Formula One: Max Verstappen wins Japanese Grand Prix – as it happened

Lap 33/53: Piastri is the first of the top five to head back in for his second-stop, emerging 12 seconds behind Russell and Hamilton. Tsunoda has gone past Hulkenberg and into the points of his home GP.

Lap 32/53: Magnussen and Bottas continue to battle for 13th, with Tsunoda doing a good job of keeping Stroll at bay for 11th.

Lap 31/53: Magnussen and Bottas are doing battle for 13th at the back of the pack. It’s a 20 second gap between second-place Perez and sixth-placed Leclerc.

Lap 30/53: Verstappen leads from Perez, followed by Sainz, ALonso, Piastri, all on medium tyres. Then come the hards of Leclerc, Norris, Ruseel, Hamilton, and Hulkenberg.

Leclerc gets on the radio and ask who in front of him doesn’t need to stop once again. The response is a simple one: everyone.

Lap 29/53: The top five will all need to pit once more before this race is out but the pack behind them can probably get through to the end as is. Looks like we’re set for a tight, packed run home… at least for every position behind Verstappen.

Lap 28/53: A DRS assisted Norris blasts past Russell with an audacious move down the outside. Verstappen leads from Perez, Sainz, Alonso, Piastri, Leclerc, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, and Hulkenberg.

Lap 27/53: Leclerc comes out of the pits just in front of Russell but the same can’t be said of Norris, who finds himself behind the Mercedes. Russell looking like he’s having much more luck with a one-stopper than Hamilton, back in ninth, is.

Lap 26/53: After doing such an incredible job of managing his tyres, Leclerc runs wide and is overtaken by Perez and now finds Norris right up the back of him.

Come the end of the lap, both the Ferrari and the McLaren pit.

Lap 25/53: Leclerc continues to nurse his tyres magnificently, preventing Perez from getting past him and taking second place off him. Verstappen is once again streaking away in the lead but the Ferrari will only need to pit once more.

Lap 24/53: Hamilton finally pits, with Leclerc now the lone remaining leader yet to make his way through pit lane since the race re-start. The stewards have noted a potential pit lane infringement on Stroll.

Lap 23/53: Perez gets past Norris and into fourth. Russell is the first of the Mercedes to put and emerges ahead of Magnussen -- can he now get through 30 more laps without coming in again? Hamilton remains out there.

Lap 22/53: Alonso is the latest to breeze past Hamilton on his old tyres and, not good for Mercedes, the broadcast is openly pontificating that it’s too late now to change their strategy even if Hamilton wants them to. Norris and Perez are in a fierce battle for third, with the McLaren just able to hold off the Red Bull for now.

Lap 21/53: Verstappen’s fresh tyres prove to much for Leclerc and he blows past him to re-take the lead. Sainz has now gone past Russell, while Hamilton is on the radio demanding that his team change their strategy.

Lap 20/53: Leclerc is yet to pit on his mediums but stays out there, his tyres are now 19 laps old. He’s coming under significant pressure from Verstappen.

Lap 19/53: Sainz is all over the back of Hamilton and gets past him. The Mercedes are on a one-stop strategy it looks like but can they keep the cars out there long enough, with enough pace, to make it work?

Lap 18/53: Verstappen, Norris, and Perez have both gone past Russell, with Leclerc, still yet to pit, still leading the race.

Lap 17/53: After going back Sainz, Perez gets down the inside of Hamilton and moves into fifth place.

Lap 16/53: Verstappen pits and emerges back in third place. Leclerc leads from Russell, while Norris was able to pull of a much-needed overtake of Hamilton for fourth.

Lap 15/53: Sainz and Perez have both pitted. Norris, having stopped earlier, has gone ahead of both. Vertappen leads from Leclerc, both yet to pit, followed by Russell and Hamilton, both yet to pit as well but likely going longer on their hard tyres.

Lap 14/53: Red Bull retains control of first and second, with Verstappen leading Perez. It’s then Ferrari in third and fourth, Sainz out in front of Leclerc. None have pitted yet.

Guanyu has been forced to retire with mechanical problems.

Lap 13/53: Hamilton and Russell are engaged in a bit of a battle for sixth, with the latter now having overtaken the former for sixth. Alonso pits and emerges behind Norris but in front of Magnussen and Piastri.

Lap 12/53: Norris is the first of the leading back to pit at the end of lap 11 and he re-emerges in tenth. Ferrari don’t blink, with both Sainz and Leclerc staying out there. His teammate Piastri then heads into the pits at the end of lap 12.

Lap 11/53: Verstappen leads, followed by Perez, Norris, and Sainz. Alonso is in fifth with Piastri behind him, trailled by Leclerc, Hamilton, and Russell. Stroll rounds out the top ten.

Lap 10/53: On their hard tyres, Hamilton and Russell will be hoping that the drivers ahead of them are forced to pit soon, with the former getting on the radio to ask about the tyre degradation happening to those on the mediums.

Lap 9/53: Alonso is the only driver in the top ten still on the softs but there’s more than a three second gap between him and the driver ahead of him in Sainz.

Lap 8/53: Sainz is on the radio saying that he’s struggling a bit. Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Sainz, Alonso, Piastri, Leclrec, Hamilton, Russell, Stroll. The battle between Piastri and Leclerc is tight, less than a second separating them.

Lap 7/53: It’s now more than two seconds between Verstappen and Perez.

Bottas has also pitted now, while Tsunoda comes in as well.

6/53: Norris has begun the process of asking questions of Perez after the Red Bull inadvertently understeered off the track.

Hulkenberg has also pitted and re-emerges at the back of the pack.

5/53: Verstappen has now opened up more than a second gap on Perez. Norris is third, followed by Sainz, Alonso, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell is back in ninth, and Tsunoda.

It was an awful re-start for Hulkenberg, with replays showing that he lost five or six places after a very slow start.

4/53: Mercifully, nobody else has come a cropper since the re-start and Tsunodo has already gained a place, taking advantage of Russell’s new hard tyres to overhaul him for nine.