There is no doubt that Max Verstappen’s individual brilliance was the critical factor in his first win of the season at Suzuka. It is a track where the man in the cockpit can make the difference and that is exactly what we saw over the weekend.

During Sunday’s post-race press conference following Max Verstappen’s win in the Japanese Grand Prix, Lando Norris was asked about how McLaren handled the strategy behind the Red Bull driver. With Norris starting second and teammate Oscar Piastri third,

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has said his brakes and an overall lack of grip led to his underwhelming qualifying position in Bahrain. After the heroics of his pole position in Japan a week ago, the Bahrain GP qualifying session proved a bump back down to earth for the four-time F1 World Champion as he could only manage the seventh fastest time.