Japan, 6 April

Max Verstappen broke a "mini-slump" of two wins from 16 races by winning the Japanese Grand Prix on 6 April. It was Verstappen's fourth consecutive victory at the Suzuka circuit in central Japan and broke the momentum of McLarens' Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who won the first two races of the season in Australia and China.

"We still have work to do," Verstappen said. "But it shows that if we do everything right we can get to the top." Four-time Formula 1 champion Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying, which he called "madness". Norris finished second and Piastri third. The track was dry despite rain earlier in the day, causing no accidents.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished fourth, followed by Mercedes' George Russell and teammate Kimi Antonelli in sixth. Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda finished 12th in his first drive. Norris leads the driver standings with 62 points after three races, while Verstappen leads with 61 points.

Most of the leaders pitted around the 20-lap mark, with Verstappen and Norris exiting the pits at almost the same time, with Norris forced to drive onto the grass, unable to overtake Verstappen as he tried to come onto the track.

Antonelli briefly took the lead midway through the race as he spent a lot of time on his first set of tyres. At the age of 18, he became the youngest player to lead an F1 race. In addition, he also set the fastest lap - he is the youngest ever to do so. 

Verstappen returned to the lead after 32 laps, just 1.3 seconds ahead of Norris and 3.4 seconds ahead of Piastri, and took the 64th win of his career.