Max the man in Japan as Piastri podiums
Monday, 25 September 2023
Max Verstappen laid the smackdown on the F1® field at Suzuka to wrap up Red Bull Racing's sixth constructors' title, while McLaren – and Oscar Piastri – were the other big winners from a sun-soaked Japanese Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen made mincemeat of the rest at Suzuka, the runaway Formula 1® championship leader quickly banishing the bad memories of having his 10-race winning streak stopped in Singapore by dominating the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen's 13th win this season secured a sixth constructors' championship for Red Bull Racing, wrapping up the title with six rounds remaining. The Dutchman was never troubled after taking a blistering pole position the day prior with a lap 0.581secs faster than anyone else could manage, the biggest pole margin (in dry conditions) all year and Suzuka's largest gap in 19 years.
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Verstappen's championship lead is now 177 points; should he leave the next race weekend in Qatar in two weeks' time with an advantage of 146 points or more, he'll be a three-time world champion.
McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri rounded out the podium, but were a long way back from the rampaging Red Bull star, Norris finishing over 19 seconds adrift. Verstappen's fastest race lap, a 1min 34.183 scorcher on lap 34, was over a second faster than anyone else could manage, while Singapore victor Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) over 50secs from victory seven days after winning at Marina Bay.
While one Red Bull pilot shone, the other stumbled – Sergio Perez retiring after contact with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at the start, earning a penalty for a safety car infringement soon after, and then copping another five-second penalty after clashing with Kevin Magnussen's Haas on lap 12.
Hamilton's fifth place sees Perez's lead over the seven-time world champion for second in the drivers' championship slashed to 33 points; Red Bull has never had its drivers finish 1-2 in the standings at the end of a season.
Aussie watch
It was a landmark weekend to end a landmark week for Oscar Piastri, with the McLaren rising star taking his first F1® podium by finishing in third place in his 16th Grand Prix start.
Piastri, who had his contract extended to the end of 2026 after the Singapore Grand Prix, acclimatised rapidly to the daunting Suzuka layout on his first Japanese GP visit, qualifying a career-best second on Saturday and finishing a career-best third 24 hours later, usurping his podium near-miss when a safety car caused him to fall to fourth in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July.
Piastri, who spent 46 of the 53 laps running inside the top three, leapt to ninth in the drivers' standings with his breakthrough result, one that saw him voted as Driver of the Day by the sport's fans.
Compatriot Daniel Ricciardo wasn't in Japan, but was in the news nonetheless after the 34-year-old was confirmed to be staying at Scuderia AlphaTauri alongside Yuki Tsunoda for 2024 on the Saturday of the Suzuka race weekend.
Ricciardo, who has sat out the past three Grands Prix after breaking his left hand in practice at Zandvoort last month, looks set to return at the United States Grand Prix in Austin (October 20-22).
Unsung hero
In a race that showed the chasm between the haves and the have-nots, we'll give Esteban Ocon and Alpine a hat tip for doing the most with the least, the Frenchman finishing ninth after starting down in 14th after being eliminated in Q2.
Teammate Pierre Gasly finished 10th from 12th on the grid, Alpine managing to scrounge three points on a weekend where AlphaTauri pair Tsunoda (ninth) and Liam Lawson (11th) started ahead of them, but finished behind in 11th (Lawson) and 12th (Tsunoda).
Number to know
6: In years, the last time an F1® rookie had finished on the podium before Piastri did in Japan on Sunday (Lance Stroll for Williams in 2017).
"There's not many people who get this opportunity in their whole life, and I've managed to have it in my first season. It wasn't my best race ever, but it was enough to get a trophy at the end."
Japanese Grand Prix: top 10
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 1hr 30mins 58.421secs
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) +19.387secs
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +36.494secs
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +43.998secs
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +49.376secs
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +50.221secs
7. George Russell (Mercedes) +57.659secs
8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +74.725secs
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +79.678secs
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +83.155secs
Standings (top 5)
Drivers' championship
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 400 points
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 223 points
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 190 points
4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 174 points
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 150 points
Constructors' championship
1. Red Bull Racing (623 points)
2. Mercedes (305 points)
3. Ferrari (285 points)
4. Aston Martin (221 points)
5. McLaren (172 points)
Next race
Round 17: Lusail International Circuit, Qatar (October 6-8)
