debris on the track led to a safety car being called, allowing marshals to clear the area before racing resumed.

The grid got off to a messy start in Japan. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

At the restart, Verstappen got a clean getaway, immediately distancing himself from the McLarens down the main straight.

Carlos Sainz was confronted with the menacing Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso in his mirrors as he rounded the first few corners, fending off the soft tyre runner through Lap 5 and 6.

By Lap 10 of 53, it was obvious that the #14 car was struggling on its chosen compound as he drifted back into the grasp of the flying cars behind.

A lockup from Logan Sargeant didn’t help the American’s race of recovery after starting from the pitlane and incurring a 10-second penalty overnight for breaching parc fermé conditions.

Neither was it helpful for Valtteri Bottas who, after being involved in Lap 1 contact, was tagged by the Williams, sending the Fin spinning at the hairpin.

Into Turn 17, George Russell made a tense move on his teammate for P7, squeezing Hamilton onto the astroturf to start Lap 6 ahead.

However, his time leading over the seven-time world champion was short-lived, with Hamilton regaining his position down the main straight.

Sergio Perez started his overtaking campaign back to the points, making an easy move for P16 on Zhou Guanyu towards the end of Lap 8.

Despite the Mexican organically moving up the grid, his race was made more difficult by the addition of a 5-second penalty for a safety car infringement.

Perez was penalised for overtaking before the safety car line as he entered the pitlane.

Guiding Perez, Esteban Ocon made an overtake on the slower Haas of Kevin Magnussen, immediately pulling car lengths on car lengths as he drove off into the 3 seconds of clear air ahead.

The task of overtaking Magnussen was a more difficult one for Perez, who tagged the Dane, sending the Haas spinning and destroying his own front wing in the process after a late lunge down the inside of Turn 11.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull, retires from the race on Lap 15 due to damage in Suzuka. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.

With this damage, as well as the damage obtained in his incident with Hamilton at the start, the Mexican was forced to retire on Lap 15.

Piastri pitted on Lap 14 under the Virtual Safety Car conditions, rejoining in very P9 and saving time under the slower race conditions.

Lap 16 saw the Australian capitalise with his fresh tyres, breezing past the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.

Just as it has all weekend, Degner 2 claimed another victim in the form of Hamilton as he ran wide, enticing Russell to take the fight to his teammate. 

After a tense attempt at making the move, Russell was not happy with the treatment he received from his teammate, getting on the radio to express his frustrations. 

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, in the lead of the Japanese GP. Image: Steven Tee / LAT Images.

On Lap 17, Verstappen made his first pitstop, as did Hamilton who came out in front of the home racer, Yuki Tsunoda. 

As for Verstappen’s rejoining positions, the Dutchman came out in front of Piastri, whose teammate pitted on the following lap, rejoining behind.

Both Ferraris made their stops just before Lap 20, opting to run the racier tyre, in that of the medium compound, while both McLarens set off on the hard compound. 

Sainz rejoined behind Alonso, tussling with his compatriot on Lap 20 as he stormed past for P7.

The veteran’s luck continued to fade as he was quickly accompanied by Hamilton who made quick work of the Aston Martin driver. 

After a 25-lap stint on his set of mediums, George Russell made his first and only pitstop of the race, rejoining in the midst of the Alonso-Ocon battle, but breezing by. 

On Lap 27, and following many complaints from Norris over the radio, the McLaren pitwall instructed their drivers to swap positions.

The move immediately reaped the reward for Norris as he breezed off into the clear air, building a gap of 4 seconds to his teammate within three laps.

Lando Norris, McLaren, passes Oscar Piastri, McLaren, during the Japanese GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

After managing significant damage from his Lap 1 contact, Alex Albon ultimately retired on Lap 27 from the back of the field, joining his teammate in the garage to make for a double DNF ending to Williams’ Japanese Grand Prix campaign.

Fernando Alonso was finally relieved of his old hard tyres after stopping for a new set of white-marked tyres.

The Spaniard replicated the move that had been made so many times against him, overtaking Yuki Tsunoda into Spoon corner.

Despite dropping 5.5 seconds behind Norris, Piastri remained out of risk from Leclerc behind, lapping faster than the Ferrari who was struggling on his medium tyres.

On Lap 35, the Monegasque driver made his second stop, leading Hamilton through the pitlane as they both opted for the hard compound.

On the following lap, Piastri made his second stop, covering off the Ferrari by rejoining 2.4 seconds ahead. 

The #81’s teammate followed suit on Lap 37, coming out of the pit exit behind Russell who was running older tyres. 

Verstappen made his second stop from 30 seconds ahead of Sainz, rejoining just under 10 seconds in front of the now-undercut Spaniard.

On Lap 41, Perez rejoined the race after retiring on Lap 15 to serve his 5-second time penalty, shortly returning to his garage on the following Lap.

Piastri, running on far fresher hard tyres, attempted for longer than ideal to make a move on Russell into Turn 17, but after being slightly too far back, the Australian then went on to regain his former podium place into Turn 1 after taking the outside line.

Leclerc was the next to line up the #63 car, catching him on Lap 42 and making a successful overtake for P4 at Turn 2 on Lap 45.

Hamilton eventually arrived on the rear of his one-stop running team, with Sainz not too far behind either.

Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, leads George Russell, Mercedes, during the Japanese GP. Image: Andy Hone / LAT Images.

Due to the difference in tyre life and pace, the Mercedes pitwall called for Russell to invert positions with his teammate, and despite the young Englishman’s urge to adopt Sainz’s Singapore DRS strategy, he hesitantly obliged. 

On Lap 50, as predicted by Russell, he was inevitably demoted to P7 with Sainz making the pass stick.

After realising that Mercedes had borrowed his “trick”, Sainz was more eager to get his head down to overtake Hamilton in the final laps of the Japanese Grand Prix.

But with two laps on the board, the Spaniard was unable to demote Hamilton, instead settling for P6 by just 0.845 seconds at the chequered flag. 

Sainz’s Ferrari teammate finished ahead of his fight, with Leclerc crossing the line in fourth place. 

Oscar Piastri was voted driver of the day by the fans, congratulating his brilliant drive to his first podium finish in F1.

The Melbourne-born boy finished 17.107 seconds behind his teammate who equals his highest finish in F1, Norris also earning his second P2 finish in a row after Singapore last weekend.

Lando Norris, McLaren, and Oscar Piastri, McLaren, celebrate in Parc Fermé after a double podium at the Japanese GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

The team takes home a healthy haul of 33 points, helping McLaren further distance themselves from Alpine with their total of 172 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

While McLaren continue to fight for positions in the Constructors’ Championship, however, Max Verstappen’s P1 finish 19.4 seconds ahead of Norris secured Red Bull their sixth Constructors’ Championship win.

Currently untouchable on 623 points, Red Bull earned their second consecutive Constructors’ Championship win this weekend, just as they did last year in Japan.

As for Max Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship campaign, he will have to wait until the Qatar Grand Prix in which he has the chance to clinch his third title at the conclusion of the Sprint next round. 

The Red Bull Racing team celebrate after the race as they secure the 2023 Constructors title during the Japanese GP. Image: Andy Hone / LAT Images.

Rounding out the points scorers in the Japanese Grand Prix was Fernando Alonso, whose valiant defence through the race earned him P8 ahead of both Alpines in P9 and P10.

The Qatar Grand Prix will take place in two weeks time, running across October 6-8 as the third last Sprint weekend of the season.

Japanese Grand Prix Results:

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