Japanese Grand Prix: Verstappen Triumphs at Suzuka—Narrowing Championship Gap To Norris

Sports

Apr 11

Written By FP Team

Piastri quickly established a lead and claimed his first win of the season.

Sports

Words by FP Team | 3 Minute Read

FORMULA ONE

Max Verstappen celebrated his fourth consecutive victory at the Suzuka Circuit, marking his first win of the season and narrowing the gap to championship leader Lando Norris to just one point.

Verstappen displayed remarkable composure throughout the race, maintaining a close lead over Norris, who had secured a thrilling pole position the previous day. The McLaren team had expressed concerns that if Verstappen gained the early advantage, overtaking him would prove challenging, and indeed, that turned out to be the case. Fortunately, overnight rain helped to mitigate the risk of grass fires that had disrupted practice sessions earlier in the weekend.

FORMULA ONE

FORMULA ONE

From the outset, Verstappen held off the two McLarens, with all three drivers circulating closely together. Controversy arose when McLaren opted to pit Oscar Piastri first, raising questions about whether it would have been more strategic to have Norris pit earlier in an attempt to overtake Verstappen. McLaren had alerted Norris of a 'dummy' stop just two laps prior, with Norris trailing Verstappen by 1.5 seconds—an ideal gap for an undercut.

Despite the uncertainty in strategy, Piastri was called to the pits as McLaren feared he might fall victim to an undercut from Mercedes' George Russell, who was gaining speed on his hard tires. When both Verstappen and Norris pitted on the same lap, tensions heighted as they approached the pit stop line just 1.5 seconds apart. McLaren executed a quicker stop which allowed Norris to emerge from the pits nearly side by side with Verstappen. However, Verstappen held his ground, forcing Norris onto the grass.

He had the position and he had the right to do what he did
— Lando Norris. British Racing Driver. McLaren

This prompted a heated exchange, with Norris claiming he was pushed off track, while Verstappen maintained that his rival had simply misjudged the maneuver. In the end, race stewards sided with the reigning champion. Norris later acknowledged Verstappen's right to defend his position, stating, "He had the position and he had the right to do what he did." As the race progressed, Norris and Piastri trailed Verstappen for the remaining 32 laps, closely monitoring his pace but unable to launch an effective challenge. Although Norris could not close the gap to within one second, Piastri appeared to have the edge on pace, at times narrowing the distance to half a second behind his teammate.

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Piastri hinted at his desire to pursue a shot at beating Verstappen, but McLaren opted to let the drivers race without interference. The three crossed the finish line in their starting order, separated by a mere 2.2 seconds. With this performance, Piastri climbed to third place in the overall standings, ahead of Russell, while trailing Norris by 13 points.

It was tough, just pushing very hard on the last set. The two McLarens were pushing me very hard. I’m incredibly happy. It started off quite tough this weekend, but we didn’t give up; we carried on improving the car, and today it was in its best form. Starting on pole was very important.
— Max Verstappen. Dutch-Belgain Racing Driver. Redbull Racing.

Norris echoed the sentiment of a grueling race, stating, "The pace was too similar to do anything more. It was a long race, pushing flat out from start to finish, but nothing special we had to get on Max. He deserved it. They were quick, they've made some improvements and we'll have to work hard."

FORMULA ONE

Beyond the top three, the race remained relatively static. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc managed to secure fourth, holding off Russell, while his McLaren teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, showed prowess with a commendable performance. Antonelli not only led the race momentarily after the pits but also made history as the youngest driver in Formula 1 history at 18 years and 224 days, surpassing Verstappen's record from 2016.

Lewis Hamilton executed an alternate tire strategy to finish seventh, moving up from eighth on the grid, while Alex Albon showcased an aggressive drive to clinch ninth place, just ahead of Oliver Bearman from Haas. Making his debut for Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda finished in 12th place, while Liam Lawson, who he replaced, lagged behind in 17th with the Racing Bulls. The Formula 1 circuit now heads to the Middle East for the Bahrain Grand Prix, marking the second leg of a triple-header weekend.