Japanese Grand Prix Review - 9/26/23

I’m feeling lucky after that perfect podium prediction (*pats self on back*), so I’ll be buying some lottery tickets this week in hopes to continue the momentum.

It was another fantastic race weekend packed full of drama and excitement - let’s get into it.

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Race Review: Japanese Grand Prix

The Start:

Absolute chaos at the start of the race, ruining the day for a number of drivers that were poised for a strong performance.

Lando Norris had an incredible start from the second row, getting by his teammate to take P2 and challenging Verstappen around the outside of turn 1 before conceding the place to the quicker Red Bull. However, most of the action happened further back on the grid.

Sergio Perez continued testing the durability of the RB19 this week, starting with bumping into Hamilton on the opening straight and pushing the 7-time world champion onto the grass. You can make an argument for Perez here - was he forced left by Sainz? Well… a replay of the start shows slow reactions from both Leclerc and Perez giving way for Hamilton and Sainz to come alongside, causing the drivers to go four wide heading into turn 1. The chain of events seems to have been caused by Leclerc, who had to have been asleep as the lights turned green, trying to cover his teammate. This pushed Sainz toward Perez, leaving hardly any space at all for the Ferrari. Perez got a bit jumpy and jerked left not once, but twice, bumping into Hamilton on the second go. Both Ferrari's got away cleanly while the fight continued between Hamilton and Perez, ultimately leading to Hamilton being pushed wide (again) in turn 1 before conceding the position to Perez.

Further back on the grid, Alex Albon got into a bit of a nasty collision after a disappointing quali left him starting in P13. Much like Leclerc and Perez, Albon forgot that "green means go," leading to a horrid start and opening the door for Bottas to jump in between him and Ocon from P16. Esteban Ocon, much like my 2007 SUV that is in desperate need of realignment, veered left for no reason at all, pushing Bottas into Albon and causing damage to the Williams. A race that should have presented a perfect opportunity for Alex Albon to grab some points at a track that suits FW45 effectively ended on the opening straight for the Briton.

There was, however, one man who benefited from all the madness on the opening straight. That would be none other than the man with El Plan, Fernando Alonso. The veteran driver made up four places leading into the first turn, giving the Aston Martin the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the team's decision to start on the soft tyre for the opening stint.

The madness at the start lead to a safety car with Perez, Albon, Bottas, Sargeant and Zhou all forced to stop for new tyres / front wings.

More trouble for Sargeant and Perez:

Not even a full lap after the first safety car, Logan Sargeant got a little too ambitious yet again trying to out-brake Bottas, causing another collision with the Finn and spinning him out and onto the grass. Bottas would go on to retire the car without finishing a single racing lap not under a safety car. Sargeant got away (somewhat) cleanly but fell 21 seconds off the nearest driver in P18.

Not more than seven laps later, Perez got FOMO from missing out on the last collision and decided to take a nosedive down turn 7, running straight into the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. In a near replay of the collision between himself and Albon a week ago, Perez is making a real run at the world destructors' championship. I cannot think of a single excuse for such an experienced driver to make such a sully move other than pure frustration. Perez received a five second time penalty for the incident. 

This incident brought about a short-lived virtual safety car, allowing Piastri to take (half) advantage of a quick pit stop. Albon and Perez would also come into the pit before both were told to retire the car shortly after the team realized they were not fit to carry on. Notably, Perez did not serve his penalty before retiring.

Mercedes battling it out:

George and Lewis traded blows in the early phases of the race as both drivers aggressively raced each other to fight for track position and team strategy favor. The teammates passed each other a few times after starting side by side, leading to some great entertainment for the fans.

On lap 16, Lewis went wide into the second Degner curve, welcoming his teammate to close the gap from behind. George got a much cleaner exit out of the turn 11 hairpin, giving him a chance to overtake in Spoon. Lewis was having none of this from his younger teammate, forcing George wide to stave off any potential threat (racing incident, or was Lewis being naughty?). This prompted George to call out Lewis on the team radio:

Is there a real rivalry brewing here?

The best of the rest:

The middle phase of the race did not quite have as much action as the beginning, but still plenty of action leading to an exciting result and great strategy battles toward the end of the race.

• Alonso struggled to stick with the top teams. After starting out the race on the softs, Aston Martin struggled with the strategy, ultimately leading to one of Alonso's dramatic team radio's stating that the team "threw him to the lions" by bringing him in too early. He's not wrong, but Aston Martin simply did not have the car to compete this weekend.

• McLaren team orders saw Lando take over as the lead man on lap 27. Though Piastri benefited from a (half) VSC pit stop, Lando was clearly the faster car on Sunday, leading the team to order the rookie to let his teammate by. This proved to be the right move, ultimately leading to a fairly easy double podium.

• Red Bull pulls an interesting (or genius?) move to avoid a grid penalty next race. With Checo retiring from the race before serving his five second time penalty, he was risking the stewards serving him a grid penalty for the upcoming sprint race in Qatar. To avoid this, Red Bull sent the already retired car back out onto the race just to take a lap, serve the penalty, take another lap, then retire.

• Alpine held strong. In a rather uneventful weekend (aside from the opening lap of the race) for the French team, both Gasly and Ocon finished in the points. Team orders allowed Gasly (on fresher tyres) to pass Ocon to make a go at the Aston Martin of Alonso in P8. Gasly was unsuccessful, however, and would be ordered to give Ocon the place back on the final lap of the race. More drama on the grid, as Gasly was open about his frustration with the team orders.

• Mercedes drama… again. Mercedes and Ferrari were in a battle from the beginning of the race, as neither team were able to fight much with McLaren up ahead. With just five laps to go, Carlos Sainz was swiftly catching the Mercedes pair sitting in fifth and sixth. Lewis, on the fresher tyres after George decided to attempt the one-stop, urged the team to let him by to avoid the risk of losing both places. George argued that they could use the Smooth Operator's own tactics against him and give Lewis DRS to fight off any attack on the straight. The team disagreed and let their golden boy (I mean, he IS a 7-time world champ) through on lap 49. Mercedes would then attempt to use the DRS trick with Hamilton pulling Russell along down the straight, earning the remark from Carlos, "they are using my trick against me!" Despite the attempt, Carlos would easily pass George on lap 50 (nice try, but you can't out-smooth the Smooth Operator).

• Strong performance from Alpha Tauri. Despite not finishing in the points, the team performed quite well throughout the weekend. Tsunoda and Lawson finished just outside of the points, though they were quite a ways off the Alpine's ahead. Was it because both drivers are intimately familiar with Suzuka, or has AT finally figured something out?

• An uneventful day for Haas. After a strong performance from the team in Singapore, Haas performed as they said they would in Japan, poorly. We will see if they can turn things around with their new upgrades package scheduled for the US Grand Prix in Austin.

• Double podium for the Papaya. McLaren has developed the car incredibly well after a horrible start. Things like this are what make Formula 1 incredible. Thank you, McLaren, for keeping the spirit alive.

• Red Bull wins the Constructors' Championship. No surprises here. An incredible team performance since the beginning of the season. Well deserved.

Winners & Losers of the Week

Winner: McLaren

The Papaya have continued to impress after starting the season with a nearly undriveable car. The team is now well-positioned to make a run at fourth in the Constructors' after out-scoring Aston Martin in the last three races.

Winner: Charles Leclerc

Though he had a quiet afternoon, the Monegasque driver delivered a clean race with a great result for the team. Ferrari continue to chip away at Mercedes for second place in the Constructors'.

Winner: Oscar Piastri

Yes, I know… we already mentioned McLaren as a winner above, but what a performance by the Aussie! Though he was outshined by his teammate, the rookie driver qualified P2 and took home P3 on Sunday at a circuit has was completely unfamiliar with. Kudos to you, Oscar.

Loser: Williams

Though it was not completely the fault of both drivers, Williams should take the advice of Ted Lasso and "be a goldfish" to put the memory of this race far behind them. A collision early on for Albon and some questionable moves by Sargeant led to a double DNF at a circuit that should have fit the FW45 well.

Loser: Lance Stroll

The struggles continue for Lance as he fails to score in a fourth straight race after a DNF due to a rear wing failure. Though it was not his fault today, Lance really needs to turn things around in Qatar if Aston Martin want to hold onto to fourth place.

Loser: Alfa Romeo

Alfa has continued to struggle all season despite being fairly secure in its driver lineup. Unfortunately for Bottas and Zhou, the team have failed to deliver a car with the ability to compete for points on a consistent basis.

I hope you all enjoyed the race this weekend! If you want to provide any feedback, or just give us your thoughts on the weekend, please email [email protected]. We will be back in you inbox on Friday with a news roundup. Look forward to another race review after the Qatar Grand Prix in two weeks!

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