Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position to close to within one point of Lando Norris at the top of the drivers’ championship as the top six at Suzuka finished exactly as they started.
Norris and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri had been hopeful of passing the Red Bull during the race – with McLaren undoubtedly in possession of the fastest car on the grid.
But Verstappen proved once again that, in his hands at least, the RB21 can be a contender.
Questions are likely to be asked of McLaren who, despite the fastest car and drivers in P2 and P3, did not try to do anything different with their strategies to make life difficult for Verstappen.