Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton among three investigations after Japanese GP FP1

Verstappen and Hamilton were involved an incident towards the end of opening practice at Suzuka, with Albon, Perez, Sainz and Lawson also summoned to stewards

Formula 1 stewards were busy after opening practice for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix as Friday's FP1 saw three separate incidents be investigated afterwards.

Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz were under the spotlight, though all incidents resulted in no further action at Suzuka.

One was between world champions Hamilton and Verstappen, where the Red Bull driver was on a fast lap and caught off guard by the Ferrari’s last-minute swerve before 130R inside the final five minutes.

Hamilton was therefore under investigation for Article B1.8.5 of the sporting regulations, which states that “at no time may an F1 car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous”.

But stewards found that Hamilton “had been given no warning” by Ferrari that Verstappen was approaching and that he still remained predominantly to the right ahead of the fast, left-handed bend.

It was also deemed that the four-time world champion managed to overtake his former title rival without having to lift off the throttle or leave the racing line, despite the significant speed differential.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Verstappen also told stewards that he didn’t consider it to be a dangerous situation, so race control opted for consistency with a No Further Action striking comparison to Shanghai last time out.

There, Lando Norris backed off to avoid Kimi Antonelli at Turn 1 in sprint qualifying, but the reigning world champion told stewards that he wasn’t impeded so the investigation went no further.

Another incident under investigation in Suzuka was one between Albon and Perez, after the Williams driver attempted an unsuccessful lunge down the inside of the Turn 16 chicane.

Albon went straight into the side of the Cadillac, which was forced to cut the second part of the chicane while the Thai-Briton went into a spin before claiming “I don’t know if he saw me”.

Perez, who was on an out-lap, confirmed this as he revealed his virtual mirror was not working and he had not received any warning from Cadillac about Albon’s approach.

The American outfit simply thought that Albon would hold position, not noticing how quickly he gained, but the Williams driver thought Perez was letting him by due to his initial wide line.

Alexander Albon, Williams, Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing crash

Photo by: Martin Trenkler / LAT Images via Getty Images

So it was all a bit of a misunderstanding from both sides, who were shocked by the closing speed, with Albon and Perez accepting neither driver was “wholly or predominantly to blame”.

Albon’s team-mate Sainz was also summoned to stewards afterwards for his incident with Racing Bulls man Lawson, who has a history with the Spaniard following their collision at the 2025 Dutch GP.

Like Hamilton and Verstappen, this was also in regards to Article B1.8.5 of the sporting regulations as Sainz was traveling slowly ahead of Lawson at the Turn 11 exit.

It came after Sainz had passed him after Turn 9, but then slowed considerably through Turns 10 and 11, claiming that was because Williams told him of Jak Crawford approaching on a push lap.

So the grand prix winner slowed to ensure that he wouldn’t impede Aston Martin’s FP1 stand-in, which was confirmed by team radio as Crawford eventually passed both cars.

That was despite initial assumptions that Sainz had simply slowed down as an angry reaction to going off and abandoning his push lap when trying to overtake Lawson - but that was not the case.