McLaren remains the team to beat in Formula 1, but Max Verstappen’s victorious drive for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix Sunday proves only excellence is good enough. 2nd and 3rd placed Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri still have the fastest all-round car for McLaren on the F1 grid.

F1 race winner Johnny Herbert has compared Max Verstappen to Michael Schumacher after his comment prior to his terrific win at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The superlatives used to describe Max Verstappen’s Japanese Grand Prix performance, where pole position set him up to win the race ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, have flowed in the past two days.