Sergio Perez breathed fresh life into this season’s world championship by beating Max Verstappen to victory in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Perez took advantage of an early safety car to stop for new tyres and leapfrog Verstappen in the other Red Bull.
The Mexican controlled the remainder of the race to take the chequered flag 2.1 seconds clear of Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc, who started on pole position, finished third for Ferrari with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso fourth. Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, two places ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Perez’s win moves him to within six points of Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.
Leclerc started from the front but despite executing a perfect getaway to beat Verstappen to the opening corner, his lead lasted just three laps.
With the Drag Reduction System open in the back of Verstappen’s Red Bull, the Dutchman blasted by his Ferrari rival at 215mph on the main straight to take the lead.
Perez, third on the grid, followed his Red Bull team-mate through two laps later with the double world champion leading a one-two for the grid’s all-conquering team.
From there, Verstappen would have expected to claim his third win of the season, but the race fell away from him on lap 10 when Nyck de Vries crashed out at the fourth corner.
Verstappen immediately pulled in for new tyres but just moments later the safety car was deployed with De Vries’ broken AlphaTauri needing to be cleared.
With the field running at a controlled speed, Perez was able to stop for rubber and retain the lead. Verstappen fell from first to third, with Leclerc also benefitting from a free pit-stop.
An earlier change of tyres also cost Hamilton. The British driver dropped from fifth to 10th once the order had shuffled out.
When the safety car came in, Verstappen wasted no time in moving up to second after he dived underneath Leclerc’s Ferrari at Turn 3.
Alonso was also on the move, sneaking past Carlos Sainz, to take fourth with Hamilton making places, too. Tenth swiftly became eighth for the Mercedes man before he fought his way past team-mate Russell at the start of lap 15.
“Well that was a s*** re-start,” said Russell on the radio. “Sorry, guys.”
On lap 20, Hamilton was then up to sixth after Lance Stroll ran wide at the penultimate corner to allow the seven-time world champion a slingshot past.
Up front and Verstappen was failing to make any headway on his team-mate. And despite a brush with the barriers at Turn 15, Perez followed up his sprint triumph on Saturday with his second win of the campaign.
Hamilton pressed Sainz to the flag – at one stage calling on his Mercedes team to provide him with “more power” – but he was unable to find a way past the Ferrari driver.
Stroll finished seventh for Aston Martin while Russell, called a d***head by Verstappen following their first-lap collision in Saturday’s shortened race, came home in eighth and also posted the fastest lap. Lando Norris claimed two points after he crossed the line in ninth place.
Lando Norris narrows gap on Max Verstappen at final practice in Japan
Lando Norris raised hopes that he could challenge Max Verstappen for pole at the Japanese Grand Prix by finishing final practice within three tenths of the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to an end in Singapore last weekend.
He had set a blistering pace on Friday to suggest the team have put their struggles in the city-state behind them.
The Dutchman’s margin in opening practice was a huge 0.626 seconds over Ferrari’s Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz before beating Charles Leclerc by 0.320sec in P2.
That raised fears that Verstappen, who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles, could dominate the weekend in a Red Bull car which Lewis Hamilton predicted would be “phenomenal” around the high-speed corner track at Suzuka.
But Norris finished just 0.240 seconds adrift of the 25-year-old and just 0.048 ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri as the British team continued to show strong pace.
Mercedes pair Hamilton and George Russell enjoyed a more promising session but remained off the pace of Red Bull and McLaren.
Hamilton in particular struggled badly in Friday’s two practice sessions, finishing 16th and 14th, with the seven-time world champion admitting Mercedes had work to do before qualifying.
The 38-year-old finished seventh in P3, albeit 0.892sec behind pace-setter Verstappen, with Russell eighth.
Mercedes are battling with Ferrari to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship.
Ferrari, who are running a new floor at Suzuka, claimed the edge by finishing fifth and sixth but were over half-a-second adrift of the two McLarens.
Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull claimed fourth, 0.737sec behind his team-mate.
A large number of the teams are struggling with tyre degradation due to the higher-than-usual heat at Suzuka, with a track temperature of over 48 degrees Celsius recorded during P3, raising the possibility of a three-stop race on Sunday.
Qualifying gets under way at 1500 local time (0700 BST).
Max Verstappen returns to form in Japanese Grand Prix practice
A “fired-up” Max Verstappen sent a warning to the rest of the grid that Red Bull are back on form as he set a searing pace to top the first two practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to a shuddering halt last weekend in Singapore, where the team admitted they did not understand their struggles with the car’s set-up around the street circuit.
The 25-year-old was confident of a return to form around the high-speed corner track at Suzuka, where Lewis Hamilton predicted the Red Bull would be “phenomenal”, but all eyes were on the Dutchman who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles.
His response to the struggles of Singapore was immediate and emphatic, finishing 0.626 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz in P1 before beating Charles Leclerc by 0.320sec in P2.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “He dealt with (Singapore) very maturely.
“It was a difficult weekend but he raced very hard. It was what it was. He knew at some point we were going to get beaten and he dealt with the situation well.
“He has certainly come here pretty fired up as you could see from his outlap in P1 today.
“Max knew it was always going to come to an end at some point. That 10th victory meant a lot to him and certainly to the team so I’m glad Singapore wasn’t the 10th in that succession of races. I think he has just shown great leadership and great maturity.”
The second session was red-flagged with a little over two minutes remaining when Pierre Gasly crashed heavily into the barriers at Degner Two, bringing a premature end to the session.
McLaren had been tipped to be the closest challengers to Red Bull and Verstappen this weekend, with Mercedes’ George Russell even suggesting the British team could be favourites.
Lando Norris showed strong pace to finish the day third, albeit 0.464sec off the pace, while Oscar Piastri, who signed a contract extension earlier this week, claimed eighth in the second McLaren.
Red Bull will almost certainly clinch the Constructors’ Championship this weekend at the home race for their engine supplier Honda.
But Sergio Perez was over a second off the pace of his team-mate, finishing 11th in P1 and ninth in P2.
Fernando Alonso claimed sixth for Aston Martin ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon.
Mercedes pair Russell and Hamilton struggled in the opening session, finishing a lowly 13th and 16th respectively, with chief race engineer Andrew Shovlin admitting the team had work to do on the car setup.
Russell claimed fifth in P2 but Hamilton was only 14th, with the seven-time world champion a huge 1.141sec adrift off the pace.
Max Verstappen roars back into top gear at Suzuka
Max Verstappen appears set to return to form at the Japanese Grand Prix after posting a blistering time in the opening practice session.
Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to a shuddering halt last weekend in Singapore, where the team admitted they did not understand their struggles with the car’s set-up around the street circuit.
Lewis Hamilton warned on Thursday the Red Bull car would be “phenomenal” around the high-speed corner circuit at Suzuka and, while practice times must always be treated with caution, it appears the runaway championship leader could dominate again this weekend.
Verstappen, who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles, was the first car out on track and it took the Dutchman just a handful of laps to set the fastest time in every sector.
He finished the opening running 0.626 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who clinched victory in Singapore.
McLaren had been tipped to be the closest challengers to Red Bull this weekend with George Russell even suggesting they could be favourites.
Lando Norris delivered an impressive final lap to clinch third for the British team, ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and home favourite Yuki Tsunoda in the AlphaTauri.
Oscar Piastri, who extended his McLaren contract this week, claimed seventh just behind the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Red Bull will almost certainly clinch the Constructors’ Championship this weekend at the home race for their engine supplier Honda.
But Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez finished only 11th and a massive 1.396sec adrift of the pace-setter.
The second practice session gets under way at 1500 local time (0700 BST).
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