Max Verstappen Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms for Victory in the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix

Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and second placed Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrate on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course on April 07, 2024 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Peter Fox | Getty Images)

SUZUKA, Japan – The opening practices and qualifying rounds were behind the Formula 1 grid, and all eyes were turned to the Japanese Grand Prix, which saw Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez go for victory, with Ferrari and McLaren holding close behind in hopes for a close battle for the podium.

As the tire warmers were pulled off, it was noted that, while a majority of teams had decided to start on the Medium compound tires, the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, Stake Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, the Williams of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant and both Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly all decided to start on Soft compound tires.

Most expected teams to follow a two-stop strategy for the Japanese Grand Prix; a possibility was the one-stop, which Mercedes’ George Russell almost made successful in the 2023 race at the Suzuka International Circuit. With the sun shining and the conditions closely matching the previous running at this circuit just over six months ago, the strategy for this year was looking to be close to the same.

The grid was cleared and Verstappen led the cars on their formation lap ahead of his Red Bull teammate Perez. The cars then made their way back to their designated grid slots for the beginning of the race.

The five red lights turned on and then went off, with Verstappen quickly getting out ahead of the grid as the rest of the cars settled into place. However, as the cars made their way out of the first couple of corners, close battles mid-field ended in disaster.

Heading into Turn 3, running three-wide in the middle, Daniel Ricciardo’s Visa Cash App RB, checking his left side, did not realize that Albon’s Williams was alongside him on his right. The RB clipped the Williams and sent them both into the barriers. With the cars wedged in the barriers and the gravel, the race director called for a red flag, and the remaining cars returned to the pit lane.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 leads Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 and the rest of the field into the first corner at the start of the race during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course on April 07, 2024 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Mark Thompson | Getty Images)

After a short delay, the barrier was fixed, and a handful of teams took advantage of the ability to change tires during a pit stop, including the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who switched to the Hard compound tires.

The grid returned for another standing start, and once the lights went out, Verstappen once again led as everyone settled in much more calmly this time around. Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who made the switch to the Soft tires, had started to make his way up the grid, going at it against Russell. The Alpines of Gasly and Ocon had made contact during the start, causing a small amount of concern for damage.

Much like the previous handful of years, Verstappen pumped in a handful of fastest laps as he pulled out of his teammate’s DRS range and set sail, leaving his teammate to work on fending off Lando Norris’s McLaren and Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, holding on close behind.

The first set of green flag pit stops was underway a few laps after the restart. Haas brought in Hulkenberg and Sauber brought in Bottas, who had a much better pit stop than they had had since the start of the season. Not long after that, Tsunoda was called in to cover that pair of pit stops.

Strategies began to play out as the race hit double-digit lap counts. Drivers started to feel their handling change and the front runners began to contemplate when to make their first pit stop. Norris was the first to blink going down pit lane, letting Sainz and Alonso set sail, the latter still on the same set of Soft tires he started the race on. During this sequence, Sauber called down Zhou Guanyu to retire the car, citing gearbox issues.

As McLaren pitted Oscar Piastri one lap after his teammate, Hamilton asked his Mercedes pit wall if they should swap positions, as Russell was going faster, and they soon did. Aston Martin called in both Alonso and Stroll close to each other to get them off of their aging Soft tires and make their way to the Medium compound.

Red Bull and Ferrari soon pitted Perez and Sainz as both teams decided to stick with the Medium tires, and a lap later, Verstappen brought his Red Bull down for the same strategy, leaving the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc out to lead a handful of laps, albeit temporarily.

As the pits continued to cycle, Lando Norris found himself ahead of Perez and sitting close behind Verstappen as they all started to work on getting by Hamilton and Russell. Verstappen made quick work of the Silver Arrows, and Norris made an impressive move on Hamilton around the outside in Turns 1 and 2 so as not to be held up too much.

Leclerc’s time up front soon ended as a fast-approaching Verstappen stormed his way by. Behind them, Perez made his own quick work around the slower Mercedes duo and then around Norris. The falloff in pace led the seven-time World Champion to call to his pit wall, pleading with them to change the strategy as the attempt for a one-stop race would not work on that set of Hard tires. Mercedes agreed and boxed both cars in successive laps.

As Verstappen continued to expand his lead, his teammate sat behind Leclerc, waiting for a chance to pass, which soon occurred. Leclerc went wide in Degner 2, allowing Perez to slip on by, having watched his rival do something he did at the start of the race. This excursion off-track was the sign that Ferrari should pit Leclerc, and they did so a lap later.

The second round of stops soon began, and the leaders swapped to the Hard compound tire to end the race. Verstappen held onto the lead ahead of his teammate, Perez by 7.5 seconds, with Leclerc trying to stick along close behind the hard-charging pair of Sainz and Norris.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 leads Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course on April 07, 2024 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Clive Mason | Getty Images)

In the mid-field, scraps were going on for the final spots in the points, as Tsunoda was trying to hold on to gain points at his home track, fighting between the Haas of Hulkenberg and Stroll, who had been put under the microscope for a possible unsafe release during their second stop.

Russell soon radioed to his Mercedes pit wall to tell them that he was feeling his helmet lift off, possibly due to some turbulence, and they soon pitted both him and his teammate.

As the laps wound down and Verstappen was off in his world again, the battle was on for the final podium place. Leclerc was hoping to make a singular stop work, but he had a hard-charging teammate in Sainz who was making quick work of the deficit. Ferrari soon told Leclerc that their battle was with Norris and that they should not fight too much.

A battle was starting between Alonso, Piastri, and Russell as the Mercedes began to close in on a softer set of tires than those ahead of him. While Piastri made a valiant effort to stick close to Alonso, the Mercedes soon got by the McLaren and he lost the position.

As the checkered flag flew, it was the three-time World Champion of Max Verstappen who crossed the line to pick up his third win of the year and third Japanese Grand Prix victory in a row. He and his teammate Sergio Perez claimed another 1-2 finish, the fourth time in as many races that the Top 2 finishers were from the same team. Carlos Sainz picked up yet another podium finish as he finished third, while Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris closed out the Top 5.

Behind them came Alonso ahead of Russell and Piastri, settling sixth through eighth and Hamilton grabbed ninth in a pretty uneventful day. Being cheered along by the home-track crowd, Tsunoda brought home a well-deserved Top 10 finish in the points.

Yuki Tsunoda of Scuderia Visa Cash App RB celebrates finishing in 10th position with the fans during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course on April 07, 2024 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)

Just outside the points came both Haas cars of Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, who sandwiched Stroll. Rounding out the remaining race finishers were Bottas, the Alpines of Ocon and Gasly and finally, the Williams of Logan Sargeant, whose decent day turned slightly sour as he went into the gravel late in the race and lost valuable track position.

Out of the race was the trio of Guanyu, Ricciardo and Albon.

Formula 1 now prepares for its return trip to the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time since 2019 for the first Sprint format weekend of 2024. Teams such as Ferrari need to work on staying competitive with Red Bull in hopes of making it a close battle for the championship.