Max Verstappen returns to winning ways at Japanese Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton’s slump continues

MAX VERSTAPPEN won the Japanese Grand Prix to make it a hat-trick for the season.

The Dutchman, who won the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia before being forced to retire with brake failure in Melbourne, drove a faultless race.

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The 26-year-old started on pole, took the win and got the bonus point for setting the fastest lap.

Verstappen finished ahead of his team-mate Sergio Perez, who was second to give Red Bull another one-two finish, and moved the Mexican into second-place in the drivers' championship.

Carlos Sainz, who won in Australia, continued his excellent run by finishing in third place.

Verstappen, who beat Perez by over 12 seconds, said: "It was very nice. The critical bit was the start to stay ahead and after that the car got better and better for me throughout the race.

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"Everything went well - pit stops, strategy. It couldn't have been any better.

"The last race was a little hiccup the last race but very happy we are here back on top."

Perez, who was clear on his own in second place, added: "It was a good weekend for the team.

"We are in a good momentum. If you remember here last year was probably my worst weekend.

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"So I think if we are strong in places like this with a lot of high and medium-speed corners, I think we can be strong anywhere else."

The race was stopped on the opening lap when Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo made contact going into turn two.

Both cars were sent into the barriers, which needed repairs before the race was restarted.

After a 30 minute delay, the race restarted and Verstappen was unchallenged as he dominated.

Sainz was third after beating his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was fourth.

He said: "I had a good race. I'm very happy because it was quite tough out there with the degradation but then the clouds came and the degradation went a lot lower and I thought one-stop was quicker and we were on the two.

"I had to overtake a lot of cars out there. Overtaking was tricky, like always at Suzuka, you need to nail the last chicane to get a good run into Turn One. I could finish my moves but it was tough out there."

Lando Norris was fifth in his McLaren ahead of Fernando Alonso, who held off a late surge from George Russell.

But it was a tough weekend for Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes, as he was a lowly-ninth, one spot ahead of Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda.

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