Max Verstappen jumped out of his crew exuberantly into his arms after the world-class performance in Suzuka. The Red Bull Pilot won the Japan Formula 1 race for the fourth time and defended the unruly World Cup leader Lando Norris in the third Grand Prix of the year in the pit lane.
“Wow, what an incredible weekend,” said Verstappen. Four victories in Suzuka in a row did not even make a record champion Michael Schumacher. “What a great turn after a difficult start. We never give up, we continue together,” Verstappen announced after his 64th career victory.
Piatri wants to go past Norris
Norris had to be satisfied with second place. “Max is the last thing I expect from getting space from, but in a good way, a racing driver type,” said the Englishman about a hard duel after the first stop.
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The McLaren driver leads the classification with only one point ahead of Verstappen, who had completely changed the coordination of his car over the weekend. On his 24th birthday, Norris’ team -mate Oscar Piatri raced to third place.
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Red Bull finds it “masterly”
In the final phase of the race, the quick Australian had not received a green light from the command stand in order to take the hunt for Verstappen past Norris. “I had the feeling that if I had the position, Max would have got it,” said Piatri.
In Japan, Verstappen was simply not captivated. “No mistake, absolutely on the limit-only he can do that. McLaren is actually the faster car, but he checked the distance. Masterless,” said Red Bull motor sports consultant Helmut Marko at the TV station Sky. “That was one of your best weekends, Max,” said team boss Christian Horner and called the exit of his top driver “an inspiring performance.”
The only German driver in the field, Nico Hülkenberg, raced clearly past the points as 16 in the kick.
Verstappen ends its pole thirst
Verstappen had to wait 280 days in his 41st pole position. Since the Grand Prix of Austria at the end of June last year, he has not led the starting line -up. His racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase described the star pilot’s masterpiece in qualification as “crazy” when Verstappen had put a magic round on the last minute.
He also confidently defended his fourth pole in Japan in a row. The response time of Norris was shorter (0.24 seconds), but the Dutch (0.29 seconds) changed track in time to prevent overtaking.
The stubborn Red Bull
Before the eyes of the Japanese princess Akiko by Mikasa and 115,000 fans on the Suzuka Circuit, Norris remained second and Piatri as third on the four -time world champion, who also knows how to conceal the weaknesses of his stubborn Red Bull this season.
The weather conditions were about this third Grand Prix weekend. A damp race Sunday followed on dry days when sparking had still lit on the side strip. But the weather on the route did not cause problems.
Zoff in the pit lane
After a third of the race, McLaren tried to finish. On the announcement, Norris supposedly came in at the pit stop, but Red Bull did not fall in. There was finally the right tension in the 22nd round when Verstappen and Norris also stopped changing the tire at the same time.
The red bull star made a slower stop, Norris then almost headed out of the pit lane with him. It got tight at the exit. The Englishman then had to dodge on the lawn to avoid a crash. “He pushed me off,” complained Norris about radio. “He drove to the grass by itself,” said Verstappen unmoved. The rule keepers then did not recognize any violation.
Antonelli writes Formula 1 story
Verstappen came back to fifth, Norris right behind him as the sixth. And who led? Mercedes newcomer Kimi Antonelli! At just 18 years and 224 days. No other driver in this position was the younger in Formula 1 history. On the neck, Antonelli had his Mercedes predecessor Lewis Hamilton, 40 years old, who has started for Ferrari since this season.
When Antonelli headed to the box in the 32nd round, the old order was restored. Verstappen took the lead again in front of Norris and Piatri with a head start around 1.5 seconds. Shortly afterwards, the announcement from the Red Bull Box followed: “Start the gas from now on!” Antonelli finished sixth in the end.
Piatri put Norris under pressure
Verstappen could not be comfortable. But he held his lead over Norris, who had to defend himself more and more violently against Piatri, who in turn finally wanted to be let by his teammate. “I have the speed to grab Max,” the China winner from Australia announced. But there was no go from his box.
The McLaren-internal duel could not matter. He raced undeterred to his first win of the season. “We are far from giving up the World Cup,” announced Marko.