MAX Verstappen returned to the top of the podium winning the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix
There might have been the tiniest glimmer of hope that Ferrari, after winning in Australia, could take the fight to Red Bull, but it was quickly extinguished by the champion team.
Qualifying resulted in another pole position for Verstappen, but it wasn’t straightforward. He beat teammate Checo Perez to P1 by a scant 0.066 of a second.
It wasn’t quite as close in the race, but Perez did put up a better performance than he delivered here in 2023. Perez’s second, only 12-odd seconds off Verstappen, is noteworthy, given Suzuki is a stronghold for his teammate.
Perez’s performance signifies a step forward, and with such encouraging results he is likely to be one on the phone to push for the renewal of his Red Bull contract.
A crash between Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo, on lap one, brought out the red flag and saw the race stopped for around 15 minutes for the repair of the tyre barrier.
The crash was just a lap one racing incident, but doesn’t offer any help to an under-pressure Daniel Ricciardo, especially considering the slew of younger drivers waiting in the wings.
Carlos Sainz was third for Ferrari, ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc. It seems the only inspiration Sainz needed to drive the wheels off his car, metaphorically, was to be fired!
The Spaniard has been pretty perfect in 2024, and is driving as well as he ever has. Charles Leclerc, too, drove a brilliant race to complete a longshot one-stop strategy. His fourth place finish was a testament to his tyre management, while still delivering in terms of pace. Kudos to Ferrari too, which pulled off a rather brilliant strategy for Leclerc.
Lando Norris was fifth for McLaren, and just lacked a bit of pace to make a real attempt on the podium. The crafty Fernando Alonso was sixth, while George Russell overtook Oscar Piastri on the final lap for seventh. Alonso had been dragging Piastri along, allowing him to stay within DRS-range, to protect the pair of them from Russell who had much newer tyres on his Mercedes. But for a lock-up into the hairpin on the penultimate lap, Piastri likely would’ve held off Russell. As it were, Piastri finished behind Russell in eighth, with Lewis Hamilton in ninth.
Tenth position belonged to home hero, Yuki Tsunoda, who drove exceptionally well to score the final point on offer. Yuki Tsunoda’s performance in the 2024 Formula 1 season has been impressive.
At the outset, many would have expected him to deliver results comparable to those of the previous year; however Tsunoda has exceeded all expectations by demonstrating a noticeable improvement in his skills and performance on the track. His ability to elevate his game has been a delightful revelation. It’s especially notable given that many anticipated Ricciardo would be dominating the internal battle at RB.
