Formula 1
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. The Dutch world champion started from pole position and did not encounter any problems at any time. Teammate Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) completed the podium.
World champion Max Verstappen was allowed to start from pole position on the Suzuka circuit. Both Red Bulls got off to an excellent start, just like the rest of the top ten, but some problems were made at the back. Already in the second corner, Daniel Ricciardo in his Visa CashApp RB deviated too much to the right, causing him to collide with Alexander Albon’s Williams. Result: two cars in the tire wall and a red flag, which almost immediately put the race on hold for half an hour.
At the restart, the remaining eighteen riders remained clear. Verstappen immediately snuck away from his Mexican teammate Perez, while both Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc prepared to attack the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. However, there was no overtaking maneuver on the track itself, because the British racing team decided to call both cars in for a new set of rubber.
Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton did complete a remarkable race. Was it a conscious strategy or just a lack of fighting spirit? The seven-time world champion, who has been driven home in every race so far by his teammate George Russell, allowed himself to be passed by everyone on the hard tire and barely made any move to defend his place. Hamilton opted for a one-stop strategy, but reaped little benefit from it. His future teammate at Ferrari Leclerc also only wanted to enter once and made a small slip in the gravel trap at the end of his medium tire.
At the front, Verstappen again completed an authoritarian race. His lead over Perez was eleven seconds, who was also a comfortable five seconds ahead of number three Sainz. However, the Spaniard still had to come in for new tires to reach the end of the race and ended up in fifth place when leaving the pit lane. On newer tires, the race winner of the previous GP in Australia managed to pass Norris and teammate Leclerc and regain his podium place. After 53 laps and almost two hours later, Verstappen’s Red Bull was the first car to cross the line. The Dutchman had a twelve-second lead over Perez, with Sainz crossing the line in third twenty seconds later. Leclerc saw a good strategy rewarded with fourth place, Norris finished fifth. Mercedes had another disappointing day in seventh (Russell) and ninth (Hamilton) places.
In two weeks (April 21), the fifth appointment in the World Championship is scheduled for the Chinese GP in Shanghai.
