Report: Race complete in Suzuka

Carlos comes home in P15, while late-race tests see Alex cross the line in P20

Published

29 MAR 2026

Est. reading time

4 min

A data-gathering finish at Suzuka Circuit rounded out a challenging Japanese Grand Prix weekend, with Carlos Sainz P15 and Alex Albon P20 at the flag.

Both drivers started the race on fresh medium tyres and enjoyed a clean getaway. Carlos initially gained a position, but it was short-lived as the Haas of Ollie Bearman came through.

It was Nico Hulkenberg that had dropped back at the start, but he overtook Alex on lap 4. The Audi driver then spent several laps trying to pass Carlos, eventually making it through at the start of lap 16 after a snap at the final corner opened the door.

As cars ahead in the midfield began to pit, we extended our opening stint, cycling up the order to P12 and P13. On lap 22, the Safety Car was deployed after Bearman suffered a heavy impact with the barriers at Spoon Curve. The Briton climbed out of the car under his own steam but required assistance from marshals as he left the scene.

We took the opportunity to double stack both drivers under the Safety Car, rejoining on fresh hard tyres in P15 and P17.

It took six laps to clear the track and resume racing, with a clean restart across the field.

For the third time in as many races, Carlos found himself battling Franco Colapinto, keeping the Alpine driver at bay until the gaps began to open up once more.

As the race entered its closing stages, and with the points out of reach, Alex made a series of additional pit stops to cycle through various set-up changes and gather valuable data heading into the four-week break.

With good energy management in the final laps, Carlos held off the Alpine behind to secure P15, with Alex crossing the line in P20.

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James Vowles, Team Principal:

“We need to maximise these next five weeks in front of us. It was a painful day today, and I want to make it a line in the sand and make sure we add performance every race going forward this year and fight back towards a point-scoring position every weekend. Well done to Carlos, it was a faultless drive and he did everything he could but that’s just where the car is today. And well done to Alex, he drove perfectly and then completed a test programme that will be invaluable for us for future learning. These next five weeks will be some of the hardest for us, purposefully so, as we dig deep and make sure that we come back with a car in Miami that is worthy of scoring points. “On the huge accident for Ollie, I consider him a friend and I’m glad he has walked away with minor injuries. It’s a reminder to us that we need to make sure we’re not putting ourselves in this situation. He’s a great racer, I’m glad he’s ok, and I look forward to seeing him in Miami.”

Carlos Sainz:

“We got absolutely everything we could out of the car in the race today. Also, another solid start and good pitstop timing meant we did our best possible race, so I’m satisfied with that. The team and I are working well to understand this car and these regulations, and I feel like we’re going into this early break ready to make some real progress on the car's performance. We have to make sure we maximise these five weeks and head into Miami in a better position for the season ahead. Last but not least, very happy that Ollie is OK after that big impact.”

Alex Albon:

“I was in traffic for the race so nothing really happened to me and it turned into a bit of a test session as we wanted to try a few things on the front wing to understand it a bit better and have some data. The car is feeling okay for what we have and the team has been working really hard to get it into a good position in these three weeks. Realistically we are achieving what we can achieve and executing our races as best as we can but we just need to get on top of some issues and get a bit more speed in the car. We have a lot of work to do but we have about five weeks now as a team so there's a lot that we can improve and I think this is going to benefit us so that we can come back stronger in Miami.”

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Report: Race complete in Suzuka

Carlos comes home in P15, while late-race tests see Alex cross the line in P20