Max Verstappen wins the Japanese Grand Prix without breaking a sweat. He was followed by Perez in second place giving the Redbulls another 1-2. Carlos Sainz continues his impressive start to the season with third.
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The Start
The first start of the Japanese Grand Prix lasted around 2 corners before the red flag was thrown, with Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon in the barrier at turn two. Unfortunately for Alex and Williams it was a case of wrong place, wrong time as the RB driver didn’t see the Williams as he took the racing line heading into turn 2.
Not the race that Daniel Ricciardo wanted to have after an underwhelming start to the 2024 season. For Williams the crash has brought the chassis issue back into discussion as it was a pretty big hit for both cars.
The Re-Start
No such dramas for the r-start, Verstappen maintained the lead from Perez in second. Further down the order George Russell locked up going into turn 1 that delayed his progress. The Alpines had a bit of contact but they were able to continue with no issues.
The Race
The race settled down as the pit-stops began. Verstappen had built up a 5 second gap from Perez, behind them the rest of the field were working on the undercut and covering off other cars from the undercut.
The third retirement in the race was for the Sauber of Zhou who suffered a gearbox issue and was out with only a handful of laps on the board.
As the race developed, it was clear that it was Verstappen’s to lose (again), but further down the order, the racing was looking good. Perez passing the Mercedes cars in 130R was impressive. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri also joined the party with some impressive moves into turn 1.
The race has been set up for an exciting last 10 or so laps with all team (except Redbull) trying to make sure that they are on the right tires and in the best possible track position, the ultimate game of chess ..
With 20 laps to go the Alpine cars were stuck in the last two places, the GP highlighting the lack of power with the Renault power unit.
The race developed as expected with teams trying to plan for the last few laps, the Ferrari cars were allowed to fight, however it wasn’t much of a fight as Carlos Sainz took the final podium position over his teammate Leclerc. Carlos continues to have a great season so far, letting all the other teams know he is available and ready to go.
Yuki Tsunoda is another driver that is enjoying a great start to the season and grabs a point at his home GP, he has matured this season and has been rewarded with his first point in his home GP.
With 3 laps to go George Russell and Oscar Piastri had a pretty good scrap, however Russell drew the attention of the stewards with a dive down the inside of the McLaren at the chicane forcing the Australian to skip the corner.
Fernando Alonso finished in 6th place just in front of the Piastri/Russell battle keeping the Aston just about away from any attacks.
The battle between Pastri and Russell was finished at the end of the penultimate lap when the McLaren ran slightly wide at the chicane, this allowed the Mercedes to get the run into turn 1 and securing seventh place.
The 2024 Japanese GP was not a procession, however it will be a struggle to see what any team can do to beat the Redbulls at the minute they are not even coming close.
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