(Motorsports news) Max Verstappen and Red Bull winning the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix by a dominant 19.4-second lead may sound like a familiar story, but it was just one week after their shocking setback in the Singapore race. As a result, much attention has been dedicated to the potential genuine effects of the dual technical directives currently in effect governing flexing wings and floors. Red Bull, on the other hand, completely snubbed this fascination with its RB19 display back on a smooth, sweeping course where the car was built to thrive.
Verstappen was devastatingly brilliant with his normal edge restored, while teammate Sergio Perez had another difficult weekend.
1) Singapore was merely a blip for Verstappen and Red Bull:
Verstappen led the field out of the pits at Suzuka just five days after Red Bull was humiliated in the 2023 Singapore GP. His initial flier put him well clear of the rest, and the Dutchman never looked back for the rest of the weekend, even though his vehicle could have returned to the lower ride heights where it is meant to produce the most underfloor downforce.
He dominated qualifying on this old-school and demanding track, which for 2023 added the challenge of high temperatures and a knock-on effect on tyre life due to the rough track surface. None of this bothered Verstappen, who performed a superb run between the safety car restart and his final traffic-clogged stint after avoiding the attentions of the two McLaren cars at the start.
2) Perez must escape his current chaos for F1 2024:
While Verstappen was unstoppable in F1 qualifying, Red Bull didn’t lock out the first row, given the RB19’s ability in the sweeping, complex opening sector here. That was due to Perez “struggling primarily in high-speed corners compared to Max,” according to Red Bull team manager Christian Horner, as well as having only one pair of new softs left in Q3.
Then, in the main event, Perez’s slightly slower start cost him the race, as the pack compressing left towards the racing line – a move really instigated by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on the inside – meaning he crashed with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes coming past on the outside. This necessitated a pit stop for a replacement front wing, although Perez did so by passing Fernando Alonso under the safety car at the pitlane entry, earning a five-second penalty.
3) Ferrari’s tyre degrading problem appears to be improve in F1:
After being outperformed by teammate Carlos Sainz since the summer break, Leclerc retaliated by leading Ferrari in the weekend sessions that mattered in Japan.
His racing pace, while stopping quite early given the power of the undercut here, ensured he was in range to threaten Piastri at times. After mistaking the hobbling Perez for Verstappen around the VSC, Leclerc truly felt he was racing for a podium. However, fourth place on a F1 track not designed for the SF-23 and the heat circumstances and track surface combo marks a good overall result, especially given he led Perez in qualifying as well.
4) DRS defence tactics don’t always work out, as Mercedes discovered:
Sainz’s ability to hand Norris DRS to aid their places at the conclusion of the Singapore F1 race came to mind again during the final moments of the F1 Suzuka race, this time with the Mercedes pair attempting to emulate the move with Sainz bearing down. Mercedes decided to split its strategies after Hamilton collided with Perez in Turn 1 and Alonso sped by into Turn 3 knocked both Black Arrows drivers off the strategy path they’d planned, which involved challenging Ferrari on a course that didn’t suit the W14 package, primarily due to a lack of downforce in Suzuka’s opening sector.
Following a rare Hamilton error at Degner 1 prior to his first pit stop, he and Russell nearly collided when the chasing Mercedes attacked at Spoon – Hamilton’s defense just on the edge of acceptable. Russell then switched to a one-stopper and, as the leaders approached, threw in his own aggressive defense against Leclerc at Turn 2, which was excellent driving overall.
5) Alpine’s driver line-up can still be combustible:
Given their contentious history as young drivers, significant attention had been paid to how the Pierre Gasly against Esteban Ocon scenario would play out in F1 2023, after the former had joined Alpine after leaving the Red Bull/AlphaTauri fold. Despite their catastrophic Melbourne and Budapest F1 shunts, as well as Alpine’s overall pace issues and management upheaval in F1, that had simmered down to a non-issue.
However, towards the end of the Suzuka race, Gasly reacted angrily with hand-waving and heated comments to the media after finally obeying an instruction to allow his teammate to finish ninth. This came after Ocon was involved in the Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas Turn 1 collision and had to pit for repairs before putting in a long recovery drive on an effective one-stopper with two prolonged spells on the hards. His pace on them was enough to put him back in contention for points and irritate Alonso for a while.
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