Japanese GP Report

The Japanese GP was not the most exciting race in terms of overtaking, but it provided us with a tense game of chess as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the duration, with the Dutchman driving a superb race to stay safely ahead.

It was a victory that upset the formbook and surprised even Verstappen and his team, and it underlined once again that he is the star driver of the current generation.

On paper the Red Bull should not have beaten the McLarens, and indeed through the practice sessions Verstappen struggled to come to terms with the car at a circuit that requires a driver to be completely confident in his machine.

However he worked away with his engineers, and come qualifying he was in much better shape. Nevertheless the McLarens were still expected to dominate and indeed Piastri was fastest in Q1, and Norris was top in Q2. Sixth and then third in the first two parts, when it mattered in Q3 Verstappen took pole from Norris by the tiniest of margins, with Piastri a close third. The data indicated that Verstappen found a slight advantage at the chicane at the end of the lap.

Suzuka is not an easy track on which to overtake, and without rain or a safety car to spice things up it was never going to be easy for the McLarens to get by. 

Indeed that chicane advantage would prove crucial in the race, as it gave Verstappen just enough margin to stay out of DRS range on the straight that followed, and Norris could not get close enough. There was also no tyre degradation, and area where McLaren has had an advantage this year.

Strategy was the one opportunity for McLaren to jump the leader, but Verstappen and Norris came into the pits together and left in the same order, with Norris bouncing over the grass on the exit as tried to get alongside, and his lane disappeared.

Despite a plea on the radio from Piastri asking to be allowed past his team mate to have a go at tackling Verstappen the McLarens did not change position, and the top three finished in the order in which they started.

The scale of Verstappen’s contribution to the result was emphasised by the fact that his new team mate Yuki Tsunoda could do no better than 12th after a mistake in Q2 left him further down the grid that his earlier weekend form had promised.

Ferrari led the chase of the top two teams, with Charles Leclerc having a lonely race to fourth ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell. The Englishman had made a costly mistake on his final qualifying run after being as high as second in both Q1 and Q2. His young team mate Kimi Antonelli had another good run to sixth place on his Suzuka debut, using a late pit stop and fresher tyres than others to both lead a race for the first time and to set fastest lap.

Leclerc’s Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton started eighth and tried an alternative strategy by starting on the hard rather than the medium tyres, hoping that a safety car might intervene. He passed the Racing Bulls of the impressive Isack Hadjar to claim seventh in what was one of the few genuine passing moves of the afternoon. Hadjar’s team mate Liam Lawson meanwhile was down in 17th on his return to the Italian outfit.

Alex Albon had a good run to claim ninth in merit for Williams, although his team mate Carlos Sainz was less happy in 14th place as he continues to come to terms with a different car.

Oliver Bearman was again in the points with a lonely run to 10th, with a new floor working well on his Haas. It wasn’t so successful for team mate Esteban Ocon, who started and finished a lowly 18th.

Fernando Alonso claimed 11th for Aston Martin, while his team mate Lance Stroll started and finished 10th and last after a gamble on soft tyres at the start didn’t work out.

It was another difficult weekend for the still score-less Alpine. Pierre Gasly finished 13th, while after a huge crash in Friday practice Jack Doohan did at least move up from 19th to 15th, with a queue of cars behind him at the flag that included the two Saubers. 

Attention now moves to Bahrain. After three events at tricky tracks, and with China compromised by a tight sprint schedule with little practice, Sakhir is a track the teams and drivers know well after testing there in February, while the rookie drivers also all have a head start at a venue they are familiar with. Tyres are likely to be much more of a talking point than they were in Japan.

About Adam Cooper

Adam Cooper logs his 40th season as a motor racing journalist in 2024. Motor racing journalist, author, historian and copywriter. Started writing career in 1985 while still at university, and has been at every Formula One Grand Prix since Japan 1994 without missing one. He contributed to Autosport for nearly 40 years, while other clients have included Motor Sport, Autoweek, Racer, Road and Track, F1 Racing and The Sun.