VERSTAPPEN WINS IN SUZUKA AS RED BULL TAKE A SIXTH CONSTRUCTORS TITLE
Formula One came to Japan knowing full well we wouldn't get a repeat of Singapore's result and knowing that Red Bull would dominate and dominate they did. Verstappen looked in control all race despite not leading every lap. Verstappen wins his 13th race this season and puts himself ninth in the all time win list in Formula One with Lando Norris equalling his best result of second for the fifth time in his F1 career and Oscar Piastri becomes the latest driver to stand on the podium.
It was a close start with Max Verstappen (Red Bull) going wheel to wheel with Lando Norris (McLaren) into turn one but its the Red Bull who leads.
There was contact into turn one. With Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine) involved in the accident - along with Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) also has damage. Not the best start for the Alfa Romeo’s. The Safety Car is deployed for the debris on the track at turn one.
We get the green flag on lap five with the order unchanged at the restart. Valtteri Bottas is off track and has to turn 180 degrees to rejoin, it was caused by lock up from Logan Sergeant (Williams) going into the braking causes the incident.
On lap nine Alfa Romeo decide to retire Bottas.
On lap 12 the start of Perez's bad day starts with Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull) making contact which spins the Haas around. He’s too late on the brakes and it gets worse for Perez. As he sits in 16th place. This incident caused a VSC just two laps later (lap 14) just as Piastri pits which will have saved him time and positions.
Lap 15 the green flag is shown, as Sergio Perez is retired from the race.
Then the cars started dropping like flies. First went Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) on lap 21, then went Sargeant on lap 25 with his teammate Alex Albon (Williams) following suite on lap 27.
Red Bull then managed to find something in the sporting regulations which meant they could send the retired Perez back out on track to serve a penalty he wasn't able to serve due to retiring from the race so that they don't risk being given a grid penalty for the next race in Qatar. Perez rejoins the track on lap 40, he then returns to the garage and retires for a second time just three laps later.
This result also means Red Bull are Constructors Champions for the Sixth Time.
The next race is the Qatar Grand Prix.
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