After a mechanical failure last time out in Australia, Max Verstappen  was back with vengeance claiming his 36th Formula One pole position in Japan. Yet the world champion did not have it all his own way as team mate Sergio Perez almost pipped him in qualifying with a time just 0.666 seconds slower than Max.

In the race, Verstappen was peerless retaining his position off the line as the lights went out for the first time. Then an ‘unsighted’ Daniel Ricciardo moved across the track on the entry to turn 2 to avoid the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll but clipped the front left of Williams Alex Albon putting both cars into the barrier and out of the race on lap 1.

 

 

 

Perez flashback to Japan 2023

The race was red flagged as the marshals spent 25 minutes repairing the barrier, but at the standing restart the delay had no effect on Verstappen who again retained his lead at lights out. Even though he later admitted spinning up his wheels when the clutch was dropped.

F1 strategists believed the quickest way to complete the 53 laps was to stop twice for fresh tyres, although both Ferrari and Mercedes set out to try a one stop. While this created a compelling battle behind the lead, the two Red Bull drivers were imperious and demonstrated the latest Adrian Newey creation is still the class of the field.

Sergio Perez had struggled at the Japanese Grand Prix held last autumn, qualifying only 5th and causing controversy in the race. Having collided with Kevin Magnussen, it appeared that Red Bull had retired Sergio’s car. Several laps later the stewards slapped the Mexican driver with a time penalty for causing a collision.

Perez then returned to the race, completed a single lap then pitted taking the time penalty, before retiring the car the following lap. The thinking was that by doing this Red Bull have prevented the penalty being carried over to the upcoming race in Qatar.

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Red Bull gap to chasing pack remains

Redemption was to come for Checo and he made amends today, delivering a 1-2 for Red Bull together with delivering there most exciting overtakes of the Grand Prix, both on Hamilton and Russell into the fearsome 130R. Sergio finished just over twelve seconds behind Verstappen, though it seemed during the closing laps the team had told Max to turn down the settings on his RB20.

As to the rest of the field, the gap to Verstappen was almost exactly the same 20 seconds as was the case at the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz replaced Lando Norris as the third placed driver and again the Spaniard is proving to the F1 world, it is he not Leclerc who is more comfortable with the Maranello SF-24 challenger.

Christian Horner spoke of the convergence taking place as Red Bull’s competition gets ever more to grips with the new ground effect concept F1 cars. Yet even though Red Bull designed an all new car for this season, the gap to the pack at present is similar to that of the all conquering RB20.

“We dominated from the first lap,” Dr. Helmut Marko told the press. “This was one of the best races this season. 

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Marko issues warning

“The pit stops were super fast (2.1 seconds) and the strategy perfect. Furthermore, we adjusted the wing setup before the race. We reacted, very well to the changed conditions.”

Formula One cars enter parc ferme on Saturday during qualifying which mens the teams cannot change the set up of the car before the race. However, wing adjustments are allowed to help the drivers control the balance of the car better as the conditions change.

“Nobody can beat Verstappen,” Marko declared and when asked about the possibility of Max winning the remaining 20 races this year, al the 81 Austrian could do was laugh.

“I don’t want to think about that at all yet. But Max is in total control.”

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Perez in good books

Verstappen was set to break his own record of ten consecutive race wins in Melbourne this year, but was robbed of this by mechanical failure of his RB20. To win 21 F1 races in a row is a ridiculous notion, yet Marko persists praising his star drivers dominant prowess boy noting he claimed the fastest lap of the race on old rubber.

“That’s a psychological statement to the rest [of the drivers] to show them, ‘hey, this is what I’m about’,” Marko said. The Austrian Red Bull advisor made no comment on the under pressure Daniel Ricciardo despite rumours spreading that he has been given until Miami before Liam Lawson will replace him.

Helmut did address the security of another Red Bull driver who for much of his four year tenure with the senior team has been the focus of criticism. When asked about potential Sergio Perez replacements, Marko jibed:

“It’s very unusual that the silly season has started so early and contracts are already being signed in April,” he quipped. “But we won’t let ourselves be pressurised. 

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Yuki improving

“We’ll follow everything closely and then we will make a decision later. That will probably be sometime in the summer.”

Of interest will be the mood change towards Yuki Tsunoda who Marko has previously stated needs to up his game. Tsunoda battled to score a point for V-CARB taking his tally this season to 7, just three fewer than Lewis Hamilton.

“Yuki has been consistent this season and his mistakes are a thing of the past. Also, he now has himself under control on the team radio,” Marko observed.

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Checo loyalty may pay off

Sergio Perez spoke about his future after the race:  “I am pretty relaxed about it. It’s my 14th season in F1 and whatever comes next… I’m really pleased with what I’ve done in the sport so far.

“I believe it will be a matter of time. The driver market is moving – in the next few weeks, there will be a lot of movement. I expect, within a month, to really know what I am doing next year.”

During the worst of the Red Bull team’s in fighting, Sergio had pledged his public support for Christian Horner, confirming the entire team felt the same. This was in the face of comments from Jos Verstappen accusing Horner of ‘tearing the team apart’ and demanding he step down.

So long as Perez keeps delivering 1-2 results for Red Bull and reduces the points gap to Verstappen from last year, there appears little reason why Christian Horner will see the need to replace him.

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Hamilton says Mercedes strategy was wrong

The Japanese Grand Prix proved to be another false dawn for the Mercedes AMG Formula One team. Both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton hailed the improvements in the W15 car during practice, but as is becoming a worrying trend come qualifying and the race the car was at best the fifth quickest in the field.

Fernando Alonso once again proved his powers are at their peak hauling his Aston Martin onto fifth place at the start. Having lost FP2 to rain, the teams had little long run simulation data and the front running teams had saved different tyre allocations for the race… READ MORE