Max Verstappen dominates at Suzuka: ‘It couldn’t be better’
Published on April 7, 2024 by Coen Versteeg
Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix in dominant fashion. It is Max’s third victory of the season. After an exciting race, Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez provided the third one-two for the team this season. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz completed the top three.
“It was a very nice race,” says Max. “The critical point was to keep the lead at the start. Then the car got better and better as the race went on. It may have had a little to do with the cloudiness, but all in all it went really well. The pit stops went well, the strategy was good, it just couldn’t have been better. Last race we of course had a small problem, but I’m happy to be at the top again.”
There were questions beforehand about the Red Bull’s racing speed, but it did not cause any problems during the race. “The car felt a lot better compared to the training sessions,” says Max. “I took the margins in the beginning and then paid close attention to the tires. On this track it is always hard on the tires, but it felt a lot more comfortable than the rest of the weekend. We made the right adjustments. The last Our stint on the hard tire went very well, but we only had one set. We didn’t expect it to be so hot today. The weather forecast has changed very quickly in recent days, so it is always difficult to estimate which tires you need.”
Max starts on pole with teammate Sergio Perez next to him. Behind them are Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz. When the lights go out, Max is well away. He immediately takes the lead for the rest of the field. Things are going wrong at the back between Alexander Albon and Daniel Ricciardo. When exiting turn two, the gentlemen hit each other and end up in the tire pile. Fortunately, both are unharmed. The crash results in a red flag, which requires a restart. A number of drivers use the red flag to change tires. The Red Bulls remain on the mediums. Ferrari opts for a new set of mediums among the cars of Sainz and Leclerc.
When the red lights go out for the second time, Max has another good start and takes the lead ahead of Perez. Norris, Sainz and Alonso complete the top five. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who have switched to the hard tire, drop back slightly to P8 and P10.
At the end of lap seventeen it is time for Max to go inside. The race leader has built up a nice lead and therefore only loses two positions. Still on Max’s outlap he passes Russell, taking over second position. In lap 21 Leclerc is also prey for Verstappen. On the straight, Max passes the Monegasque on the outside, putting him back in the lead.
Sainz is on the rise after his pit stop. He overtakes both Mercedes in the blink of an eye and is seven seconds behind Norris after 22 laps. The Briton has been relegated to fourth position by Perez, who brakes out in the final chicane and takes third position.
In lap 26 Perez is on Leclerc’s ass. The Monegasque makes a mistake, causing him to shoot a bit wide. He thus hands second place to Perez. At the end of the lap Leclerc goes in for the hard tire. When he goes out he stays just ahead of Russell, who loses a position to Norris a lap later.
After thirty rounds, the reigning world champion has more than ten seconds ahead of his teammate Perez. The Mexican has a nice lead of five seconds over Sainz, who is in P3. Alonso and Piastri complete the top five.
On lap 35 Max makes his second and final pit stop of the race. It’s a lightning stop of 2.0 seconds. He returns in second place, behind Sainz who still has to make a stop. Perez changed his tires a lap earlier and dropped back to fourth place, behind Leclerc. That doesn’t last long, because on lap 36 Max’s teammate has already passed the Ferrari. Sainz goes in on lap 37, putting the Red Bulls back in the first two positions. The Spaniard falls back to seventh place.
On lap 42 there is a yellow flag briefly in sector two. Logan Sargeant shoots into the gravel trap, but manages to get out. Due to the incident he falls back to last place.
Max drives away at the front and manages to reach a new milestone. He drives his 3000th lap in the lead of a Formula 1 race. A few laps later there is even more celebration for Verstappen and Red Bull. Max wins his third race of the season and his 57th of his career. He also takes the extra point for the fastest race lap. It is also the third one-two for Red Bull this season, after a good race by Perez. Sainz completes the podium, after overtaking Norris (P5) and Leclerc (P4) in the last ten laps of the race.
Japanese Grand Prix results:
poscoureurteamrondentijdpunten1Max VerstappenVERRed Bull Racing Honda RBPT531:54:23.566262Sergio PerezPERRed Bull Racing Honda RBPT53+12.535s183Carlos SainzSAIFerrari53+20.866s154Charles LeclercLECFerrari53+26.522s125Lando NorrisNORMcLaren Mercedes53+29.700s106Fernando AlonsoALOAston Martin Mercedes53+44.272s87George RussellRUSMercedes53+45.951s68Oscar PiastriPIAMcLaren Mercedes53+47.525s49Lewis HamiltonHAMMercedes53+48.626s210Yuki TsunodaTSURB Honda RBPT52+1 lap111Nico HulkenbergHULHaas Ferrari52+1 lap012Lance StrollSTRAston Martin Mercedes52+1 lap013Kevin MagnussenMAGHaas Ferrari52+1 lap014Valtteri BottasBOTKick Sauber Ferrari52+1 lap015Esteban OconOCOAlpine Renault52+1 lap016Pierre GaslyGASAlpine Renault52+1 lap017Logan SargeantSARWilliams Mercedes52+1 lap00Zhou GuanyuZHOKick Sauber Ferrari12DNF00Daniel RicciardoRICRB Honda RBPT0DNF00Alexander AlbonALBWilliams Mercedes0DNF0
