F1 delivered a thrilling Japanese Grand Prix. Often one of the best tracks for drivers, Suzuka has recently proved a difficult track to make overtakes. However, mixed up tyre strategies provided for battles throughout the field this year. Whilst the final result was predictable, the action was exciting, something that should please any fan of good racing.

Red Bull returned to dominate the field after their Australian hiccup. Whilst Verstappen’s win was expected, what surprised was how close Sergio Perez was throughout this weekend. Japan is one of Verstappen’s best tracks and Sergio had a relentless struggle here last season. I fully expected him to qualify in seventh and finish around fifth. Yet, Perez seems to have stepped up his game, only being 0.066 seconds slower than Verstappen in qualifying. He then proceeded to have an entertaining race, battling the rest of the field after his pit stops, to finish exactly where Red Bull need him to. Also, overtaking both Mercedes through 130R was inspired. Channeling his inner Alonso, Perez showed that he has the bravery to stop the second Red Bull seat going down under.

McLaren have had a slightly less fortunate week than the bulls. I fear I was not firm enough in the article I wrote on McLaren’s performance earlier in the year. Whilst the article I wrote back then expressed doubts and reservations on McLaren’s expectations of challenging Red Bull, I was actually certain that they would not be the second-best team this year. Thus, it was not to my surprise to see McLaren now claiming that it would now take another twelve months of development to improve, followed by the shock announcement that David Sanchez, who only started his job three months ago, was leaving.[1] Despite this, the grand prix itself was not even that bad for McLaren. They still look like they are solidly the third best team and can challenge for podiums in the right circumstances. But the team set expectations too high at the beginning of the year, disappointing their drivers and exemplifying the amusement of Ferrari fans. If McLaren had set realistic expectations, people would be singing their plaudits for seemingly dethroning Mercedes as a top team. Instead, we’re all busy wondering what happened to the Red Bull challenger we were promised.

This week’s stewards thankfully proved to be more competent than the ones in Australia. Towards the end of the race, Fernando was delivering another defensive masterclass, driving slowly to keep Piastri in DRS to stop George Russell from being able to advance and overtake on his faster tyres. No twenty second penalty was given to Fernando for driving slowly this week, but when Russell and Piastri had a moment at the chicane, I was nervous that one of them would get an unnecessary penalty. This was because the divebomb Russell made to attempt to overtake Piastri led to Piastri going off the track to avoid a collision. I was initially hesitant that Piastri may get a penalty for leaving the track, when his space was incredibly limited, but then Russell was put under investigation for pushing Piastri off the track. This was even though Piastri benefited from not taking the chicane. But the stewards took the right decision this week, to not punish hard racing. After Australia’s debacle, I was pleased to see the attitude of ‘let them race’ being adopted. I hope future stewards can learn from the fair handling of this incident.

Overall, a good weekend for F1. Suzuka reminded us why it was one of the greatest tracks in F1 history, moves were made across the field, Tsunoda got some points at home and Alpine dropped back like a stone. I couldn’t really have asked for much more.[2]

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[1] McLaren will need “another 12 months” to fix F1 weaknesses, Fillip Cleeren, Autosport (1 April 2024) https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclaren-will-need-another-12-months-to-fix-f1-weaknesses/10593701/; McLaren’s Big Ex-Ferrari F1 Hire Out After Three Months, Josh Suttill, The Race (2 April 2024) https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mclaren-reshuffle-ex-ferrari-f1-hire-david-sanchez-out-after-three-months/

[2] For my thoughts on Ferrari’s race, see my forthcoming article on the five star drivers.