This weekend Max Verstappen achieved victory in the Japanese GP, his third of the year, with which he consolidates his lead in the World Championship. The Dutchman won without any difficulty over Checo Pérez, but the great protagonist of the day was once again a Carlos Sainz in a state of grace, coming back step by step to beat Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc and take his third podium in three races. The fourth was only stolen by an attack of appendicitis in Arabia.
Sainz was helped in Suzuka by a major tire degradation, Ferrari’s unfinished business in which they are masters, and by a masterful strategic move by the Scuderia, which played with Leclerc to retain Norris at the critical moment of the race, which certified the podium for the Madrid native. Perfect team play.
The Ferrari thing seems like a 180 degree turn in what were its great black spots of yesteryear. Not only does it have a very fast and efficient car in fast and medium corners, but it nails the strategies and is capable of beating faster cars in the race by one lap, as was the case with the McLarens this weekend.
Furthermore, they have removed the old tic of benefiting Leclerc by decree from the leadership, where they have understood that Sainz is in a sweet moment, that they want to take advantage of it to try to attack the Constructors’ World Cup and who knows then… Now Charles is third in the World Championship with 59 points, but Carlos is already fourth with only 4 points, despite one less race under his belt.
In Japan the Red Bulls seemed very far away, but they will reach a circuit where they can threaten them again, perhaps in China in 15 days, the first Sprint weekend of 2024.
Alonso, sixth, breaks the simulator
The other big star of the day was Fernando, who assumed before leaving that the simulation gave him no better than ninth for the race. He said it with a small mouth and Aston’s own director, Mike Krack, did not believe it. “Alonso promises little and does a lot,” he rebutted on DAZN F1.
So it was. Fernando stretched the initial softs when everyone was falling apart, and he cemented there by winning the strategic game against Piastri. He then overtook Hamilton on the track and Russell in the pits (the Mercedes were choked today due to the degradation with all the compounds), to finish sixth.
Lesson to Russell again
As in Australia, he finished ahead of George Russell, whom he defended for 7 laps, with Piastri as an intervening barrier! He was giving DRS to the Australian so that the Mercedes driver couldn’t pass him and then chase him down. This time he could not attend the claim, as he happened to get lost in Melbourne. This sixth of Alonso, three places ahead of what his car offers him in the computers, is not moved by the FIA.
[lm1]
#Max #Verstappen #achieved #victory #Japanese #Diario #Página
