Red Bull and Max Verstappen will be hoping to get back to winning ways this weekend in Japan after an early DNF saw the Dutch man end his nine race winning streak. 

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crossed the checkered line first to claim the top spot on the podium, followed by his current teammate Charles Leclerc in second and his former McLaren teammate Lando Norris placing third.

This was the Spanish drivers first time back in F1 having missed out on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as a result of needing emergency surgery for his appendix.

The Japanese Grand Prix will take place this weekend, which will be the first time in the event’s history that Japan have hosted a Grand Prix in April.

Here is everything you to know about this race weekend including qualifying and race times.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull will be looking to get back to winning ways this week in Japan

The Dutch driver had a DNF after suffering a technical failure in the opening laps of the Australian Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz won the race followed by his teammates Charles Leclerc and former McLaren teammated Lando Norris

Japanese Grand Prix – Key information

The Japanese Grand Prix will take place on Sunday, April 7 at the Suzuka circuit.

Sunday’s race will see lights out at 2pm local time, 6am BST / 1am ET / 10pm PT (Saturday night) / 3pm ACST / 2:30pm AEST.

There will be three practice sessions before Saturday’s qualifying sessions.

Verstappen won last year’s Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

The Japanese Grand Prix Schedule

Friday, April 5

3:30am: Japanese GP Practice One
am: Japanese GP Practice Two

Saturday, April 6

3:30am: Japanese GP Practice Three
7am: Japanese GP Qualifying

Sunday, April 7 

6am: The Japanese Grand Prix

*All times BST*

Where to watch

The Japanese Grand Prix is set to be shown live on Sky Sports F1 – with coverage starting at 4:30am.

Sky Sports F1 will also be showing live coverage of all three practice sessions and the qualifying on Saturday.

Fans will also be able to stream the race live on the official Sky Go app.

Highlights of the action will be uploaded to the official Formula One YouTube channel after the race.

Mail Sport will also be providing live coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix so you can keep up-to-date with all the latest developments here.

This weekend’s Grand Prix will take place at the Suzuka circuit in Japan on Sunday

Why has the Japanese Grand Prix changed date?

It may take many Formula One fans by surprise to see the next race following Australia is in Japan as usually the Suzuka circuit features much later in the F1 calendar

This year’s race was  moved to early April as part of F1’s bid to become more sustainable and net zero carbon by 2030.

The Japanese Grand Prix was one of the few races that saw it’s traditional date change as it was moved up earlier in the F1 calendar so it takes place in between the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix.

Therefore the organisation is wasting less on carbon emissions by taking shorter flights.