Sainz took pole position and led the entire race, finishing ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

[4] Current World Constructors' Championship leader Red Bull Racing had an opportunity to secure their sixth title, their second in a row.

[5] The drivers and teams were initially the same as the season entry list, with the exception of Liam Lawson, who was in the seat originally held by Nyck de Vries.

[14] The first session saw Yuki Tsunoda record the fastest time ahead of Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg after a heavy crash for Lance Stroll brought out the red flag in the closing moments, taking himself, Valtteri Bottas, Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu out of qualifying.

[21] The third segment saw Sainz take pole position ahead of Russell and Charles Leclerc, his and Ferrari's second consecutive after the preceding Italian Grand Prix.

Prior to the following Japanese Grand Prix the FIA stated that not giving either of the drivers grid penalties for their offences had been a mistake.

As the race began, Carlos Sainz Jr. kept the lead while teammate Charles Leclerc, starting on the soft tires, jumped ahead of George Russell to take second place.

[27] Having made contact with Sergio Pérez, Yuki Tsunoda suffered a puncture early in the race and retired on lap one due to damage to his sidepods.

Red Bull Racing chose not to pit their drivers during the safety car period, meaning both were running older hard tyres at the restart.

Russell, Lando Norris, and Hamilton were thus able to pass Pérez and Max Verstappen, who were both struggling due to their older tyres.

Fernando Alonso, who had received a penalty during the earlier safety car period due to crossing the pit entry line, had a slow stop, leaving him last.

[27] As the race entered its closing stages, Sainz strategically allowed Norris, running in second place, to remain in range for DRS.

The DRS benefit made it harder for Russell and Hamilton (third and fourth) to overtake Norris and challenge Sainz for the lead.