Max Verstappen clinched his sixth podium finish in Suzuka, but came under the scrutiny of the stewards for a defensive move on Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race.
As the pair exited the fast 130R sweep, Hamilton appeared to have the speed to pull up alongside the Red Bull at the chicane but Verstappen closed the door under braking, forcing the Mercedes down the escape road.
"I saw him coming in my mirrors," explained Verstappen.
"Already on the laps before he was closing in quite a bit there. I saw already out of Turn 14 that he had a good exit so I was using a bit of energy and defended into the last chicane.
" I know he’s fighting for the world championship so you're not going to do crazy things, of course, but I think in the end it was all good."
The Dutchman quickly moved off the line, latching onto the back of Nico Rosberg but gradually lost ground to the faster Mercedes while keeping the men behind at bay.
Both Red Bull drivers were among the first to stop on lap 11 and take on the hard compound tyres, from there on Verstappen simply kept his race and position in check.
"The car was feeling quite good, I was trying to follow Nico a bit and I think in general we did a great strategy so the car was working well.
" I managed to keep my tyres alive and to come home in second. Of course that’s also a great result for myself and I think also one of my best races so far, but also for the team and the constructors’ it was a very good result."
REPORT: Rosberg wins in Japan as Hamilton fights back to third
Breakfast with ... Tetsuo Tsugawa
FEATURE: Silbermann says... Snapchat and soap in Suzuka
Chris Medland's 2016 Japanese Grand Prix preview
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…
Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…
The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…
Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…
It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…
Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…