Carlos Sainz completed the podium ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who popped up in Perez’s race and gained several places from his mid-pack grid spot by completing a rare Suzuka one-stop strategy.At the first start, polesitter Verstappen easily led Perez away from the line, with the action occurringContinue Reading
Last year’s Williams FW45 was noted for its top speed, which allowed it to shine on certain tracks and propel Albon into the points.But for 2024, the Grove outfit has tried to develop a car that is more consistently competitive at a range of circuits.That in turn has seen theContinue Reading
The Maranello outfit had hoped that the progress it had made with its SF-24 this year would allow it to pose a proper threat to Red Bull around the high-speed swoops of Suzuka.Good progress has been made at the kind of corner speeds that are common around Suzuka, so theContinue Reading
Ahead of today’s Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen hinted that Red Bull was changing its car repair assessment systems through an F1 event.This was after its post-Melbourne analysis of the failure that led to the Dutchman’s right-rear brake pad jamming onto the disc and the whole assembly eventually catching fire earlyContinue Reading
But teams and drivers are already bracing themselves for what could be a game of patiently follow-the-leader thanks to the growing dirty air problem that F1 is experiencing right now.While F1’s new ground effect rules era from 2022 was supposed to better allow cars to follow each other closely, andContinue Reading
The Spaniard arrived at Suzuka in a buoyant mood after leading team-mate Charles Leclerc to a 1-2 finish at the Australian GP, and hopes had been high of a strong showing in qualifying after some promising long-run form in practice.However, Ferrari endured a more challenging time in the fight forContinue Reading
For beyond the headline lap times that have hinted at signs of progress in unlocking pace from its W15, the mood of its drivers is far more upbeat than at any point this season.Indeed, Lewis Hamilton declared that there had been a “night and day” difference in how comfortable heContinue Reading
Alpine A524 technical detailPhoto by: Giorgio PiolaA look at the two front wing specifications available to Alpine in Japan, with the newer of the two being the upper one (splattered with green flo-viz paint). Note not only how the shape of the upper flaps differ considerably different but also howContinue Reading
Teams all too frequently bin off one of the choices – either because the soft is too aggressive, the medium falls into no-man’s land, or the hard is too conservative – but this weekend’s race in Japan has left what Pirelli’s head of car racing Mario Isola says is aContinue Reading
Hamilton qualified only seventh for the Japanese GP, 0.569s off poleman Max Verstappen but just 0.084s shy of the fourth-placed Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.Despite the disappointing grid position, the seven-time world champion insists the past two days have given him a clearer idea of what direction his team needs toContinue Reading