Max Verstappen survived an opening lap incident to dominate the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen led the field at the first race start before the race was red flagged following a Turn 2 collision between Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon, which caused a 27 minute stoppage.
On the standing restart, Verstappen sprinted away to a comfortable 57th Grand Prix victory in F1 during which he only lost the lead during the two pit-stop phases, as he and Sergio Perez claimed a third one-two finish for Red Bull in the opening four races this season.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the podium ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, whilst Fernando Alonso, George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top nine.
Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top ten at his home race as he recorded consecutive top-ten finishes for the first time since Australian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix last season.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen stayed top with 77 points and 13 points clear of Perez, whilst Leclerc sat third and a further five points behind the Mexican.
At lights out, Verstappen made a clean start as the top nine held position despite Fernando Alonso in fifth having been the only driver to start on the soft tyre.
Yuki Tsunoda though got demoted from 10th to 12th by Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas who had started on the soft tyre, unlike the Japanese driver who had started on the medium tyre.
Tsunoda’s slow start consequently squeezed his RB teammate, Ricciardo who got sent into a spin following minor contact at Turn 2 with Albon, who was then collected by the Australian as he ran wide over the grass and the pair ended up in the barriers with the red flag deployed.
Ricciardo and Albon both walked away unhurt whilst the tyre barrier needed proper repair due to the impact from both cars.
Stewards subsequently declared the collision to be a racing incident due to Lance Stroll’s presence on Ricciardo’s left, but iterated that there would of been a penalty if hadn’t been the first lap and Stroll not been involved.
“If this incident had occurred on a subsequent lap, or without the presence of the third
car (Car 18), a different determination would have been made.”
The race resumed behind the Safety Car on Lap 2 following a 27 minute delay which was followed by a standing restart on Lap 3, which Verstappen make another clean start as the top six held position.
Hamilton meanwhile had switched to the hard tyre for the restart but found himself passed by Leclerc, whilst Russell likewise made the same tyre change and was passed by Tsunoda for ninth but recovered the position a lap later.
Hulkenberg meanwhile fell from 10th to 17th at the restart following a mistake through the opening corners.
Up front, Verstappen soon bridged a gap to Perez who ran wide at the second Degner curve during his chase of the three-time champion.
Norris became the first frontrunner to pit on Lap 12 and jumped Perez who stopped on Lap 16, although the Mexican eventually passed Norris for net second on Lap 23 after having cleared Hamilton and Russell with bold inside moves into 130R on Laps 17 and 18.
Verstappen made his first stop on Lap 17 but recovered the lead on Lap 21 against Leclerc who hadn’t stopped, and the Monegasque eventually made his first stop on Lap 27 just as Norris made his second stop but stayed ahead with Russell in-between the pair.
Norris however cleared Russell a lap later but couldn’t catch Leclerc as the pair found themselves repassed by Perez, after the Mexican made his second stop on Lap 34.
Verstappen’s second stop took place on Lap 36 but he reclaimed the lead a lap later after Sainz pitted, and the Dutchman sprinted away to victory from Perez in a Red Bull one-two finish whilst the win was his third straight win in this specific race.
Leclerc meanwhile benefitted from his lengthy tyre strategy to recover from eighth on the grid to fourth at the checkered flag, after he lost third place to his Ferrari teammate, Sainz on Lap 46 round the outside of Turn 1.
Norris finished fifth after struggling with his tyre degradation ahead of Alonso who fought off Piastri’s challenge, but the Australian finished eighth after he was passed for seventh by Russell on the final lap.
Lewis Hamilton finished ninth with the top ten rounded out by home hero, Yuki Tsunoda.
F1 now heads to Shanghai for the first Chinese GP from 19-21 April, which sees the first Sprint Race of the season on 20 April, albeit with Sprint Qualifying now held on the Friday in a format tweak then GP Qualifying following the conclusion of the Sprint.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 53 | 1h 54m 23.566 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 53 | + 12.535 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 53 | + 20.866 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 53 | + 26.522 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 53 | + 29.700 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 53 | + 44.272 |
| 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | 53 | + 45.951 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 53 | + 47.525 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 53 | + 48.626 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 53 | + 1 Lap |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 53 | + 1 Lap |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 53 | + 1 Lap |
| 13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 53 | + 1 Lap |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick | 53 | + 1 Lap |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 53 | + 1 Lap |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 53 | + 1 Lap |
| 17 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 53 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Guanyu Zhou | Kick | 12 | Electronics |
| RET | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 0 | Collision |
| RET | Alex Albon | Williams | 0 | Collision |
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