Related items

• Max Verstappen’s intent was obvious in padel tennis match – Christian Horner

  Christian Horner knew Max Verstappen was ready to return to winning ways from his aggression in a game of padel tennis as the Dutchman moved to the brink of a third world title with victory at the Japanese Grand Prix.

  Verstappen was imperious around the high-speed corner circuit at Suzuka, beating McLaren’s Lando Norris by over 19 seconds as Red Bull sealed the constructors’ championship with a record six races to spare.

  The 25-year-old’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season was ended in Singapore a week ago, but he hit back in style.

  Verstappen is now within touching distance of a hat-trick of world titles, extending his lead over team-mate Sergio Perez to 177 points, and could even win it in the Saturday Qatar sprint race in two weeks’ time.

  “I played padel tennis with Max on Wednesday and he was properly fired up and made it clear ‘I want to win the race by 20 seconds’ and in fairness he came within 0.7 of a second of achieving that,” team principal Horner said.

  “You could tell from the very first lap in practice one that he was totally focused on this event.

  “It is a circuit that he loves and enjoys. It was an outstanding performance. His laps in qualifying yesterday, particularly that final lap has to be up there with one of the best laps of all-time in qualifying.

  “Max is absolutely at the top of his game, he is the best driver in F1 at this point in time.

  “He’s just got this inner hunger, determination and huge ability. He doesn’t get distracted by the trappings of F1. He is an out-and-out racer. If he is not racing in the real world he is racing in the virtual world.

  “He’s a winner and he loves winning. You’ve seen that competitive spirit at its utmost this weekend.”

  Red Bull are the first team in Formula One history to win the team championship with six races to spare as Verstappen’s victory moved the Milton Keynes-based team 318 points clear of second-placed Mercedes in the standings. It is Red Bull’s sixth constructors’ title since their debut season in F1 in 2005.

  They clinched it at the track owned by their engine supplier Honda, with Horner paying tribute to the entire team.

  “To achieve this sixth constructors’ championship is beyond our wildest dreams. Coming into the season I don’t think we could have ever dreamt of having a year like this,” Horner added.

  “Last year was a very strong year for us but to have kept that momentum rolling through the year that we have had is testimony to all the men and women in the team that have worked tirelessly.

  “To repeat a season like this, to do better than we are doing is impossible. We are riding a wave and we want to ride that wave as long as we can.

  “It is very fitting that we have won the championship here on the 75th anniversary of Honda at their circuit at Suzuka.”

  While Verstappen coasted to the win, it was a tough day for Perez, who broke two front wings and was handed two penalties before retiring on lap 15.

  He then came back into the race briefly on lap 40 before retiring again, with the team keen for him to serve his outstanding penalty rather than suffer in Qatar.

  “It was just a disastrous weekend,” Perez said.

  McLaren showed further signs of their progress by comfortably beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to seal second and third – with Oscar Piastri picking up his first F1 podium.

  “Another amazing day for us. A P2 and P3, so we couldn’t have asked for anymore,” Norris said.

  “We are pushing, we are getting there. The progress we’ve made is pretty outstanding.”

• Lewis Hamilton frustrated by Mercedes tactics in Japanese Grand Prix

  Lewis Hamilton criticised Mercedes’ tactics and suggested he and George Russell needed to “work as a team” after on-track battles throughout the Japanese Grand Prix.

  The seven-time world champion finished fifth at Suzuka, two places ahead of Russell in a race where the pair scrapped repeatedly and aired frustration over the team radio.

  After an early coming together where Russell surged past Hamilton before swiftly losing the place again, the 38-year-old pushed his team-mate off track in a second scrap and they then disagreed over how to defend their places against Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

  Russell was struggling on his tyres having attempted a one-stop strategy, while others around him deployed a two-stop, and Hamilton urged his team to let him through.

  The 25-year-old resisted on the radio before being told “this is an instruction, George” and allowing Hamilton to pass.

  Hamilton was then told to stay within DRS range to help his team-mate defend against Sainz, as the Spaniard had done to thwart Russell a week ago in Singapore.

  “We should have swapped around earlier and I should have got as far ahead as possible to get the gap as big as we could to the Ferrari,” Hamilton said.

  “Because he (Russell) was trying to fight me he was damaging his tyres and I think it just made it all complicated.

  “The fact is we are not fighting each other in the team championship. As drivers it is not important where we are.

  “What is important is that one of us finishes ahead of the Ferrari and to keep the position. Today we really needed to work as a team.”

  Hamilton also disagreed with the team’s DRS strategy.

  “I don’t think that was a good idea at all,” he said. “When they suggested it to me I knew that they obviously thought of it from the last race but it made no sense.

  “I needed to get as far clear as possible. I was on my way, around two seconds ahead and they asked me to give George DRS and I had to come off the gas down the straight.

  “Then he got overtaken by Sainz. He then got past George and he was right on my tail which was not ideal.”

  Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was absent for this race due to knee surgery, with his role divided among numerous other staff while the Austrian was on the intercom.

  The team’s lead to Ferrari was cut in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship – which Red Bull clinched at Suzuka with a record six races remaining.

  Max Verstappen stormed to victory, with McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the podium ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

  Russell, who lost sixth to Sainz at the death, said he had no hard feelings over the battle with Hamilton.

  “The main goal is to finish P2 in the constructors’ championship,” Russell said. “The drivers’ championship is out of the window for me totally. Lewis is in a good place to fight for a good position.

  “The goal is to finish ahead of Ferrari this season and keep on working for next year. No issues on my side.

  “I viewed it as good, hard racing. Of course we lost a bit of overall time fighting each other. You are a bit frustrated on the radio but that is just part of racing.

  “We are not even going to discuss it, there is nothing to discuss. We have bigger fish to fry which is how do we make the car go quicker.”

• Max Verstappen on verge of title as Red Bull clinch constructors’ crown in Japan

  Max Verstappen moved to within range of a hat-trick of world titles by returning to winning ways at the Japanese Grand Prix as Red Bull clinched the constructors’ championship.

  The Dutchman backed up his searing pace in qualifying by easing to victory by a massive 19.387 seconds a week on from seeing his record 10-race winning run ended in Singapore.

  Lando Norris finished second ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and George Russell seventh for Mercedes.

  Verstappen has won 13 of 16 rounds this season, extending his lead to 177 points over team-mate Sergio Perez – who endured a miserable afternoon – and he will have the chance to wrap up his third title at the Qatar Grand Prix in two weeks, potentially even in the Saturday sprint by outscoring Perez by three points or more.

  While it was serene at the front, the race behind was thrilling as Perez was involved in two early collisions before retiring – only to briefly return – and Mercedes team-mates Hamilton and Russell scrapped with each other.

  Red Bull are the first team in Formula One history to win the team championship with six races to spare as Verstappen’s victory moved the Milton Keynes-based team 318 clear of second-placed Mercedes in the standings. It is Red Bull’s sixth constructors’ title since their debut season in F1 in 2005.

  Norris predicted after qualifying that if Verstappen led after the 277-metre dash down to turn one, there would be nothing the rest of the field could do.

  The McLarens put up a strong fight, sandwiching Verstappen as Norris surged around the outside to go second, but the pole-sitter emerged from the first corner ahead.

  Perez was overtaken by Ferrari’s Singapore winner Carlos Sainz and drifted into Hamilton, forcing the seven-time world champion onto the grass.

  The safety car was deployed before the end of the first lap due to debris on the track after heavy contact between Valtteri Bottas and Alex Albon.

  Perez pitted under the safety car on lap three to replace a damaged front wing and fit the hard tyres but re-joined 17th.

  The race resumed on lap five and Verstappen blasted clear of Norris.

  Perez’s miserable start continued as he was handed a five-second penalty for overtaking under the safety car as he entered the pits.

  It soon went from bad to worse as he suffered more front-wing damage in a collision with Kevin Magnussen, forcing him to pit again on lap 13, and was given another five-second penalty for causing the contact.

  The Mexican was put out of his misery on lap 15 as Red Bull retired the car. Remarkably he was briefly sent back onto the track on lap 40, with the team keen for him to serve his outstanding penalty.

  Elsewhere it was a story of battling team-mates.

  Hamilton was soon engaged in a thrilling scrap with Russell, who slid up the inside at the final corner but Hamilton blasted back ahead down the pit straight.

  The battle soon resumed as Hamilton ran wide and had to defend fiercely against Russell, forcing the 25-year-old off the track at the Spoon Curve.

  “Who do we want to fight here, each other or the others?” Russell asked his team.

  Hamilton’s defence was investigated but cleared by the stewards as he pitted first.

  Meanwhile, Piastri had gained an advantage by pitting just as a virtual safety car was called, leapfrogging Norris after his pit stop.

  Norris was soon on his team-mate’s gearbox, urging McLaren to act.

  “The longer I stay behind the worse you are going to make the race for me,” Norris said, adding “What’s he doing?” before McLaren allowed him through.

  Russell rolled the dice by attempting a one-stop strategy on an afternoon where tyre degradation was an issue for all the teams at a baking hot Suzuka.

  But he was swallowed up by both McLarens, Charles Leclerc and team-mate Hamilton – with Russell urging his team to get Hamilton to give him DRS to defend from Sainz, as the Spaniard did a week ago to thwart Russell.

  But Sainz moved past to take sixth as Ferrari gained the edge on Mercedes in the battle for second in the constructors’ standings.