Max Verstappen bounced back from retirement in Australia in impressive style by taking a dominant Formula 1 win at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen converted pole position into a dominant victory for the third time this season while home favourite Yuki Tsunoda delighted the passionate Japanese fans with a top-ten finish.
However, it wasn’t a smooth weekend for all of our drivers with several in great need to turn their fortunes around when racing returns to Shanghai.
Max Verstappen – 10
Qualified: P1, Race: P1
After his early retirement in the Australian Grand Prix, Verstappen returned with a vengeance in Japan. Verstappen put together a perfect weekend at Suzuka and maintained his 100% pole position record in 2024, but found close competition from team-mate Sergio Perez. Come the race, Verstappen perfected his launches both at the initial getaway and again following the early red flag. From there, he escaped the DRS window and continued to build his impressive winning margin at the flag.
Sergio Perez – 8.5
Qualified: P2, Race: P2
Suzuka welcomed a revitalised Sergio Perez back at his best. The Mexican challenged Red Bull team-mate Verstappen closely for pole, only to fall 0.066s adrift in qualifying. However, he was unable to threaten Verstappen at either race start and his Grand Prix pace always looked to be a step behind that of the Dutchman. Still, Perez avoided a repeat of his dreadful Suzuka showing last year to deliver his best weekend of the season so far.
Carlos Sainz – 8.5
Qualified: P4, Race: P3
Australian Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz was once again the stronger of the Ferrari duo, owing in part to Leclerc’s struggles in qualifying. The SF-24 was never to be a match for the RB20 around Suzuka, but Sainz ensured he extracted the best possible result with a third-place finish. He utilised his tyre advantage to breeze past Lando Norris in the final stint, and was boosted to the final podium spot after being allowed to pass by the compliant Leclerc.
Charles Leclerc – 8
Qualified: P8, Race: P4
Leclerc has struggled to outshine Sainz in recent weeks, and his Japanese Grand Prix was compromised when he was unable to get on top of the Pirelli tyres in qualifying. That left the Monegasque on the back foot starting from P8, but strong race pace prompted Leclerc and Ferrari to opt for an effective one-stop strategy. The strategy call did leave him at the mercy of Sainz late on who enjoyed a healthy tyre offset and Ferrari instructed Leclerc to let the Spaniard through, but he did well to convert a poor qualifying into a strong race recovery to fourth.
Lando Norris – 8
Qualified: P3, Race: P5
Lando Norris arguably outdrove his machinery to achieve a lofty P3 starting spot, however, that left the Briton with the challenge of fending off faster traffic during the race. It came as no surprise to see Norris drop down the order with McLaren hoping that a two-stop strategy could help him in the mix for a podium finish. The tyre disadvantage in the closing stages of the race put an end to those hopes, however, Norris did well to keep the Ferraris under threat.
Oscar Piastri – 6.5
Qualified: P6, Race: P8
After finishing on the podium in Japan last season, Oscar Piastri was unable to deliver the same delight in 2024’s running of the event. Although he qualified sixth, the Australian still found himself three-tenths adrift of team-mate Norris on a weekend where he never really seemed to threaten the Brit. In the race, Piastri slipped behind the Ferrari of Leclerc but fought hard to hold position against George Russell only for a mistake on the penultimate lap at the chicane to allow the Mercedes by.
Fernando Alonso – 8
Qualified: P5, Race: P6
Two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso extracted everything from the Aston Martin AMR24 en route to sixth place in Sunday’s Grand Prix. He again comprehensively outperformed team-mate Lance Stroll and used his wealth of F1 experience to keep the trailing Piastri within DRS range in the hopes of keeping a closing Russell at bay.
Lance Stroll – 5
Qualified: P16, Race: P12
An eight-tenth deficit to Alonso in qualifying saw Lance Stroll suffer an unexplainable Q1 exit. The Canadian never seemed to get going in Suzuka, but made some decent progress in the race to climb to P12. But yet again, the widening deficit to his team-mate continues to damage Aston Martin’s prospects in the Constructors ‘ standings, where better performances by Stroll could have seen the team placed fourth instead of one point back from Mercedes in fifth.
George Russell – 7.5
Qualified: P9, Race: P7
George Russell was a step behind Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, but Russell enjoyed an easier ride come the race. Hamilton let Russell by in the opening stint, allowing him to chase down Piastri towards the end of the race. The pair made light contact, but Russell was eventually able to force a mistake from Piastri at the final chicane to clinch P7 on the penultimate lap.
Lewis Hamilton – 7
Qualified: P7, Race: P9
Hamilton held the advantage over Russell in qualifying but again struggled for race pace behind the wheel of the W15. The seven-time Drivers’ Champion complained of understeer after making slight contact with Leclerc early on before letting Russell by to pursue the McLarens ahead but it remains increasingly clear that Mercedes and Hamilton have a long season ahead of them.
Yuki Tsunoda – 9
Qualified: P10, Race: P10
Yuki Tsunoda delivered one of his most exciting drives on his way to a points-paying finish on home soil. On paper, maintaining position looks a simple affair but the RB driver dropped to P12 early on with those around him on softer rubber getting a better launch at lights out, before making a series of daring overtakes in the esses, emboldened by the home support. A statement drive on a weekend where Daniel Ricciardo floundered again.
Daniel Ricciardo – 4
Qualified: P11, Race: DNF
Daniel Ricciardo looked on course for a better weekend after narrowly missing out on a Q3 appearance by half-a-tenth. However, Ricciardo found himself caught up in an opening lap crash with Alex Albon at Turn 2, bringing out the red flags. While maybe not wholly to blame for the incident, Ricciardo’s careless return to the racing line and lack of awareness on the opening lap certainly contributed to the coming together and only added to the mounting uncertainty regarding the Australian’s future in the sport.
Nico Hulkenberg – 7
Qualified: P12, Race: P11
Nico Hulkenberg enjoyed yet another strong qualifying performance in Suzuka and found himself sitting in P10 at the restart. But that was lost when anti-stall kicked in at the second launch. From then on, Hulkenberg and Haas salvaged a solid P11 showing following an early pitstop.
Kevin Magnussen – 6
Qualified: P18, Race: P13
Haas split their drivers’ strategies during the Japanese Grand Prix, at the cost of Magnussen. The Dane missed out on a Q2 appearance and was forced to make his way up the order, only to lose places due to strategy. Still, finishing higher than his qualifying standing, as was the case for team-mate Hulkenberg, is a promising sign for Haas.
Valtteri Bottas – 7
Qualified: P13, Race: P14
Sauber’s struggles with pace and procedures are plain to see in 2024, so a second successive Q2 appearance for Valtteri Bottas was a cause for optimism heading into Sunday’s GP. A good start before the red flag meant Bottas was in contention for points after the restart, undercutting rivals during his first stop. Alas, Sauber’s pit-stop deficiencies cost Bottas dearly, and as the midfield pack came in together for the second round of stops, five seconds in the box killed his chances of scoring.
Zhou Guanyu – 4
Qualified: P20, Race: DNF
Qualifying dead last and seven places back from team-mate Bottas on the grid wasn’t the way Zhou Guanyu would have wanted to set up his Japanese GP. Still, progress wasn’t on the cards as a gearbox fault resigned him to an early finish leaving him with a job to do to pick up his form for his home round in Shanghai next time out.
Esteban Ocon – 6
Qualified: P15, Race: P15
Getting the troublesome Alpine out of the first qualifying session was a small win for Esteban Ocon, but Sunday’s race was a 53-lap slog. The Frenchman was powerless to fight forward against his midfield rivals as Suzuka highlighted just how much work Alpine has to do.
Pierre Gasly – 5
Qualified: P17, Race: P16
Whilst Ocon is making the best of a bad situation, Pierre Gasly is having a harder time of things amid Alpine’s struggles. Unable to join his team-mate and countryman in Q2, a strong launch in the race restart could have painted a prettier picture in the race if Gasly hadn’t found himself in a narrowing gap between Tsunoda and Ocon, tagging his team-mate in the process. From there, floor damage halted his progress, costing Gasly 33 points of downforce and it was another dire afternoon in what is turning out to be a dismal 2024 campaign.
Logan Sargeant – 3
Qualified: P19, Race: P17
If anyone still thought Williams employed harsh tactics pulling Logan Sargeant out of the Australian GP, his performance in Japan merited the team’s decision. From the outset, the American’s typical inconsistencies showed. Sargeant crashed out of FP1 saying he put his FW46 in a place that I didn’t realise I was at,” at Turn 7 of the Suzuka circuit. He recovered well from that to finish under two-tenths shy of Alex Albon in qualifying, yet that was enough to resign him to 19th on the grid. But then any chance of improving in the race were hampered by a lack of judgement late saw Sargeant off at Degner 2 and after a brief dalliance in the gravel, he recovered to finish last on the road.
Alex Albon – 5
Qualified: P14, Race: DNF
Albon continues to have the measure of team-mate Sargeant and duly qualified his Williams in 14th place having escaped Q1 elimination. A strong start on the softy tyre was undone when the Anglo-Thai driver found himself on the outside of Ricciardo heading into Turn 3, a step right from the Australian and it was game over for Albon via the barriers and another chassis sent back to Grove for repairs.
