Japan The sadness from the defeat in Australia two weeks ago was quickly erased by Red Bull F1 when Max Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez won a double victory at the Japanese Grand Prix this afternoon, April 7.
The advantage of the early start helped both RB19s dominate the rest, although the race was interrupted early on lap 1 when a collision between Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Alex Albon (Williams) caused severe damage to the barrier. The race had to be stopped for 20 minutes to repair the barrier to ensure the safety of the drivers.
Verstappen's RB19 drives past a grandstand on the Suzuka circuit during the main round of the Japanese Grand Prix on the afternoon of April 7. Photo: Reuters
But when they returned, the Red Bull duo quickly increased the gap, racing to the finish line and leaving the rest of the group far behind. Completing 53 laps at Suzuka in 1 hour 54 minutes 23.566 seconds, Verstappen won the 57th race of his F1 career. The defending champion also extended the gap to second-placed driver Perez to 13 points, despite having to retire in the previous race.
The race at the back was fierce as the remaining strong teams fought for the remaining top three spots. McLaren's British driver Lando Norris had the advantage of starting third, but was unable to hold on to his position after a fierce battle for tyre life. Thanks to better pace in the long run, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc beat Norris to push the McLaren number one down to fifth.
Norris held Sainz - who started fourth - back early in the race, until he had to pit early on lap 11. Thanks to his good tire holding ability, Sainz pitted 10 laps later than Norris. The late pit stop allowed Sainz to gain good pace in the final stages of the race, allowing him to overtake Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Norris and teammate Leclerc to finish third.
Sainz surpassed teammate Leclerc to finish in the top 3. Photo: AFP
The impressive performance saw Sainz finish on the podium for the third time in four races of the season. The only time the Spaniard missed out on the top three was when he had to rest due to appendicitis surgery at the Saudi Arabia race. Sainz's impressive form was somewhat regrettable, as Ferrari had already announced that they would not be renewing the Spaniard's contract.
Leclerc also had an impressive race and at one point seemed to have stopped teammate Sainz's advance. The Monaco driver went straight from eighth to the front thanks to an extremely daring one-stop strategy and good tyre holding. Leclerc ran 27 laps on the medium tyre from the start of the race. The Ferrari number one showed impressive tyre management by running for so long on the medium tyre, and was the only driver in the top 10 to make the one-stop strategy.
Despite being nearly 10 seconds ahead of Sainz after his teammate made his final pit stop with 17 laps remaining, Leclerc was unable to advance further due to tire wear. Ferrari warned Leclerc to "not waste time" holding his teammate Sainz back as they were both using different tactics. Accordingly, Leclerc had to let Sainz pass early before focusing on blocking Norris behind to hold on to fourth place at the finish.
Charles Leclerc runs ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren) and George Russell (Mercedes) on the Suzuka racetrack on the afternoon of April 7. Photo: Reuters
After the race, Sainz admitted that the race was very difficult and was happy with the result, having to manage the wear of the tyres due to the high temperatures at the beginning of the race compared to the testing sessions. "At the end of the race, there was a lot of cloud, the temperature dropped a bit, so the wear was significantly lower, so at that time I thought the one-stop strategy was completely feasible. Ferrari used two different strategies for both of us, it was successful and favorable," the Spaniard added.
2024 Japanese Grand Prix Results
Rank on one's own | Racer | Team | Location start | Number of times to pit | Fastest individual lap | Achievements | Point |
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 3 | 1 minute 33.706 seconds | 1 hour 54 minutes 23.566 seconds | 26 |
2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 2 | 3 | 1:33,945 | +12,535 seconds | 18 |
3 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 4 | 3 | 1:33,841 | +20,866 | 15 |
4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 8 | 2 | 1:35,044 | +26,522 | 12 |
5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 3 | 3 | 1:35,186 | +29,700 | 10 |
6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 5 | 3 | 1:34,726 | +44,272 | 8 |
7 | George Russell | Mercedes | 9 | 3 | 1:34,404 | +45,951 | 6 |
8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 6 | 3 | 1:34,802 | +47,525 | 4 |
9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 7 | 3 | 1:33,952 | +48,626 | 2 |
10 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 10 | 3 | 1:36,342 | +1 lap | 1 |
11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 12 | 3 | 1:35,325 | +1 lap | |
12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 16 | 4 | 1:35,798 | +1 lap | |
13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 18 | 2 | 1:36,654 | +1 lap | |
14 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 13 | 3 | 1:36,608 | +1 lap | |
15 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 15 | 3 | 1:36,232 | +1 lap | |
16 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 17 | 3 | 1:36,642 | +1 lap | |
17 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 19 | 4 | 1:34,900 | +1 lap | |
18 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | 20 | 3 | 1:37,160 | +1 lap | |
19 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 14 | - | Abandon the race | ||
20 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 11 | - | Abandon the race |
+) Fastest-lap: 1 minute 33.706 seconds set by Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at lap 50.
Drivers' standings after 4 races
Rank on one's own | Racer | Team | Number of times first stage | Point |
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 3 | 77 |
2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 64 | |
3 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1 | 59 |
4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 55 | |
5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 37 | |
6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 32 | |
7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 24 | |
8 | George Russell | Mercedes | 24 | |
9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 10 | |
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 9 | |
11 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 7 | |
12 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | 1 | 6 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 3 | |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1 | |
15 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | ||
16 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | ||
17 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | ||
18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | ||
19 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | ||
20 | Alexander Albon | Williams | ||
21 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB |
Team scoreboard after 4 races
Rank on one's own | Team | Number of times first stage | Point |
1 | Red Bull | 3 | 141 |
2 | Ferrari | 1 | 114 |
3 | McLaren | 69 | |
4 | Mercedes | 34 | |
5 | Aston Martin | 33 | |
6 | RB | 7 | |
7 | Haas | 1 | |
8 | Sauber | ||
9 | Alpine | ||
10 | Williams |
Minh Phuong
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