Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix for Red Bull with a very strong drive from pole position at Suzuka, beating the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri into second and third.

It was a fine run from the Dutchman in a car that is not the quickest in the field to secure his first victory of the season. Charles Leclerc was in fourth for Ferrari, with his teammate Lewis Hamilton in seventh. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were in fifth and sixth for Mercedes.

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The race was close at the finish, with the front three within two seconds of one another for the most part but Verstappen controlled it with great skill. McLaren might have had a shot at putting Norris into the lead through the stops but took an identical strategy to the Dutchman, who emerged by a whisker with his lead intact.

The victory must be considered a real return against the odds given how strong McLaren have been over the opening meetings this season. Verstappen had been enormously pleased to claim pole with an exceptional lap in qualifying. To then convert it into a victory was a major achievement, although McLaren will be left rueing their strategy calls.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Japanese Grand Prix. Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters

Verstappen is still struggling with the balance of the Red Bull, which has an alarming tendency to veer between oversteer and understeer and a debilitatingly narrow operating window. To bully it to victory on the immensely challenging test of Suzuka was a triumph.

His fourth consecutive win at Suzuka means the Dutchman has closed the gap to Norris, who now leads him by only one point after three meetings, no little achievement for Verstappen given the superiority of the McLaren in the opening rounds.

There was drama when Max Verstappen and Lando Norris almost collided exiting the pits.

Photograph: Mark Sutton/Formula 1/Getty Images

Verstappen held his lead from pole on the short drag into turn one with Norris and Piastri slotting in behind him. The front three swiftly moved into a pattern, a second between them until Norris dropped back to just over two seconds behind the Dutchman, as he looked to manage his tyres by lap eight, in what was expected to be a one-stop race, while Piastri stuck firmly to his tail.

Mercedes opted to pit Russell on lap 19 and McLaren followed, bringing in Piastri a lap later to cover it. Verstappen and Norris then both came in together and exited side by side, Norris going off onto the grass as they rejoined the track. Norris believed he had been forced off by the Dutchman, while Verstappen that the British driver had simply run out of road where two cars were exiting at once. Verstappen held his line, as he is allowed to do, and did not turn in on his rival.

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Both were on the radio making their cases to their teams, both convinced they were in the right. “He drove himself into the grass. Also he pressed off the pit limiter too early, there’s no way that was legal,” said Verstappen. It had been a crucial moment, McLaren left to consider that any strategy other than pitting at the same time as Verstappen might have been superior.

The FIA looked at the incident and deemed it acceptable, stating there would be no further action.

As the remaining pit stops shook out, Verstappen had held his lead with one and half seconds on Norris and both with identical tyre usage and hard tyres to make it to the end. If the British driver was going to take the win he would have to do it on track and Verstappen looked very much to be able to match him for pace.

The gap between the three leaders was stable even as they went even seconds clear of the rest of the field. Norris pushed but even as he closed, Verstappen could step up. Piastri believed he was quicker but McLaren did not switch their drivers.

Verstappen was showing great resolve, doing exactly what he needed to keep Norris out of DRS range, even as Piastri looked for an opportunity to move past his teammate. There was little between all three but none had enough to pass one another and Verstappen held his nerve and his cool to take the flag, a hard fought and potentially vital win in his title defence.

Home hero Yuki Tsunoda, in his debut for Red Bull, having been drafted in to replace Liam Lawson only last week, made a decent fist of it from 14th on the grid, to claim 12th place. Isack Hadjar was in eighth for Racing Bulls, Alex Albon in ninth for Williams and Britain’s Oliver Bearman an excellent 10th for Haas.