The Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix was an exciting affair with the lack of pace from Red Bull Racing, but Dutch driver Max Verstappen made sure to remind the world who he is during Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen reclaimed his place atop the podium at Suzuka Circuit, finishing first to restart a winning streak. He was joined by both McLaren drivers on the podium, with Lando Norris finishing second and rookie Oscar Piastri netting his first F1 podium by finishing third.
The race was overall not dramatic, with the only safety car caused by a spray of debris after Turn 1 of the first lap. No one immediately retired from the race, but the Turn 1 incident eventually caused Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas to retire his car. It would be one of five retirements during the race, with the most notable one being Red Bull’s Sergio Perez — Perez arguably had the worst race of his career, earning two five-second penalties and being forced to retire after turning into Haas’ Kevin Magnussen on a move that was never really there in the first place.
Despite Perez scoring zero points, Verstappen’s efforts alone were enough to win Red Bull the Constructors Championship for the second year in a row. The championship is Red Bull’s sixth Constructors Championship in F1, but Singapore’s result made it so that Verstappen was unable to win the Driver’s Championship in Japan — he’ll likely have to wait until the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race in two weeks.
Here is how things shaped out in Japan:
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
- Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- Alexander Albon (Williams) [DNF]
- Logan Sargeant (Williams) [DNF]
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) [DNF]
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull) [DNF]
- Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) [DNF]
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