Formula 1 is a simple sport, 20 man race for 305 kilometres, and in the end Verstappen wins. This paraphrase of Gary Lineker’s famous quote seems all too applicable on Formula 1 these days. Even when there is an interesting race because the high tyre wear, the Dutchman makes winning a Grand Prix look like a walk in the park.
In a nightmare scenario for the team, Alex Albon’s chassis sustained damage as a result of his opening-lap collision with RB’s Daniel Ricciardo in Japan. Albon ended up in the tyre wall as both drivers crashed out, triggering an early red flag. Albon fortunately emerged unscathed, though he confessed that his thoughts immediately turned to…
Saturday’s qualifying resulted 27th front row for Red Bull Racing, so beforehand another walk in the park for Max Verstappen was anticipated. But with a 40°C track temperature, a lot warmer than during practice, tyre wear would be the big question mark for today’s race.
For the second consecutive weekend, Esteban Ocon managed to get himself out of Q1 as he made the top 15 for today’s Japanese Grand Prix. The Frenchman was P14 after the first runs in the opening segment of qualifying. He went one better at the end of the session as the 2021 Hungarian GP winner…
The American driver will start the race from 19th on the grid, only ahead of the struggling Sauber of Zhou Guanyu – but he was encouraged by what he described as a “good turnaround” after limited practice running and a big set-up change ahead of qualifying in Suzuka. After missing the race last time out…
Lance Stroll is having a nightmare weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix. Aston Martin brought updates to Suzuka and Fernando Alonso maximised it from FP3 onwards, qualifying P5 for Sunday’s race. The Canadian driver had the new package since FP1. While his Q1 elimination was probably a shock to many, the signs had been there…
Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin is “moving in the right direction” with the upgrade package introduced this weekend in Japan. Alonso was the sole Aston Martin driver to progress to the final segment of qualifying—where he propelled himself to an admirable fifth on his second flying lap—following Lance Stroll’s unexpected Q1 exit. Alonso, who ran…
One of the surprises was qualifying came from Sergio Perez in his RB20. The Mexican driver has been quick all weekend at Suzuka, and he just missed out on pole in Q3 by 0.066s. On his final run in the last segment of qualifying, the 34-year-old showed incredible committment through the middle sector as he…
McLaren’s rather positive Japanese weekend was almost crowned with a front row start for its British driver. After taking P3 in Q2 already as the only non Red Bull driver to sign a lap in the 1:28s, Norris’s first attempt was only 0.292s off Verstappen’s eventual pole lap. Sergio Perez made good gains on his…
In a qualifying session that saw Max Verstappen secure yet another pole position, Valtteri Bottas navigated the challenges of Suzuka in his quest to grab a competitive starting position for Sunday’s race. The Finn had a rollercoaster ride through the qualifying drama, wasting no time to get onto the track in Q1, securing eighth place…
