After the setback in Melbourne, Max Verstappen returned to dominate in Japan, taking victory number 57 of his career ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. The Dutchman took his third consecutive victory at Suzuka after a race in which first place was never in question. Ferrari leaves Japan with its head held high. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished 3rd and 4th after a strategic race that confirmed Ferrari as second-fastest team.
IMMEDIATELY RED FLAG AT THE START
The race starts immediately with a bang, with an accident in turn 3 between Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon who are involved that put both into the barriers – bringing out a red flag. Ricciardo, widening his trajectory into the next corner, did not see Albon’s Williams and then made contact.
No consequences for the pilots after the accident. A start that saw Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez start in a regular manner, with Carlos Sainz paired with Lando Norris on the approach to turn 1, the Spaniard who then preferred not to sink the braking point. Alonso remained fifth, starting on the soft tyre, to the detriment of the others in the top 10 who started on the medium. The race is neutralized for half an hour to allow the barriers to be restored.
At the restart, the front positions remained frozen. Still, Charles Leclerc’s overtaking of Lewis Hamilton should be noted, with the Monegasque mounting the new medium during the red flag, while Mercedes opted for the hard, struggling with the warm-up in the first tour.
MCLAREN BRINGS FORWARD THE FIRST PIT STOP, LECLERC EXTENDS
The first stint of the race saw Max Verstappen in full control while there was a close fight between McLaren and Ferrari. Alonso tried to manage the soft tyre. McLaren stopped early relative to Ferrari, with both drivers moving from medium to hard.
At Mercedes, a position swap was carried out, with Hamilton giving way to Russell, who set a better pace in the early stages of the race.
Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, extended the first stint with an excellent pace on the medium tyre, which allowed him to lead a few laps before Verstappen’s return after his stop.
FERRARI FOCUSES ON ONE-STOP STRATEGY WITH LECLERC
Leclerc’s first stop came on the 27th lap of the race after an impeccable stint in terms of race pace. The only flaw of the Ferrari driver is the long one in turn 9 on the lap that anticipates the pit stop.
Simultaneously with the Monegasque’s first stop, Norris makes the second pit stop. This phase of the race confirmed that Ferrari focused on a single stop to try something different from its direct opponents.
Piastri’s second stop came seven laps later, while in the following laps, Sergio Perez and an undisturbed Max Verstappen also stopped. The last of the leading drivers to make the second stop was Carlos Sainz, who extended his second stint on medium tyres until lap 37 after he started to experience more pronounced degradation on his tyres.
The Spanish driver returned to the track in seventh position behind the two Mercedes, which he immediately overtook with ease. The situation was, therefore, reversed at Ferrari, which three-quarters of the way through the race saw Leclerc behind the two Red Bulls, ahead of Norris and his teammate.
VERSTAPPEN WINS UNDISTURBED, SAINZ TAKES BACK THE PODIUM
Ten laps from the checkered flag, Carlos Sainz overtook Lando Norris, with the Spaniard who, thanks to his better pace, was able to chase his teammate, also taking advantage of the hard tyre that was 10 laps fresher than that of the Monegasque.
Overtaking that came on lap 46, with Carlos Sainz therefore retaking the podium. However, the triumphal march of the two Red Bulls continues, showing themselves clearly superior to the competition at every stage of the race.
Nice duel at the end between Piastri and Russell for seventh position, with the Mercedes driver taking the position behind Fernando Alonso at the end. Ninth Lewis Hamilton finished in ninth place behind his teammate. An honourable mention goes to Yuki Tsunoda, who finished in tenth place in his home race after a solid and aggressive race.
Ferrari’s third and fourth places confirm the Prancing Horse’s clear role as the second force on the track, maximising the potential offered by the SF-24 at Suzuka.
