Verstappen takes commanding victory ahead of Perez in P2 at Suzuka

Max Verstappen takes a dominant victory at the Japanese Grand Prix in what has been a stellar weekend for the Dutchman and Red Bull, as teammate Sergio Perez brought in a Red Bull 1-2. Rounding out the podium was Carlos Sainz and his Ferrari in P3.

Verstappen was never challenged throughout the race, finishing 13 seconds clear of his teammate in what was an ominous showing from Red Bull to the rest of the grid.

Verstappen victorious as Ferrari improve with their pace

Rebounding from retirement at the Australian Grand Prix, Verstappen topped the FP1, FP3 and qualifying timing sheets before driving a faultless race around the iconic Suzuka Circuit.

It's now the third race victory for the three-time world champion in four races, and it underlines the challenge that the rest of the grid have to try and stop Verstappen from earning a fourth world title this season.

Behind the rapid Austrian team were the two Ferraris, as their race pace showed great improvement compared to their one-lap pace, with Charles Leclerc coming behind his teammate in P4 with a very clever two-stop strategy that let him jump up the field.

Lando Norris in the McLaren was unable to keep the Ferraris behind him after starting the race in P3, as he finished the race in 5th place. Another solid weekend for Fernando Alonso gave Aston Martin a P6 finish, while Oscar Piastri finished in P8, with both him and Norris struggling with tyre degradation in the early stints.

It was another disappointing Sunday for Mercedes, who showed great promise in the practice session earlier in the weekend. George Russell could only finish in P7, but an overtake on Piastri on the final lap of the race gave the Brit something to smile about. Lewis Hamilton, who struggled on the hard tyre, finished in a poor P9.

Rounding out the top ten was the Racing Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, who capped off a fine weekend at his home race by taking the final points paid position in front of a thrilled Suzuka crowd.

Red flag makes an early appearance

Verstappen and Perez got off the line well at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, but it was all for nothing, as a heavy crash between the Racing Bull of Daniel Ricciardo and the Williams of Alex Albon brought out the red flag.

Albon, who started on the soft tyres, got a fantastic run off the first and second corners and went for a gap that opened up in front of Ricciardo. 

However, that gap closed very quickly, with the merest of touches between the two squeezing Albon onto the grass and sending Ricciardo spinning off, with both drivers ending up in the barrier. 

Once again, Williams do not have a spare chassis for the next race in China, so they will hope there is no significant damage to Albon's chassis.

The substantial damage done to the barriers after the crash needed to be repaired before the race restarted, which meant the race was delayed by just under half an hour before it got back underway via a second standing start.

The Red Bulls on the front row were not troubled off the start yet again, as Verstappen led from Perez into Turn 1, with Norris holding off Sainz to keep P3 on the first lap.

Behind, Alonso and Piastri held onto P5 and P6, respectively, off the start, while Leclerc jumped Hamilton into Turn 1 for P7. Tsunoda got ahead of Russell for P9 but was overtaken a lap later.

There was another retirement in the race, as the Sauber of Zhou Guanyu had to come into his garage with an electronics issue after lap 14, which capped off a disappointing weekend for the Chinese driver.