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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 Lance Stroll using the upgrades to provide comparison running, before both drivers switched to the upgrades – which …Keep reading
After every F1 qualifying session, Motorsport.com each team’s qualifying record in terms of team-mate duels.This record is based exclusively on qualifying results so that grid penalties don’t alter the statistics.When a driver can’t put in a representative lap time due to a technical issue or an incident, this will be mentioned in the table.Read Also: Formula 1F1 Japanese GP: Verstappen …Keep reading
The Red Bull drivers were amongst just a handful of drivers to gain time on the second runs in Q3, where Ferrari’s challenge failed to materialise and the Mercedes drivers ended up behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.Verstappen led the way on a 1m28.240s on the first Q3 fliers, where Norris was his closest challenger after producing a then session-best opening sector.But he could not replicate …Keep reading
Verstappen will start ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Lando Norris after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3. Japanese Grand Prix grid: Verstappen on pole from PerezRead Also: Formula 1F1 Japanese GP: Verstappen on pole as Red Bull locks front …Keep reading
After the initial sighter runs had been completed, most teams sent their drivers out for lengthy stints on higher fuel to see how they stacked up on the tricky tyre management task at this demanding layout with its abrasive track surface.Of the typical frontrunners, the two leading teams in that class so far this season – Red Bull and Ferrari – produced mirrored run plans that paint a …Keep reading
The last race at the Shanghai circuit was held in 2019, before COVID-19 triggered an extended absence from the country.Since then, the F1 technical regulations have changed substantially, including a switch to 18-inch tyres.Inevitably the track surface will also have altered over the intervening years, but unusually Pirelli has not been able to send engineers to assess it in advance, which would …Keep reading
Under brighter and slightly warmer conditions compared to Friday, Verstappen lined up first at the end of the pitlane and led off on a long first stint on the mediums, which meant he set the first place benchmark at 1m30.265s, but was soon supplanted by the soft-shod Hamilton.The Mercedes driver’s 1m30.065s first flier remained the top spot throughout the first third of the one-hour session …Keep reading
Even though Waters got knocked out of the race after 176 of 200 laps, that didn’t negatively affect his experience.“I had so much fun tonight and all day today. It is totally different racing from what I usually do, and I just wanted to learn,” he said. “I learned so much.“There at the end, I just had nowhere to go and knocked the radiator out of it. It is a shame, but I was having fun …Keep reading
Eckes led the first 100 of the 200-lap race – including collecting both Stage wins – but the one-stop pit strategy his team employed left him 19th when the final stage got under way.With 75 laps to go, Eckes had raced his way back into the top 10 but then a string of cautions for multi-truck wrecks gave him several restarts to gain track position.He finally caught leader Ty Majeski with 27 …Keep reading
As part of an effort to better manage his time amid F1’s calendar expansion, Wolff had planned to miss some of the flyaways – and Japan was one of those where he had originally intended to remain back at base.But off the back of a troubled start to the 2024 campaign for his squad, which included a double DNF in the Australian GP, Wolff changed his plans at the last minute and elected to commit …Keep reading