FIA Stewards reveal verdict on first collision of the Japan Grand Prix

Photo: Race Pictures

Updated: 08:40, 27 Mar

byKada Sarkozi

The stewards decided against penalizing either Alex Albon or Sergio Perez after their crash in FP1.

The two drivers collided in the penultimate corner during the first practice session of the day. The stewards decided to take no further action.

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Things got a little bumpy for Albon and Perez in FP1 😮 #F1 #JapaneseGP

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The verdict said: "The Driver of Car 11 explained that he was on a race-run lap and was about to commence another. He had seen Car 23 some distance behind when he had exited turn 14. Car 23 was on an out lap and gained significantly on Car 11 through turn 15 and on the approach to turn 16.

"Car 23 moved to overtake Car 11 on the inside atturn 16 and a collision occurred. The Driver of Car 11 said that he did not see Car 23, his virtual mirror was not working and he had not received any warning from his team of Car 23’s approach.

"This was confirmed by his team radio. The team explained that they had assumed that Car 23 would hold position behind Car 11 and had not noticed the extent to which Car 23 had gained on Car 11 and for that reason did not warn the Driver of Car 11.

"The Driver of Car 23 said that he believed from the wide line taken by Car 11 at the entry to turn 16 that Car 11 was letting him through. Both Drivers were surprised by the closing speeds. The collision was therefore the result of a misunderstanding contributed to by a lack of communication by the team to the Driver of Car 11.

"Both Drivers accepted that neither of them was wholly or predominatly to blame for it. The Stewards therefore determined to take no further action."

Stewards reveal verdict on Sainz-Lawson incident

Albon's teammate, Carlos Sainz, was also investigated for holding up Liam Lawson. The stewards decided to take no further action in this regard either, as the Spaniard explained that he moved out of the way in order to avoid impeding Jak Crawford.

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Japanese Grand Prix Results

Practice

Practice 1

Practice 2

Practice 3

ALL

Pos.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Oscar Piastri PIA	McLarenMCL	-	1:30.133
2	Kimi Antonelli ANT	MercedesMER	-	1:30.225
3	George Russell RUS	MercedesMER	-	1:30.338
4	Lando Norris NOR	McLarenMCL	-	1:30.649
5	Charles Leclerc LEC	FerrariFER	-	1:30.846
6	Lewis Hamilton HAM	FerrariFER	-	1:30.980
7	Nico Hulkenberg HUL	AudiAUD	-	1:31.441
8	Alexander Albon ALB	WilliamsWIL	-	1:31.496
9	Oliver Bearman OLI	HaasHAA	-	1:31.498
10	Max Verstappen VER	Red Bull RacingRBR	-	1:31.509
11	Esteban Ocon OCO	HaasHAA	-	1:31.532
12	Liam Lawson LAW	Racing BullsRCB	-	1:31.590
13	Carlos Sainz SAI	WilliamsWIL	-	1:31.608
14	Pierre Gasly GAS	AlpineALP	-	1:31.734
15	Isack Hadjar HAD	Red Bull RacingRBR	-	1:31.759
16	Gabriel Bortoleto BOR	AudiAUD	-	1:31.933
17	Franco Colapinto COL	AlpineALP	-	1:32.438
18	Valtteri Bottas BOT	CadillacCAD	-	1:32.615
19	Fernando Alonso ALO	Aston MartinAST	-	1:33.596
20	Sergio Perez PER	CadillacCAD	-	1:33.689
21	Lance Stroll STR	Aston MartinAST	-	1:33.951

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F1-stand 2026

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	72
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	63
3	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	49
4	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	41
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	25
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	21
7	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	17
8	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	15
9	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	12
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	10
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	4
12	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	4
13	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	2
15	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	1
16	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	1
17	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
18	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	0
19	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
20	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
21	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Show Full Standings

FIA Stewards reveal verdict on first collision of the Japan Grand Prix

byKada Sarkozi

Read also

Stewards reveal verdict on Sainz-Lawson incident

Japanese Grand Prix Results

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Season

Full Results FP2 | McLaren's Piastri ahead of Mercedes duo, as Ferrari and Red Bull struggle

Verstappen puzzled over Red Bull struggles after tough practice sessions in Japan