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
Perez missed out on pole position for the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix to reigning world champion team-mate Max Verstappen by a slender 0.066 seconds as Red Bull scored a 1-2 result.With Perez out of contract at the end of the year, many believed RB driver Daniel Ricciardo would take hisContinue Reading
Russell was only ninth fastest in Q3, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton marginally better in seventh – albeit the latter was still 0.589 seconds slower than polesitter Max Verstappen.An eventual 0.811s deficit for Russell was partly the result of a final-sector mistake. Otherwise, he reckoned he would have been 0.4s betterContinue Reading
The Suzuka weekend has unfolded unusually, with FP2 effectively being washed out by drizzle, which meant the teams spent most of FP3 on Saturday morning concentrating on long-run data gathering, rather than the typical qualifying simulation efforts.In these, Verstappen trailed his team-mate Sergio Perez by an average of 0.122 secondsContinue Reading
The Spaniard ended Q1 second fastest but as the pace sharpened he dropped to fifth place in both Q2 and Q3, but he still felt the pace jump from Aston’s car updates were greater than predicted.Alonso ran the previous AMR24 car package during Friday practice at Suzuka, with team-mate LanceContinue Reading