It was a third 1-2 finish for Red Bull in 2024 as Verstappen beat Segio Perez whilst Ferrari beat McLaren is a race long duel for the final podium position; all after a huge Lap 1 incident

The 2024 Japanese GP around Suzuka was full of intrigue and overtakes despite being dull at times. The nature of mixed strategies at the front and a battle for the final points finish made an early morning wake up for viewers in the United Kingdom worthwhile.

A huge Turn 1 incident involving Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo brought out the red flags and led to a second restart. This was the thing that caused a mix in the strategies, where Mercedes opted for a one stop strategy and Ferrari did the same with Charles Leclerc. This would work to an extent for 1 of the 3 drivers.

Whilst Verstappen got back to winning ways 12 seconds up the road from a fighting Sergio Perez, who had to comeback strong considering eyes were on him throughout the weekend, it was Carlos Sainz who managed to beat teammate Leclerc to take the final podium position. Leclerc was ahead but worn tyres brought an end to his hopes.

Lando Norris drove brilliantly but could only salvage a 5th place ahead of Fernando Alonso, whilst his teammate was sandwiched in between both Mercedes. The Silver Arrows struggled yet again. Their one-stop strategy did not work and they abandoned it towards the end, salvaging whatever they could.

Russell in 7th and Hamilton in 9th is not what the team would have wanted especially after such an optimistic Friday. Hamilton received damage on the second restart with a little contact with Charles Leclerc, meaning he let Russell by to optimise on their points. The Japanese crowd would cheer though, as home hero Yuki Tsunoda took home a single point for RB.

Verstappen invincible but Perez fights on

Max Verstappen looked imperious around Suzuka. He has won 20 of the last 22 grand prix, which stamps home his domination if anyone dared question it after the DNF in Albert Park. However, there seemed to be less eyes on him than there were on his teammate Sergio Perez.

Suzuka is known to be a driver’s circuit-one that everyone loves and one where the driver can make a real difference. Whilst it was known Max would come out on top in their head-to-head, the gap between the two would be critical. Through qualifying, Perez was close and Max only managed to get pole by 6 hundredths.

Whilst his race pace was slightly weaker, Red Bull would have liked how the Mexican showed real fight to finish in 2nd. His overtakes through the famous 130R not just once but twice displayed bravery and that the Mexican still has the attitude the Milton Keynes-based outfit would and will want in the close future.

Ferrari vs McLaren for 2nd in the constructors

Red Bull are so dominant that we are all keeping a close eye on who is finishing in 2nd in the constructors. Ferrari and McLaren are strides ahead of the rest as far as this is concerned and the Scuderia are slightly ahead of the Woking outfit. However they will be keeping a close eye considering how Lando Norris was ahead of them before his tyre wear ruined his chances.

Oscar Piastri is not doing a bad job for McLaren in his second season, but the team will want him to clean up his race craft. Lando is ahead even though the gap has closed, but being sandwiched in between two much slower Mercedes cars would not be nice for the Australian.

Mercedes failing again

There is a clear divide in how the championship is structured. Red Bull are far ahead, with Ferrari in 2nd closely followed by McLaren in 3rd. There is a gap then to Mercedes and Aston Martin scrapping over 4th, with the Silver Arrows only being ahead by a single point.

Friday was hailed by both British Mercedes drivers as their best day of the 2024 season to date. They believed they had pace to mix it with Ferrari and beat McLaren. However that backfired properly. The one stop strategy was a roll of the dice that was never really going to go well.

We saw this last year, where tyre wear only made aggressive and two stop strategies work. Whilst the German team is trying something different, they have one issue and that Is concerning their car. They need to turn their season around as that gap to McLaren and Ferrari is too big for their liking.

RB’s story of two tales continues

Yuki Tsunoda delivered for RB at his home race, qualifying in 10th and finishing in 10th. He has outqualified Ricciardo 4 to nil and is doing all he can to push for a senior Red Bull seat or anything else outside of RB. Considering he has been there for so long, it is clear for his future that he looks elsewhere, even outside of the Red Bull family if he has to.

Dany Ric ain’t having a good time. No points to his name and nothing really to be pleased about. Crashing on Lap 1 of the Japanese Grand Prix was the last thing he would have wanted to have done, especially due to the fact he will take the majority of the blame to not be wary of a fast charging Williams going around his outside.

Liam Lawson is in the wings ready to take over, and there is little to not say that the Kiwi would do a much superior job than the Australian is doing at the moment.

Williams have major issues

After Australia, it was impossible to hear how Williams would do worse, but somehow this weekend it happened. In FP1 Logan Sargeant found the barriers, thankfully not damaging his chassis. In qualifying, Albon did well to get into Q2 but could not go further and stuff looked optimistic for him at the race start.

He got away well on soft tyres and had an incredibly launch of Turn 2, only to be swiped across by Ricciardo. The damage was high and news says his chassis was damaged but should be fixed in time for the Chinese Grand Prix. For a team with limited money and funds, the hole being dug by crashes is growing deeper and deeper by the number of races in 2024.

Whether it is the drivers fault or not, it is not good and the consistency of these crashes is even worse given their current financial situation. It is no secret and who knows when we may only see Williams arrive with one car at a race weekend.

Negativities to aside, the F1 circus moves to its return to Shanghai China for the first time since it hosted the 1000th Grand Prix in 2019! Can Mercedes find some form and close the gap, will Perez keep closing the gap to Verstappen or will the Dutchman cruise to another 10+ second win in 2024?