While it was business as usual for Verstappen after the Singapore blip, it was another nightmare outing for Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who was involved in multiple clashes and ultimately retired from the race.
McLaren’s double podium, including a maiden F1 grand prix rostrum for Oscar Piastri, kept its current momentum up as it focuses on hunting down Aston Martin for fourth in the constructors’ standings with six races to go.
Elsewhere, Ferrari and Mercedes traded blows in the fight for the points places just off the podium, while Fernando Alonso recovered from a strategy miscue to take eighth place for Aston Martin ahead of the pair of Alpines – with Pierre Gasly unhappy at having to give ninth place to team-mate Esteban Ocon.
To recap the action and the talking points, Filip Cleeren joins the Autosport podcast from Suzuka alongside Grand Prix Editor Alex Kalinauckas and Autosport.com editor Haydn Cobb to discuss the Japanese GP with host Martyn Lee.
