Your basket is currently empty!
Tag: Suzuka
-
Max Verstappen wins again; Sergio Perez makes it 1-2 for Red Bull: Japan GP
Suzuka (Japan), 7 April 2024: Max Verstappen led a dominant Red Bull 1-2 at the Japanese Grand Prix, beating team-mate Sergio Pérez as Carlos Sainz finished third in a race that was red flagged for a crash involving Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon in the F1 World Championship Round 4 here on Sunday.
At the start of the race Verstappen got away well to take the lead ahead of Pérez and McLaren’s Lando Norris. However, further back there was contact. On the run to Turn 3, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, hemmed in and focused on Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to his left, drifted to the right as he prepared to turn in. He failed to see Alex Albon coming on his right and the pair collided. Both went spinning into the barriers and while the drivers were unhurt the tyre barriers required substantial repairs. The red flags therefore came out.
After a near 30-minute halt, the cars left the pit lane for a standing start, with Verstappen and Pérez again on the front row ahead of Norris, Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. And when the lights went out for a second time, the Red Bull duo again took up residence at the head of the field.
With Suzuka basking in strong sunshine, tyre degradation was an issue and the Medium-tyre runners at the front of the pack soon began to struggle. On lap 12, Norris was the first of the leaders to pit, switching to Hard tyres and dropping to P10. He was followed a lap later by McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and then by Alonso. Norris quickly put in the fastest lap of the race as his new Hard tyres began to come alive and when Pérez pitted, the strong undercut meant that Norris jumped ahead of both Sainz and Pérez.
Verstappen made his first stop on lap 17 and after switching to Mediums, he rejoined in P2, behind Charles Leclerc who was still on starting Mediums. The champion was soon chasing down the Ferrari driver, and at the start of lap 21 he breezed past to regain the lead.
Behind him, Pérez was chasing down Norris and on lap 22 he closed right up to the Briton through 130R before diving down the inside into the chicane to take P3 behind Leclerc who was now visibly struggling. Pérez began applying pressure and on lap 26 Leclerc went wide in Turn 9, allowing Pérez to sweep past. That was enough for Lecerc who headed for the pits to make his first stop, along with Norris who was making another early stop. Both switched to Hard tyres for the race to the flag.
Pérez made his final pit stop at the end of lap 33, switching to Hard tyres in a swift 2.1s halt. He rejoined in fifth place, just half a second behind Norris. There was no stopping the Mexican, however, and at the start of lap 35 he powered past the McLaren on the approach to Turn 1.
In the meantime, Verstappen made his final visit to the pit lane, and after taking on a set of Hard tyres he emerged in P2, behind Sainz who was beginning to struggle on his medium tyres. The Spaniard gave up the fight at the end of lap 36 and when he switched to a final set of Hard tyres, Verstappen retook the lead. Behind him, Pérez picked off the one-stopping Leclerc to move back to P2 a little over seven seconds behind his team-mate.
With 10 laps left the Red Bull drivers were in control, with Verstappen 11 seconds ahead of his team-mate, who was 9.6s ahead of Leclerc. Sainz was on the move, however. After passing Norris at the start of the lap he began to quickly close in on Leclerc and at the start of lap 46 he swept past his Ferrari team-mate under DRS on the run to Turn 1 to grab a podium finish.
And that sealed the order at the top. Verstappen managed his pace and at the end of lap 53 eased to his third win of the season and to a hat-trick of wins at Suzuka. Twelve seconds later Checo crossed the line to take his 38th podium finish and to seal another dominant 1-2 for the Team.
Behind the Bulls, Sainz held on to third ahead of Leclerc, while Norris finished fifth for McLaren ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. George Russell finished seventh, though the Mercedes driver was placed under investigation for appearing to force the eighth-placed McLaren of Oscar Piastri off the track on his way through. Lewis Hamilton was ninth in the second Mercedes and the final point was taken by RB’s home hero Yuki Tsunoda.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 53 1:54’23.566
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 53 1:54’36.101 12.535
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 53 1:54’44.432 20.866
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:54’50.088 26.522
5 Lando Norris McLaren 53 1:54’53.266 29.700
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 53 1:55’07.838 44.272
7 George Russell Mercedes 53 1:55’09.517 45.951
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 53 1:55’11.091 47.525
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:55’12.192 48.626
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB 52 1:54’25.168 1 lap /1.602
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 52 1:54’30.734 1 lap /7.168
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 52 1:54’34.799 1 lap /11.233
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 52 1:54’41.485 1 lap /17.919
14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 52 1:54’42.459 1 lap /18.893
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine 52 1:55’04.718 1 lap /41.152
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 52 1:55’18.632 1 lap /55.066
17 Logan Sargeant Williams 52 1:55’36.331 1 lap /1’12.765
Zhou Guanyu Sauber 12 49’29.022 Gearbox
Daniel Ricciardo RB 0 – Accident
Alexander Albon Williams 0 – Accident -
Max Verstappen takes pole at Suzuka as Red Bull lock out front row
Suzuka, 6 April 2024: Max Verstappen beat team-mate Checo Pérez by just under six hundredths of a second to take pole for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix as Red Bull Racing locked out the front row in Suzuka. Lando Norris qualified third for McLaren ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
“It was quite close at the end,” said Max afterwards. “This track is very sensitive with tyres, with the tarmac being really aggressive. And when you really want to go to the limit, it doesn’t always work out. But nevertheless, the most important thing is to be on pole, so yeah, overall a very good day and a good starting position for tomorrow.”
Pérez agreed, adding: “It was close today, really close with Max. It felt like a good lap. It was quite tricky out there, actually. Especially closing out the laps it was quite easy to lose a couple of tenths into the last section, into the chicane, So we hooked it in all together, but unfortunately it was just not enough.”
At the start of Q1 Verstappen was quickly into the groove and the Dutchman took top spot with a lap of 1:28.866, more than four tenths clear of Pérez. The Mexican driver was then bounced down to third place by Alonso, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri slotted into fourth place ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, the second McLaren of Lando Norris and the twin Mercedes cars of George Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
The top eight drivers elected to stay in their garages for the final runs and in the closing moments of the 18-minute session Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc vaulted from 10th to fourth, 0.035s behind Pérez who held onto third. Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas also improved to take P8 ahead of Hamilton as RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda climbed up to separate Hamilton from team-mate Russell, though the latter was placed under investigation for a potential unsafe release.
There was no place in the second session for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was ruled out in P16 ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Magnussen, Williams’ Logan Sargeant and P20 man Zhou Guanyu of Kick Sauber.
Verstappen again seized control early in Q2. The Dutchman posted a lap of 1:28.740 to take P1 ahead of Pérez, who put in a strong opener to sit just 0.012s behind his team-mate in P2. And as the remainder of the field completed their opening runs the Red Bull pair held on to the top two spots. Norris got closest, 0.200s off Verstappen, with the McLaren driver followed by Alonso, Sainz, Piastri and Leclerc.
So strong were the leaders’ times that the top six chose to sit out the final runs and this time it was Mercedes who rose from the midfield to secure a spot in the following session. Hamilton jumped to third, 0.147s behind Pérez, while Russell went through in P7 behind Norris, Alonso and Sainz.
Tsunoda also put in a good lap to claim a Q3 berth for RB. The Japanese driver’s final lap of 1:29.417 was good enough for P10 behind Leclerc. It meant that Tsunoda’s RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo missed out on the top-10 shootout by just 0.055s and the Australian exited in P11 along with Haas’s Nico Hülkenberg, Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Alex Albon and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
At the start of Q3, Hamilton was the first to post a time, a 1:18.887, but Verstappen breezed past that by six tenths of a second to stop the clock at 1:28.240 as Pérez took P2, 0.365s behind his team-mate. Norris then split the Red Bull drivers, taking second place a tenth clear of Pérez. Sainz ended the first runs in fourth ahead of Piastri and Hamilton.
There was no stopping the Red Bull pair in the final laps. Pérez was first across the line and the Mexican improved by almost four tenths of a second to seal his first front-row start since last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen also improved and though his final lap gain was smaller than his team-mate’s, the champion’s 1:28.197 was enough to seal his 36th career pole position and to extend a run of pole that now stretches back to last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Behind the top two, Lando Norris took P3 for McLaren, with Sainz set to start at the back of row two ahead of Alonso, Piastri, Hamilton and Leclerc. Russell qualified ninth, while Tsunodo will start from P10 for RB.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:28.197 – –
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:28.263 0.066
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.489 0.292
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:28.682 0.485
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.686 0.489
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.760 0.563
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.766 0.569
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.786 0.589
9 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.008 0.811
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:29.413 1.216
11 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:29.472 1.275
12 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:29.494 1.297
13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:29.593 1.396
14 Alexander Albon Williams 1:29.714 1.517
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:29.816 1.619
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:30.024 1.827
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:30.119 1.922
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:30.131 1.934
19 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:30.139 1.942
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:30.143 1.946 -
Team Honda Racing India’s Hada scores 9 points in Japan, ARRC; Anish Shetty and Rajiv finish in Top 25
Anish Shetty…a tough debut at Suzuka Suzuka, 03 June 2018: The Sunday finale race of round 3 of Asia Road Racing Championship 2018 (ARRC) at Japan’s legendary Suzuka circuit was a mixed bag for IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team by T.Pro Ten 10 Racing. The team’s solo entry in Supersport 600cc class, Taiga Hada won nine points in the two races of Japan round. Meanwhile, the Indian duo of Rajiv Sethu and Anish Shetty maintained their rhythm and closed in the top 25 for race 2 as well.
Honda 2Wheeler India team’s third rider, 19-year old Japanese rider Taiga Hada finished 11th which is one improvement over his 12th finish yesterday. Overall, Hada gained nine points in the Suzuka round, taking his total points tally to 29 in three rounds.
In the Race 2 of Asia Production 250cc class, Indonesia’s Honda rider Rheza Danica Ahrens starting from the pole position continued to build on his lead. The race, which saw as many as five crashes, turned out to be a highly competitive one with as many as seven riders having less than one second gap.
Rajiv Sethu…..picking up pace Still learning the ropes of international racing as part of the debutant Honda Racing India team, rookie Anish Shetty and Rajiv Sethu consistently picked up pace and completed the 8-lap race in top 25 of 33 riders. Still recovering from his wrist injury and less lap practice due to crash in practice 1, Rajiv Sethu gained seven positions to finish at 24th. Anish, despite experiencing the Suzuka track for the first time ever, worked his way up to 25th, gaining five positions.
Sharing overview of the Indian team’s performance in Japan round, Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd said: “After the warm up today morning, our boys had entered the race with a positive frame of mind. Despite riding a completely new machine for him (CBR 250RR) and first time riding in the tough Suzuka track, Anish has consistently improved his time daily. We have high hopes for Rajiv and look forward to better performance as he recovers fully. Our Indian riders maintained rhythm and finished in top 25 in Japan round. With the national championship starting next weekend, our boys will have more practice before the next Chennai round of ARRC. We want to ride on the home advantage.”
Anish Shetty said: “Japan was a tough one for me. I started on a good note but couldn’t keep up the pace in second half. I’m now better adapted to the new bike (CBR 250RR) and this is where I feel that the next round will be critical. With more laps under the belt, I look forward to the home advantage in Chennai. For me, the countdown starts today.”
Rajiv Sethu said: “It’s less than a month since my wrist surgery and getting my momentum on track back is top priority. I entered the race on a very positive note after the morning warm up. However I, touched another rider in lap 3 of the race which unsettled my rhythm and I couldn’t recover fast enough. But moving ahead, I want to score in the next Chennai round. From now to August, it will be time for intensive training. First on my target is to win podium at National Championship and then better my craft when I compete in the Thai Talent Cup in this month itself.”
