Max Verstappen reigns supreme in Suzuka

It is springtime, and the cherry blossoms were in full display in Suzuka when Formula One made its annual stop there for the Japanese Grand Prix, albeit earlier in the season rather than its traditional late September or early October slot.

The Japanese GP was mainly moved because of F1’s sustainability push. The sport is trying to club races in the same geography together to reduce logistics costs and carbon footprint by moving things across the world.

So, Japan was sandwiched between races in Australia and China. Also, October is typhoon season in Japan, and an April date ensures minimal risk of heavy rains, which has often affected race weekends.

Raging bulls

While the scheduling changed, Max Verstappen restored things to normalcy on track, doing what he does best by winning the Japanese GP without breaking a sweat.

It was the reigning champion’s third win of the season in four races after retiring due to a technical failure in Australia a fortnight ago. Together with teammate Sergio Perez, they completed another 1-2 finish, the third of the season, illustrating Red Bull’s searing pace.

Interestingly, all races this season have had 1-2 finishes, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finishing top two in Melbourne.

At the Japanese GP, Perez did a great job in qualifying to finish within 0.066 seconds of Verstappen’s pole-position time, while Lando Norris produced a superb lap to put his McLaren third.

But on Sunday, in unusually hot conditions at Suzuka, Verstappen was in a league of his own. After nailing the start, an early red flag due to the crash between Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon meant the race was red-flagged and had to be restarted again. Yet again, Verstappen nailed it and sailed off into the distance.

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Even as other drivers suffered from high tyre degradation, the Dutchman showed great mastery over his tyre management skills. He was able to extend his first stop until lap 16, which ensured he didn’t have to worry about his tyres over the subsequent stints and was never really threatened from behind.

Perez’s only chance of getting ahead of his teammate was at the start, but he failed to do so on both occasions. Once the first round of pit stops played out, the Mexican driver also fell behind Lando Norris but muscled his way through with some fine overtakes. Perez has been closer to Verstappen this year and needs to continue this form for the rest of the season if he hopes to retain his drive for next year.

Behind Perez, Sainz completed the podium, starting fourth, and was again the fastest of the two Ferrari drivers. He executed a two-stop strategy to perfection, which required him to come through the field a bit to get his third podium in as many races.

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The Spaniard, out of a drive for next year, is operating at the top of his game and has beaten his illustrious teammate Leclerc 3-0 so far. Even Red Bull team boss Christian Horner praised Sainz, a former Red Bull junior team driver, as a potential driver for his team, following his victory in Australia. Whether it is a serious interest or just a way to keep Perez on his toes is something to watch out for.

Mercedes’ misplaced optimism?

It was another disappointing day for Mercedes as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton started and finished seventh and ninth, respectively. But despite the result, team boss Toto Wolff exuded confidence that the car was getting better and felt that without a poor first stint, his team was even in the hunt for the podium.

Even Hamilton sounded upbeat after Friday’s practice sessions, saying, “The car’s been much nicer to drive this weekend, particularly on a track like this, where you need a nice balance. This is the nicest it’s felt over the last three years. I think last year, we were over a second off.” However, finishing nearly 50 seconds behind the winner doesn’t exactly scream progress.