Red Bull dominant at a spectacular Suzuka

Max Verstappen added another pearl to his string of victories, with a dominant performance in the Japanese Grand Prix. This was the Dutchman’s third consecutive win at Suzuka, the 57^th of his career. Sergio Perez ensured that Red Bull scored its third one-two finish of the season, its 31^st in total.

Carlos Sainz finished third, making it his third podium finish in as many race starts this year, after he missed Jeddah with appendicitis. For his Ferrari team it was a 25^th Japanese Grand Prix podium, a total only beaten by McLaren’s 27.

THE DAY ON TRACK   

For the start, there was a pretty even split between the 20 drivers in terms of those who opted for the Medium (all in the top ten except Alonso, plus Ricciardo, Tsunoda and Zhou) and those who went with the Soft. However, the red flag on the opening lap meant that seven drivers – the Mercedes and Alpine pairs, Sargeant, Tsunoda and Zhou – all took the opportunity to switch compounds. The Mercedes duo went from Medium to Hard, both Alpines and Sargeant in the Williams went from Soft to Medium, Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) and Zhou (Sauber) from Medium to Soft.

The restart meant the race was effectively shortened by two laps, with the original opening lap and the one to the grid for the second start still valid. Teams thus went for various strategic options both in terms of the number of pit stops and in their use of the available compounds. The most used was the C1 (545 laps, 60%), with the C2 next (281 laps, 31%) with not much in the way of difference in terms of degradation. While the Hard and Medium were the most popular, the Soft (81 laps completed, 9% of the total) also had a role to play, either at the start or in the closing stages, despite it demonstrating significant degradation.

MARIO ISOLA – PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT   

“I think once again today, Formula 1 proved to be a very spectacular form of racing. On one of the most demanding tracks for drivers and cars, we witnessed a race with plenty of overtaking, where a variety of strategies were brought into play, thanks in part to all three of the compounds we chose for this round being up to the job in hand. This allowed drivers to choose from different options, both in terms of switching compounds and in when to make the pit stops.

“While it’s true that, once again, Red Bull and Max Verstappen had the edge which allowed them to secure the win with relative ease, behind them there were some great battles, not just on track but also between the teams on the pit wall.

“Today, was the hottest day of the weekend, with a track temperature at the start of 40 °C which then dropped to 32 °C and so thermal degradation was significant and those who did the best job of managing it were able to make up various places from where they started: here I’m thinking chiefly of Leclerc who drove an exceptional race in this respect, because his one and only stop saw him go from eighth to fourth. The undercut proved to be very effective, but it’s a fact that those who stopped too early were then at a disadvantage in the closing stages of each stint. All these variables created performance differences that facilitated overtaking, which was great for the spectators. Indeed, the fans that packed out Suzuka all weekend-long really added to the show and it was great to see them able to celebrate a tenth place finish for local hero Yuki Tsunoda.”

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR TYRES

The fifth round of the World Championship takes place in Shanghai from 19 to 21 April, with Formula 1 returning after a five year break, 20 years on from when it first appeared on the calendar back in 2004. Shanghai hosts the first Grand Prix of the year to run to the new Sprint format (free practice and Sprint qualifying on Friday, Sprint Race and qualifying on Saturday and the actual Grand Prix on Sunday). Pirelli has chosen three compounds from the middle of the range: C2 as Hard, C3 as Medium and C4 as Soft.

There is one more task prior to Shanghai as, this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, Suzuka hosts the third Pirelli test session of the season, aimed at development of compounds and constructions for 2025. Supporting the sport’s sole tyre supplier in this delicate and important task will be Sauber, running Valtteri Bottas on both days and Racing Bulls, who will run Daniel Ricciardo on the first day and Yuki Tsunoda on the second.