Verstappen secures Japanese Grand Prix victory in clinical fashion
Max Verstappen has won the Japanese Grand Prix in style by virtually leading the race throughout. As he remained under consistent pressure, the Red Bull driver didn't put a foot wrong and kept the McLaren's of Norris and Piastri at bay.
Even though the start was predicted to be a dangerous thing after the track had been wetted earlier in the day, nothing much happened and the entire top 10 retained their positions. Tsunoda gained a place to the detriment of Lawson while Alone moved passed Gasly after Spoon Curve.
Some damp patches remained and the track was fairly cold but it seemed to be no problem as all opted to start on mediums, except the last three as Bortoletto opted for hards and Stroll and Doohan went to take on softs. That gamble of soft didn't really prove very effective as neither driver managed to make progress on them before their early stops, on laps 11 and 16 respectively.
Up in front the gaps remained very stable, pretty much around 2 seconds between everyone in the top 10. The only two with a slightly bigger gap ahead were Leclerc who followed Piastri at 2.7s nd Antonelli trailing his teammate at a similar distance.
On lap 19 Norris reckons the only way to pass Verstappen will be the pitstop as Verstappen is gaining on the hairpin every lap, making it difficult for the McLaren driver to get close in Spoon Curve and the subsequent straight sections.
Russell is the first to pit on lap 20, immediately covered by Piastri. One lap later Leclerc was called with Verstappen and Norris ending up to pit at the same time. McLaren did the faster stop but Norris emerged aside Verstappen on the pitlane exit albeit with the Dutchman still clearly ahead. Verstappen of course didn't want to leave any room so Norris ended up accellerating on the grass, resulting in him slotting back into second and a complaint to the stewards.
Hamilton pitted from second on lap 30 only while race leader Antonelli pitted another lap later, returning them to 6th and 7th, just like they were before the stops. Hamilton though ended up within DRS range of the Mercedes, something he hadn't been in the first stint.
Also in front the situation was back to what it was before the stops with Verstappen leading Norris by 1.5 to 2 seconds and Piastri a bit closer behind Norris. Leclerc meanwhile lost contact with the podium contenders as he trailed them by nearly 7 seconds.
Around lap 40 Piastri seemed to up the pace, coming closer to Norris steadily until the point where he enquired on whether Norris was still saving. The answer "This is Lando's pace" was clear, signalling a possibility for Piastri to attempt an overtake to perhaps look as Verstappen who was still only 1.3 seconds ahead of Norris.
After having been very very close at Turn one of lap 43, Piastri then lots DRS for a moment after a slight misjudgement at the hairpin. Norris on the other hand reduced his deficit to Verstappen to 1.2 seconds but he had yet to get it to less than a second. Piastri on the other hand got that sorted quickly at one lap after the mishap he was again at 0.7 seconds of his teammate.
