Red Bull are the Constructors’ Champions! Though this shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone, since all they needed to do was to outscore Mercedes and avoid being outscored by Ferrari by 24 points to wrap the title up at the Japanese Grand Prix.
It was a return to the top for the Red Bulls after an uncharacteristic drop-off in pace at the Singapore Grand Prix, with Verstappen putting his RB19 on pole by more than 0.5 seconds. The pace differential wasn’t solely down to the car though, as Perez only managed P5, some 0.8 seconds off his Dutch teammate’s pace.
With two McLarens and a Ferrari in between the Red Bulls, we were guaranteed fireworks even before lights out. Which was exactly what we got.
5. Strong McLaren Form Continues
McLaren continues to prove that their pace isn’t merely a fluke. Fresh off a podium at the Singapore Grand Prix, Lando Norris was eager to make progress in the Japanese Grand Prix. He may have been out-qualified by rookie teammate Oscar Piastri, but the Briton managed to gain a place at the start.
He capitalised on the squabble that Verstappen and Piastri was in, and managed to pass the Australian in the process. A strategically-timed VSC meant that Piastri leapfrogged Norris, but the early stop created a tyre advantage for the latter that saw McLaren swapping the cars around. The Woking-based team had the second quickest car this weekend, with Ferrari and Mercedes failing to make performance inroads on them. Norris and Piastri finished P2 and P3 respectively, making them only the third team to score a double podium at a single event this season!
4. Lawson Shows he is Ready for Full-Time Drive
Still deputising for the injured Ricciardo, Liam Lawson has shown the grid that he deserves to be on it for 2024. Unfortunately, that is exactly what he isn’t getting, as the soon-to-be-renamed AlphaTauri has already signed Ricciardo and Tsunoda for the next season.
He may have driven impressive races at the Italian and Singapore Grand Prixes, but there was no real benchmark for both his Red Bull team and for others to judge him against. Tsunoda failed to start the Italian race, and his Singapore race only lasted less than one lap. Lawson impressively overtook Tsunoda on lap 1, and fought a race-long battle with his Japanese teammate, finishing one position and less than a second ahead of him.
3. Poor Strategic Calls Continue for Mercedes
The once-dominant German team appears to be a shadow of its former self, with yet more strategic blunders hampering an optimal result. Russell and Hamilton spent much of the race locked in a tussle with one another, without team orders to allow the faster driver (in this case Hamilton) by.
The seven-time world champion stuck to a conventional two-stop strategy, whereas Russell opted to try and eke out a lengthy one-stopper. When a hard charging Hamilton came across the struggling #63 Mercedes, there were no team orders to let the #44 car past, despite having a clear tyre advantage. This allowed Sainz to close up to the back of the Mercedes duo. In a last ditch attempt in keeping Sainz behind, Hamilton was finally allowed through, but he was told to employ a trick Sainz used in Singapore, slowing to give Russell DRS to defend against the Spaniard. It didn’t work, and Russell finished behind the pair of them.
2. No Points For Williams
Williams’ point-less streak continues into Japan. The weekend started off poorly for American rookie Logan Sargeant, crashing his FW45 at the last corner in Q1. This necessitated the use of the spare chassis, which was already partially built-up. A 10 second penalty was given for breaching F1’s third car regulations, and Sargeant started from the pitlane as a result.
The bad luck continued into the race, with both cars suffering from collision damage in a contact-riddled lap 1. Albon stopped for a new front wing and continued. Sergeant then made further contact with Bottas, sending the Alfa into a spin at the Hairpin. Both Williams cars were then retired from the race with damage picked up from the multiple collisions.
1. Contrasting Fortunes for Winning Constructor
Whilst Max led a calm and controlling race upfront, Perez’s Sunday was more chaotic. The Mexican made contact multiple times throughout the race, and suffered race-ending damage when he made an ill-timed divebomb at the Hairpin on Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. He was given multiple five-second penalties, but failed to serve the last one before he parked up for the day.
Or so we thought. Red Bull confirmed with the FIA that there was technically nothing stopping them from sending Perez back out again, so he could do another racing lap, and stop in the pit box to serve his penalty. Which was exactly what they did. No such issue for Max though, with the Dutchman pulling away from the McLarens consistently, with him scoring enough points on his own to seal the constructors’ championship for 2023.
Back-to-Back Titles for Red Bull Racing!
Red Bull wins again! This marks their second year in succession that they’ve won the constructors’ championship. The Austrian team sealed the deal with 623 points, whilst the race for P2 continues hotting up. Mercedes in P2, only has a 20 point lead from third placed Ferrari.
In the driver’s championship, whilst multiple drivers are mathematically still able to win the title, Max Verstappen is expected to wrap things up at the upcoming Qatar Grand Prix. His advantage over second placed Perez is so large that he could technically win the championship during the Sprint next weekend.
The Qatar Grand Prix weekend starts on the 6th of October, with the Sprint happening on the 7th and the main race itself on the 8th.
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool, Williams F1, Mercedes F1, planetF1
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