Japanese GP: Red Bull dominance continues despite red flag on first lap

The Japanese GP was all about strategy with tyres and kicked off well, until the second corner when a crash involving Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon saw the red flags come out. Both drivers were unhurt, but it was a good 20 minutes until the race restarted, giving teams to rethink their tyre strategy.

Verstappen took the lead immediately at the start of the 18-car race, which again saw a minor incident between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, when the Alpines touched going into turn one, while Yuki Tsunoda had a lock up and ran wide.

Being a highly strategic race, Norris was the first of the leading pack to pit on lap 12, followed by teammate Piastri a little later. Alonso, who started fifth on the grid managed to move to fourth before having to change tyres on lap 14, as he was one of the few who started the race on soft tyres.

The Red Bulls were clear at the front before Perez had to pit on lap 16, followed by race leader Verstappen on lap 17, losing his lead to the Ferrari’s Leclerc briefly. That said, Leclerc had a moment, letting Perez ahead to second place.

F1 Japanese GP: The fight for positions

The Mercedes duo had a bit of battle amongst themselves, as Hamilton had to let Russel ahead while also holding back Ferrari’s Sainz briefly. With his tyres giving up, Sainz made a pit stop at lap 35, allowing him to go on a charge from seventh, all the way to third, earning him yet another victory, ahead of teammate Leclerc.

For the Red Bull cars, it was a smooth sail to the finish for Verstappen, who managed to gain a huge lead, followed by teammate Perez and Sainz. Leclerc finished fourth, with Norris taking up the fifth spot.

The battle for sixth between Alonso, Piastri and Russell was intense, with the Spaniard proving to be the better of the three, while Piastri and Russell had a minor incident with five laps to go. Hamilton finished ninth with home favourite Tsunoda finishing in tenth.

F1 Japanese GP results