07/04/2024
NEWS STORY
Starting from pole, one would usually take it for granted that Max, especially with the added support of his teammate, will sail away into the distance this afternoon not to be seen again until the trackside interviews.
However, other than that little reliability blip we witnessed in China, and the lack of vital data as a result of Friday's 'lost' session, said teammate appears to be in a feist mood this weekend and might well fancy a shot at victory himself.
With FP2 essentially washed-out, the teams had to use yesterday morning's session for their long runs and qualifying sims, hence the lack of data. The teams tried to acquire data from the various compounds over their long runs, using mainly the soft and mediums, the only exception being Aston Martin, both of whose drivers did a long run on the hards.
The pole-winning time was almost seven tenths quicker than the fastest time from six months ago, and this is mainly down to the lower temperatures as well as the obvious improvement from this year's cars over last year's.
Though unhappy with their qualifying performance, Ferrari appears happier with its race pace, though, interestingly, both Max and Sergio have expressed doubt over theirs.
And while Mercedes is also a little happier than last time out, McLaren appears to be the bigger threat.
Once again Fernando is in the mix, but the Aston Martin generally tends to lose steam over the course of the afternoon. That said, the Spaniard, like Suzuka, is full of surprises, and one should never write him off.
Over the years Suzuka has witnessed more than its fair share of incidents, and only six months ago a number of drivers had their races compromised as a result of clashes on the first lap. Indeed, Williams lost both of its drivers due to incidents involving Valtteri Bottas.
Other than the big guns we can expect some drama from the midfield with Tsunoda set to face a stiff challenge from his RB teammate, not forgetting Valtteri, Alex, Nico and Lance.
Overtaking is anything but easy here, and, as we have seen so far this season, the current generation of cars increasingly suffer from instability when closing on another car, making it even more complicated to pass, even with a big speed advantage. Consequently, the undercut is very efficient here and will definitely be a factor.
Then there's degradation, which is high here, and therefore rules out a one-stopper.
The quickest strategy is based on using the softs and the hard, but some teams, such as Ferrari, Red Bull and Aston Martin as well as Magnussen, who only have on set of the C1 available, will have to try something else.
They could opt to discard the soft in favour of the medium, which proved to be competitive in free practice, or they could use all three compounds. It all adds up to what should be an interesting race from start to finish.
Air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 40 degrees, noticeably up on yesterday and therefore adding to the conundrum... especially for the likes of Mercedes.
For the first time this weekend the sun is shining as the pitlane opens and the drivers begin to head out.
Due to the warmer temperatures the drivers complete more laps than usual before taking their places on the grid.
Russell complains of an anti-stall issue, while Alonso has lost the "protection of the power switch".
On the grid, Fred Vasseur fears that Alonso will go aggressive and start on his fresh set of softs... teammate Stroll has three sets.
"The deg will be important as it is much hotter," adds the Ferrari boss. "Yesterday, the deg was under control for us but let's see."
Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Sainz, Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Zhou all start on mediums, the rest are on softs. All are on fresh rubber. As expected, Alonso is the first of the soft runners.
They head off on the formation lap, all get away without any issues.
The grid forms.
They're away.
All get away cleanly, and through th4e first complex of corners, as Norris and then Piastri frustrate Alonso. However, the race is red flagged as a result of an incident further back at Turn 3 involving Albon and Ricciardo.
Replay shows the pair battling for position and as Albon goes for the gap on the outside of Ricciardo, the Australian moves to his right to avoid Stroll and clips the left-front of the Williams with his right-rear in the process.
"He just squeezed me, there was nowhere to go," says Albon.
There is significant damage to the Williams and the barrier.
At the restart the order will be: Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Sainz, Alonso, Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Tsunoda, Ocon, Gasly, Stroll, Magnussen, Sargeant and Zhou.
Leclerc is told that it will be at least 15 minutes before the restart and that it will be a standing start.
Race Control confirms that the race will restart at 14:32, as the stewards confirm that the clash that caused the red flag will be investigated after the race.
Hamilton has switched to hards, as has Russell, while Alonso sticks with his softs. Hards for the Alpine and Sargeant pair also, while Tsunoda switches to softs. Sainz and Leclerc are on fresh mediums.
They head off for the second formation lap.
The grid forms (again).
They're away (again). This time the entire field gets through the first complex cleanly. Again, Alonso is under pressure from Piastri.
At the end of Lap 3, it's Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Sainz, Alonso, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Russell. Hulkenberg had a poor start, while both Mercedes drivers were passed, Russell the result of a lock-up
"Pierre gave me a hit at the side," reports Ocon, "let me know if it's OK!"
"Ocon is struggling on the hard," Stroll is told, "it's important to get past him if we can." The Canadian duly obliges.
Perez goes wide in Turn 9 on Lap 6, allowing Norris to close the gap.
Bottas and Hulkenberg both pit at the end of Lap 6, both switching to hards. No dramas for the Stake team this time around.
Next time around Tsunoda pits as does Zhou.
While it is nice and warm it is also very windy.
Magnussen leaves Gasly for dead to claim 12th.
"I see Lando is struggling a bit," reports Sainz.
Norris is told that the power of the undercut is significant.
"Steering is starting feel a bit strange, a lot of vibrations," reports Russell.
Alonso has dropped 3.5s behind Sainz as his softs appear to fall off the cliff.
"We are seeing high deg on the medium runners," Hamilton is told.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.
A mistake by Gasly allows Sargeant to nail him for 13th.
"Box, box!" Norris is told on Lap 11. The McLaren driver duly pits, rejoining in 10th behind Stroll.
Piastri pits at the end of Lap 12, the Australian rejoining in 12th as Stroll also pits.
"Shall I let George by?" asks Hamilton. "Swap positions," he is told.
Alonso pits at the end of Lap 13, as Zhou appears to have an issue during his stop and Norris posts a new fastest lap (35.761).
Alonso rejoins in 8th, ahead of Magnussen and Piastri, however the Australian subsequently passes the Dane.
Zhou has retired.
"Box, box!" Sainz is told. The Spaniard subsequently stops, as does Perez.
The Mexican rejoins in 6th and the Spaniard in 7th, ahead of Alonso.
Bottas passes Ocon for 12th.
After 15 laps, Verstappen now leads by 17.162s. However, the Dutchman subsequently stops, rejoining in second, as, behind him, Norris goes around the outside of Hamilton in Turn 1.
Perez passes Hamilton for 5th in 130R, a brave, brave move by the Mexican.
Bottas is up to 11th having passed Sargeant.
Next time around, Perez passes the second Mercedes as they head into 130R.
"Tyres are dropping, front-right is dead," reports Hamilton who is subsequently passed by Sainz.
Ocon pits and rejoins in 16th, just ahead of his Alpine teammate.
At the start of Lap 21, Verstappen sweeps by Leclerc on the pit straight to reclaim the lead.
"Change this strategy!" demands Hamilton as his teammate comes under intense pressure from Sainz.
To add to the seven-time world champion's frustration, he is demoted to 8th when passed by Alonso.
"We need to push now, push now," Ocon is told. "I am pushing, what are you talking about," the Frenchman demands.
Having been passed by Perez in the chicane, Russell pits, as do Magnussen, Bottas, Stroll, Sargeant and Tsunoda.
Russell rejoins in ninth as teammate Hamilton is told: "Box, box!"
Hamilton rejoins in 9th as Stroll is under investigation for a pitlane infringement.
On his fresh rubber Russell posts a new fastest lap (35.149).
"How did I lose so much time?" asks Hamilton. "Traffic and degradation," he is told.
A mistake sees Leclerc run wide and as Perez slips through Norris also closes in.
Told to pit, Norris asks: "Why so early?" Nonetheless, both he and Leclerc pit.
Leclerc rejoins in 6th while Norris loses out to Russell and rejoins in eighth.
Norris passes Russell with a nice move to claim seventh.
As Leclerc closes on Piastri, will the Australian back the Ferrari up into the clutches of his McLaren teammate?
"Lots of turbulence down this back straight," reports Russell. "My helmet's flying off my head."
In tenth, Tsunoda is under pressure from Stroll, Hulkenberg, Bottas and Magnussen.
Perez and Alonso pit at the end of Lap 33, the Mexican rejoins in 5th and the Spaniard 8th.
Verstappen stops at the end of Lap 34, as Bottas accuses Magnussen of weaving.
Verstappen rejoins in second, as Sainz leads.
Also at the end of Lap 34, Stroll and Sargeant both pit.
Quickest in all three sectors, Perez posts a new fastest lap (33.945) and passes Leclerc into the bargain.
Sainz pits at the end of Lap 36, rejoining in 7th, like much of the field, on hards.
As Sainz climbs all over the back of Hamilton, Leclerc will need to stop again as will the Mercedes pair.
Indeed, Russell duly stops and rejoins in 9th on mediums.
"Should we extend or not," asks Hamilton who is lapping 2s a lap slower than Alonso and Piastri who are closing in.
After 40 laps, it's: Verstappen, Perez (+ 8.5s), Leclerc (+ 4.8s), Norris (+ 1.9s), Sainz (+ 4.1s), Alonso (9.3s), Piastri (+ 0.7s). Russell (+ 8.4s), Hamilton (+ 9.6s) and Tsunoda (+ 17.4s), Hamilton having pitted.
"Am I on a race here or what," asks Sainz referring to his Ferrari teammate. "Yes," he is told.
"What's the gap ahead," asks Hamilton, "we've lost even more time." "He is told it's down to his in lap.
Sargeant goes off at the second Degner, the car appears ok but he has dropped to last.
Relay shows that he clipped the kerb at Degner 1 which upset his car. Luckily he was able to keep it out of the barriers. He subsequently pits.
A lock-up from Norris gives Leclerc breathing space while allowing Sainz to close in. The Spaniard passes the McLaren on the pit straight to claim fourth. Next up is Leclerc who is 1.7s up the road.
"One more to go for the podium," Sainz is urged.
"We are racing Norris," Leclerc is told.
Sainz goes around the outside of his teammate in Turn 1, much to the obvious delight of the crowd.
Elsewhere, Stroll makes a nice move on Bottas to take 12th, with the Finn subsequently losing out to Hulkenberg also.
Lap 46 sees a new fastest lap from Sainz (33.841).
Russell is closing on Piastri who has Alonso just 0.8s ahead.
"It's unbelievable how bad our speed is on the straights, man," complains Stroll.
Russell makes a move on Piastri in the final chicane, both having access to DRS, and somehow the Australian, who runs over the kerb, holds on.
Race Control has noted the incident... forcing another driver off track.
Alonso appears to be helping Piastri by keeping within DRS range. Pay back to Russell for Melbourne?
Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.
On the penultimate lap, Tsunoda posts a personal best.
Ahead of the final lap, a mistake in the chicane allows Russell to close in on Piastri, the Mercedes driver nailing the McLaren on the run to Turn 1.
Verstappen takes the flag, ahead of Perez, while Sainz claims third, ahead of Leclerc, Norris, Alonso, Russell, Piastri, Hamilton and Tsunoda.
Hulkenberg is eleventh, ahead of Stroll, Magnussen, Bottas, Ocon, Gasly and Sargeant.
The Piastri/Russell incident will be investigated after the race.
"I had a good race so I'm very happy," says Sainz. "It was quite tough out there with the degradation, but the clouds came and the degradation got easier so I thought the one-stop might be better.
"I had to overtake today and overtaking isn't easy, it was tough out there. I knew I needed a very big delta to approach Lando and Charles and in the end we managed it, and I could get that podium."
"It was a good weekend for the team," adds Perez, "especially with the start and restart. My second start was better but not enough to get Max.
"We were undercut by Lando so I had to push too much on the medium stint, but on the hards I was able to push and come back.
"I think we are in a good momentum, here last year was probably my worst weekend so if we are strong in places like this, I think we can be strong everywhere."
"It was very nice," says Verstappen, "the critical bit was the start... to stay ahead. And after that, the car got better and better for me throughout the race. Pit stops went well, strategy went well, couldn't really have gone better.
"The last race was a little hiccup but happy to be back here and back on top. It's fantastic to win here!"
It remains to be seen what the stewards make of the Ricciardo/Albon clash, whilst the Russell/Piastri incident is also under investigation.
Not a thrilling race, but entertaining, what with the lack of data available and the subsequent gambles on strategy, some of which worked while some didn't.
Also, some great passes, passes only possible on such tracks, which, unlike the dreaded street circuits, have been built with racing in mind.
That aside, just four races in it's all beginning to look little familiar.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.