Verstappen carried a freight train of momentum in the grand prix, having topped every session of the weekend and taken pole by more than half a second.
Victory wouldn’t be denied to him, though the McLaren teammates came close, sandwiching him into the first two corners to try to generate a battle.
But some expert car positioning forced both rivals to yield, and suddenly he had only the open road ahead of him.
By the end of the 53-lap race, Verstappen had powered to a 19.3-second victory, stamping his authority all over the field and Red Bull Racing’s superiority on the championship battle.
This is the team’s second consecutive championship and sixth overall, putting it sixth on the list of teams title-winners behind Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Mercedes and Lotus.
“Unbelievable, guys. You deserved that” he said, praising his team on the cool-down lap. “You’ve built a rocket ship of a car.
“You can all be very proud here at the track, back at the factory - everyone.”
Victory moves Verstappen 177 points clear of teammate Sergio Pérez in the drivers championship and into the box seat to seal the title at the next round in Qatar in a fortnight.
The Dutchman will likely claim the championship next Saturday in the sprint race, where he need only prevent Pérez from outscoring him by six points to secure his third crown.
Norris collected his fourth second-place finish of the season after a brief tussle with teammate Piastri.
The Briton moved up to second place off the line but lost the position to the Australian at the first pit stops, when a conveniently timed virtual safety car made the difference.
It left Norris more than seven seconds adrift of the sister car but wasted little time shutting down that gap before radioing the team that he should be let through as the faster driver.
The McLaren pit wall acquiesced to the request, and Norris sprinted away to a 17-second win over his teammate, striking back after his narrow qualifying defeat the day before.
“Another amazing day for us,” he said. “We couldn’t have asked for any more.
“We’re not close to Max but we’re not miles away either.
“We’re getting there. The progress we’ve made is outstanding. I’m proud of the team, the steps forward we’re making every weekend.”
McLaren was enjoying a strong day at the Suzuka Circuit, with only George Russell on a one-stop strategy troubling Piastri’s run to his maiden podium.
Piastri fell to fourth behind the Mercedes driver after his second pit stop and struggled to get by, exacerbating the gap to Norris ahead. It took a forceful move around the outside of the first turn to secure his maiden podium finish.
“It feels pretty special, definitely,” he said. “I remember it for a very, very long time.
“I can’t thank the team enough for giving me this opportunity. There aren’t many people in the world who get this opportunity in their whole life; I’ve managed to have it in my first season.”
Charles Leclerc finished a comfortable fourth for Ferrari ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, who all passed the one-stopping Russell in the final eight laps.
Russell held up teammate Hamilton for much of the final stint until the Mercedes pit wall intervened, but the older Briton lamented afterwards that an earlier call could have given him time to pursue fourth place.
Russell finished seventh ahead of Fernando Alonso and Alpine teammates Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
AlphaTauri teammates Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda were closely matched in 11th and 12th ahead of Zhou Guanyu and Haas duo Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.
Sergio Pérez retired after requiring two crashes - one with Hamilton and another with Magnussen. Valtteri Bottas caused a start-line crash with Alex Albon and was later punted off the road by Logan Sargeant, causing all three to retire with damage, while Lance Stroll’s race ended early with a broken rear wing.