Red Bull unstoppable in Japan, Ferrari consolidates second place

Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Leclerc. Red Bull double and Honda double, in front of the reverential home crowd of the great car, motorbike, boat and plane engineer: Verstappen wins ahead of teammate Perez, even if there is an embarrassing gap between the two as usual. Third and fourth place for the reds: disappointing podium and sub-podium considering the unforgettable Australian one-two of two weeks ago. But a very valid result considering the poor qualifying that took place yesterday in Japan. A point that will remain in history for Yuki Tsunoda with the Visa Cash App RB, the Faenza team, always driven by the Japanese power unit, who had already qualified better than teammate Daniel Ricciardo, arriving yesterday in Q3 in a similar position.

The race wasn’t the most lively of all time, also because following a problematic first start, at the second start the drivers ‘gave themselves a cool head’ to avoid further accidents that would have slowed down the program too much. In fact, more than 30 minutes were lost following the first crash, which kept the public in suspense for a few moments: a somewhat risky maneuver by Albon, in fact, following just three corners put himself and the innocent Ricciardo off the track that, just for having taken the trajectory as per his right, the Thai found himself too far outside, almost on the grass; already engaged at the wrong point, when there was a moment left until the exact moment of braking, where it is no longer possible to change the line chosen to take the curve. However, neither of them was able to turn left: Ricciardo’s single-seater from Romagna saw its right rear tire explode, ending up in a spectacular spin into the barriers, sideways, while the probably guilty Williams driver fared the worst, having had a greater impact. hard and head-on into the tire barrier. Without consequences for him, but with considerable time needed for its repair, under a red flag. An unclear accident, with pilots under investigation and probable appeals with engines turned off.

The forced stoppage of the race naturally pushed many teams to change the tire strategy and try to recover as many positions as possible. This is the case of Sainz, Alonso and a few others who chose the softer compounds in different phases of the race, considering that on this track known for the difficulties of overtaking and with only one DRS zone, otherwise making comebacks would have been very complicated. Some at the beginning, some at the end, the ‘skipped’ pit stop schedule due to the initial drama really changed the cards on the table. Worth noting and remembering, a moment of real tension occurred in the second half of the 53 laps when four cars found themselves changing tires at the same time. The tension came from questionable behavior on the part of Aston Martin which, in an attempt to give its Stroll an advantage, would have made it restart while an opponent was arriving, complete with the need to advance in double file for a few meters in order to avoid a ‘series-like’ contact inferior’: a probable unsafe release which however was judged to be regular at the time.

Beyond the hyper-repetitive one-two of the Red Bulls, Ferrari’s good performance saw lap following lap keep the aggressive Norris at bay, who was keen to bring home the 10 points for fifth place, and always held off Leclerc’s eye at quite close range. Alonso is much more resigned and calm: in the lack of support from his poor teammate, twelfth and lapped, the only man who always brings points to Aston Martin might only try to reach the end safely in sixth place, with a delay almost fifteen seconds from Norris but only a little more than a second from Russell and, a little behind, from Piastri, both of whom were ruined by running on hard tires that were too aged.

The fact is that the forty-ninth edition of the second peaceful race of 2024 has rebalanced the forces on the field, highlighting the excessive power of Horner’s single-seaters but once once more enhancing the good work done in Maranello. One cannot help but notice how Leclerc recovered four positions starting from a less than brilliant qualifying in eighth, not only improving the outcome of a race that started with mediocre premises, but saving his honor as much as possible. Getting close to the podium was crucial to not slip too much in the drivers’ standings: having already had to give up second place to Perez, who was now only one point behind, being overtaken by Sainz too, with one race less, would have been much more demoralizing. .