Max Verstappen wins his third successive Japanese Grand Prix: Stats
Max Verstappen's dominance at Suzuka continued as he captured a thrilling win at the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix. The ace Formula 1 driver won a third straight race at Suzuka, bouncing back in style after retiring at the Australian GP. Red Bull Racing had a dominating race with Sergio Perez finishing second. Scuderia Ferrari took the next two places. Here are further details.
57th race win for the Dutchman
With his 50th race win at the 2023 United States GP, Verstappen became the fifth to do so in F1 history. Lewis Hamilton leads the way with 103 wins ahead of Michael Schumacher (91). Verstappen has now won his 57th race in F1. Notably, the Dutchman sealed 19 race wins in the 2023 season out of 22 races.
Verstappen sealed his 101st career podium finish
By winning the Japanese GP, Verstappen sealed his 101st podium finish. Earlier, he became the sixth driver in F1 history to clock 100-plus podiums. Verstappen, who won the F1 title in 2023 and 2022 respectively, went on to claim 21 podium finishes last season. Notably, in the 2022 season, he managed 17 podium finishes. He has 41 podium finishes since 2022.
Verstappen joins these names
Verstappen won the Japanese GP earlier in 2022 and 2023 respectively. He became the fourth driver in F1 history to clock three-plus race wins here. Sebastian Vettel owns four wins. Schumacher and Hamilton have five wins each.
Perez, Sainz and Leclerc do well
Red Bull Racing driver Perez sealed his third podium this season. All of them have been second-place finishes (also Bahrain and Saudi Arabia). Perez sealed his 38th podium finish Sainz, who won the race in Melbourne, took his third podium finish this season. Overall, he owns 21 podium finishes. Meanwhile, Leclerc has started well this season. He owns two fourth-places finishes and two podiums.
Here are the top 10 drivers
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 2) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 3) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 5) Lando Norris (McLaren) 6) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 7) George Russell (Mercedes) 8) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 9) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 10) Yuki Tsunoda (RB Honda)
Constructor and Driver standings of 2024
After four races, Red Bull Racing lead the Constructor Standings with 141 points. Ferrari are second with 120 points. McLaren are third (69 points) and are above Mecedes in fourth (34). Among drivers, Verstappen has 77 points and is above Perez (64) and Leclerc (59).
Early drama in the race
The 2024 Japanese GP race was red flagged on the first lap itself when RB's Daniel Ricciardo moved over on Alex Albon's Williams. It happened on the run between Turns Two and Three. The two drivers touched and crashed at high speed. Both drivers escaped unhurt but the barriers needed repairing. This led to the race being stopped for 20 minutes.
Key takeaways from the race
Verstappen took an early race stoppage but dominated the race in style as Red Bull were in a league of their own. They were sound in their tyre strategy. Ferrari's Sainz passed team-mate Leclerc late on to secure third. Credit should go to Leclerc as he displayed impressive tyre management to run 27 laps on medium tyres. Hamilton finished ninth on another disappointing day.