Max Verstappen was dominant in F1 Japanese GP win from Sergio Perez in Red Bull 1-2, as Carlos Sainz was third on the road.
It was a clean start to F1 Japanese GP from pole as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the way from teammate Sergio Perez with McLaren’s Lando Norris, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso rounded off the Top 5 where the Spaniard was on the soft.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was sixth from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was up to 10th from Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas, after Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda dropped to 12th.
His teammate Daniel Ricciardo came in contact with Williams’ Alexander Albon at Turn 3 after the Australian swayed slightly to right which sent both into the gravel. Both managed to get out unscathed but the F1 Japanese GP was red-flagged immediately.
Post red-flag:
It was another clean run at the re-start in F1 Japanese GP as Verstappen led Perez, Norris, Sainz, Alonso and Piastri. With the Mercedes using the hard tyre for re-start, Leclerc jumped Hamilton for seventh while Tsunoda was up to ninth from Russell.
It was short-lived as Russell cleared Tsunoda for ninth. Just behind them the Alpine pair touched on the start when Pierre Gasly made small contact with Esteban Ocon. But the two’s good re-start went all in vain after they started to drop places.
It was very close in the midfield as Stake F1 Team’s Zhou Guanyu was forced to retire due to a gearbox issue. The Mercedes pair decided to do a swap as well where Hamilton allowed Russell to pass him in the quest to catch and pass Leclerc ahead.
The strategy was spread out all-through as there were several passes across the field. It even extended in the pitlane in an all-round good show. The driver to go long was Leclerc in all of this who only lost second to Perez after a mistake.
But his long run aided in track position gain as Leclerc was up to sixth ahead of Norris, who lost to Russell at one point. The Brit had to retake the place to slot behind Leclerc. Both had the likes of Sainz, Alonso and Piastri to pit to gain track position.
It was Verstappen comfortably in the lead from Perez with Sainz in the Top 3, Mercedes pair found themselves at the fag end of the Top 10. It was Hulkenberg in 10th but he went long in his stint which brought Tsunoda and Stroll on his tail.
The two did not waste much time to clear him as Hulkenberg eventually pitted. There was a pit stop investigation for Stroll after he was released on the path of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, but the stewards cleared him of any offence.
With the pit stops done, it was Verstappen in the lead of F1 Japanese GP from Perez, as Leclerc climbed up to third from Norris, who had Sainz for company after Russell pitted and he passed Hamilton. The Mercedes did few more laps before pitting himself.
It was Alonso in sixth from Piastri, who was close behind as Russell was eighth from Hamilton and Tsunoda in the Top 10. There was a late yellow flag for Williams’ Logan Sargeant who had a lock-up and went off at Turn 9.
He managed to keep it out of the barriers and reverse back onto the track. While the Top 2 positions remained as it is, Sainz brought himself up to third after clearing Norris and Leclerc with the strategy helping him to clear them both in late stages.
The fight for sixth was on with Alonso defending from Piastri and Russell. The Australian was pressuring the Spaniard, but he himself was under pressure from the Brit. The Mercedes even tried a move in the final corner in close shave.
Piastri had to take the chicane with the move under investigation. At the front, Verstappen took the win in F1 Japanese GP to bounce back from Australia as he led a Red Bull 1-2 with Perez in second, finishing 12.535s behind the Dutchman.
Sainz was third from Leclerc, with the Monegasque recovering well after bad qualifying. Norris was fifth from Alonso, as Russell managed to pass Piastri on the final lap to salvage seventh, with Hamilton in ninth after bringing himself in play too.
Tsunoda was 10th after managing to score a point in his home event. Hulkenberg was 11th after a late pass on Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with Magnussen in 13th from Bottas, Ocon, Gasly and Sargeant to round out the 17 runners – everyone from Tsunoda until Sargeant ended up a lap down.
UPDATE: The stewards termed the Lap 1 incident between Ricciardo and Albon as a racing incident to clear either of the drivers, but added that if the clash took place on Lap 2 or so and within Stroll on the inside, the outcome would have been different.
UPDATE 2: The stewards cleared Russell and Piastri of any action in their incident as well. But they noted about difficulty in coming to a conclusion due to various points going for and against as per the driving standards manual in the Sporting Code.
Eventually, both the drivers and team agreed that a penalty is not required for the incident which the stewards upheld too. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Japanese%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Decision%20-%20Car%2063%20-%20Alleged%20forcing%20car%2081%20off%20the%20track.pdf
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