Formula One was in Japan for the FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2024, taking its new spot at the start of the season for the first time. Track conditions on race day were different from the previous days in the weekend, with high track temperatures. Thus far, every race has ended with a 1-2 finish and Red Bull was looking to convert their front-row lockout to a third 1-2.
Max Verstappen got away nicely from pole position, entering the first corner well ahead of his teammate. Carlos Sainz had a peak on the inside of Lando Norris in the first corner, but Norris held on around the outside of the corner.
The start of the race was short-lived, as the red flag was deployed for a crash involving Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon. After a poor start, Ricciardo lost many positions. On the entry of the ‘S’ Curves, he moved to the outside line, potentially unaware that Albon was alongside. The two cars spun off into the tyre barrier. This gives Williams, which has struggled with a lot of crash damage in the past two weekends, more repair work ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, with no spare chassis ready yet.
After a half-hour delay and a second formation lap, 18 drivers lined up on the starting grid for a standing restart. Max Verstappen had another fast start from pole position, although Sergio Perez improved and was closer in the first corner. It was an orderly restart further back. Both Mercedes drivers lost a position on the start, having opted to change to hard tyres during the red flag period. Alpine and Williams took the same strategy.
George Russell restarted the race behind his teammate but appeared to be the faster car. Hamilton asked if he should swap positions and the team agreed.
Within the first ten laps, all the drivers who started on the soft tyres had pitted for hard tyres, except for Fernando Alonso, who took his until lap 14. McLaren was the first team running medium tyres to pit, taking the hard tyres. The rest of the lead cars that started on the medium tyres opted to take another set of mediums during their pit stops.
Charles Leclerc did not pit during the first window, extending his first stint. He finally pitted after dipping two tyres in the gravel on the exit of the second Degner Curve while being pursued by Perez. Lando Norris followed him into the pit lane to cover off the threat from Russell. He did lose the position to Russell while Leclerc rejoined the race narrowly ahead of the Mercedes.
The midfield drivers did treat fans to some on-track action, especially in the ‘S’ Curves. Although it’s an untraditional overtaking location on the circuit, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll were both able to make multiple overtakes throughout the afternoon.
With ten laps remaining in the race, Logan Sargeant carried too much speed into the Degner Curve and ran off into the gravel. He avoided hitting the barrier, which the Williams team surely appreciated, and escaped from the gravel trap without beaching himself. This required him to reverse into the circuit.
In the closing laps, Russell found himself chasing down Oscar Piastri, looking to upgrade to P7. With three laps remaining, Russell made a very late lunge into the final chicane, bumping Piastri and forcing the McLaren driver to cut the chicane. Piastri maintained the position but couldn’t do that for the rest of the race. He was overtaken by Russell with DRS down the main straight at the start of the final lap.
Max Verstappen won the race, earning Red Bull their third 1-2 finish of the season with an extra point for the fastest lap to go with it. Carlos Sainz, who may be unemployed at the end of the season, finished on the podium, once again outperforming his teammate.
In two weeks, Formula One will return to Asia for the Chinese Grand Prix, which will be held on April 21.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. Verstappen | 26 | |
| 2 | S. Perez | 18 | |
| 3 | C. Sainz | 15 | |
| 4 | C. Leclerc | 12 | |
| 5 | L. Norris | 10 | |
| 6 | F. Alonso | 8 | |
| 7 | G. Russell | 6 | |
| 8 | O. Piastri | 4 | |
| 9 | L. Hamilton | 2 | |
| 10 | Y. Tsunoda | 1 | |
| 11 | N. Hulkenberg | ||
| 12 | L. Stroll | ||
| 13 | K. Magnussen | ||
| 14 | V. Bottas | ||
| 15 | E. Ocon | ||
| 16 | P. Gasly | ||
| 17 | L. Sargeant | ||
| DNF | G. Zhou | ||
| DNF | D. Ricciardo | ||
| DNF | A. Albon | ||
