Verstappen surprised by McLaren drivers: 'Went well, fortunately'

Max Verstappen started the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position at the Suzuka Circuit. Behind him were McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who were immediately on his neck at lights out. Verstappen takes us through those first few metres of the race.

McLaren drivers made Verstappen sweat for a while

Although Verstappen got off to a good start, it was mainly Piastri and Norris who got away well from their starting gear. Verstappen accelerated but saw the McLarens looming on either side towards the first corner. Verstappen said after the race: "I saw in the right mirror that Oscar had a little bit of a jump on me, but at the same time, I saw in my left mirror that Lando had a real jump on me."

Verstappen continued: "Then I tried to, of course, close off Oscar, but then he was still there, and then I saw on the left side, Lando coming with a lot more speed. He then moved a bit to the right, and I was like, ‘I can't go more to the right.’ I was like trying to get straight, and yeah, luckily, of course, nothing happened. It all got quite close, but that's racing."

Norris sounded enthusiastic after the race, saying he was close to catching Verstappen. He also questioned the extent to which the Red Bull Racing driver was driving on the limit. Verstappen himself also said he was lucky in the fight. Verstappen: "We had a good battle also into turn one, into turn two. I was lucky. I think there was a bit more grip in turn two, just on the normal line instead of trying to go around the outside."