Max Verstappen: We won the constructors’ championship!

Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix and gave the Red Bull Racing team their sixth ever victory in the constructors’ championship. For the driver himself, the victory in Suzuka was the 13th of the season and the 48th of his career.

Max’s lead over Sergio Perez in the individual championship has grown to 177 points, meaning that Verstappen can secure the 2023 world champion title earlier than planned at the next round in Qatar.

For Sergio Perez, the race was not so successful – at the start the Mexican collided with Lewis Hamilton and during the race with Kevin Magnussen, for which he received a 5-second penalty and penalty points.

Sergio returned to the pits, the mechanics spent more than twenty laps restoring his car, after which Perez took to the track to serve 5 seconds for the collision with Magnussen, so that this penalty would not be carried over to the next stage . Then Sergio returned to the pits and retired completely.

Max Verstappen (1st): “An incredible weekend and a great victory! Our car was fast on all tire compounds, but most importantly we won the Constructors’ Championship! I am very proud of all the team members – both those working on the road and those working at the grassroots level. We have had a fantastic year and are very proud of the result.

The start was the only moment where I had problems due to severe wheel slip. But after that the race turned out to be quite simple.”

Sergio Perez (departure): “I had a terrible start and in the first corner I found myself as a passenger – Carlos Sainz was driving on the right, Lewis Hamilton on the left – they just tore off the end plate of my front wing. Coming out of the second turn I was missing part of the wing. I went to the pits to get a new one, but the front wheels still wouldn’t hold the track. The car probably suffered even more damage.

You have to evaluate the whole weekend to understand what exactly happened, because we had a very bad stage. On Friday we were choosing between different settings. We need to understand where there are opportunities to improve.”

Christian Hoorner, team manager: “The team had the most amazing race in the most amazing season. The result was made possible by the work of all the men and women at the Milton Keynes base.

This victory belongs to Red Bull and all our partners. Everyone contributed to achieving such results. Max is currently performing at a different level.”