Verstappen in 'hiccup' admission after dominating Japanese GP - Top Three verdict

Red Bull secured their third one-two finish in the space of four races this weekend in dominant fashion, and look to be unflustered by their Australian Grand Prix nightmare.

Max Verstappen won the 57th grand prix of his Formula 1 career, while Sergio Perez backed him up in almost perfect fashion as he continues to stake his claim for a seat at the team beyond this season.

READ MORE: F1 Results Today: Hamilton endures MORE misery after Ricciardo crash causes chaos

Carlos Sainz has a 100% podium record in races he has started this season as a late overtake on team-mate Charles Leclerc helped him to secure third.

The Spaniard is one of few drivers who have been bullet-proof this year and he has well and truly hit a purple patch at the perfect time in his career, as he looks for another opportunity after he leaves Ferrari in 2024.

The Japanese GP wasn’t a classic at the front, but here’s what the top three drivers had to say after 53 circulations of the Suzuka track...

READ MORE: Ricciardo in HUGE smash with F1 rival as Japanese GP red-flagged

Max Verstappen

"It was very nice," race winner Verstappen said in his post-race interview. "The critical bit was the start to stay ahead and after that the car got better and better for me throughout the race, I don't know if it had to do with the clouds coming in.

"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. Great fans and in front of Honda as well, it's fantastic to win here."

Sergio Perez

"It was a good weekend for the team," said Perez. "First of all, I think obviously with the start, doing that restart again, it’s always quite hard to keep the focus for such a long period of time.

"It worked alright. My second start was a little bit better but just not enough to get Max.

"I think we paid the price a little bit because we were a little bit off balance during that first stint, which meant we couldn’t keep it alive. We had to box and we were undercut by Lando and then I had to push too much on that medium stint.

"But then on the hard stint I was a lot more comfortable. The pace came back. But I think I suffered a bit from that first stint a bit on balance.

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

Carlos Sainz

"I had a good race," Sainz revealed. "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.

"I thought it was on but thought it would be very difficult to get back into third given how tricky it was to overtake the Mercedes in the second stint and how difficult it was to follow," he continued.

"I knew I needed a very big delta to approach Lando and Charles. In the end, we managed it. I was quick on the hard tyre. I really liked how the hard tyre gave me a feeling to push and I got the moves done and got the podium."

READ MORE: Verstappen drops F1 future BOMBSHELL ahead of Japanese GP

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