2024 Japanese GP: Post Race Analysis

Some worry 2 laps after the restart that the race would be a follow the leader, tire managing dud. Instead there was a ton of different strategies, off sequence pit stops, and even quite a bit of on track passing. Overall, a pretty great race... minus the lack of challenge for the lead.

Red Bull expected to dominate and they did. Max had the race easily in control after a couple of laps. It's scary to think just how much pace he had in reserve. Perez had his best weekend of the season by far. Easy 1-2.

Ferrari get high praises on the strategy front. They worked the 2 stop and the 1 stop, the pitstops were quick, all the cars exited into relatively clean air. Excellent job. Carlos looks to be in top form, having a superb season and another well deserved podium. Charles did a brilliant job managing his medium tires and successfully pulling off the 1 stop strategy that so many abandoned.

McLaren had a very fast car over one lap, but their tire deg was pretty lousy. Respect the honesty from Lando to question the early 2nd stop, but also respected the high pressure the team is under during a race. Oscar has to be kicking himself for making the late mistake that cost him p7. The McLaren's definitely didn't have the pace to fight Ferrari.

Aston Martin brought upgrades. Hard to say if the car improved or by how much. Alonso had a tremendous race. The strategy looked a little strange during the race. Keeping Alonso on softs for so long, then when his rivals pitted they brought in Stroll and left Alonso out an extra lap. Somehow it managed to work and with Alonso's 1000 IQ, he scored a 6th place. Stroll on the other hand had the team do everything possible for his weekend and he still looked like a donkey out there. The Scooby Doo rant on the radio topped it off.

Mercedes looked like a bunch of amateurs. The one stop strategy with 2 new hard tires made sense to begin with. Once it was clear their tires wouldn't last, they didn't seem to know which direction to go. Not sure it mattered much, but the Mercedes is still better than the AMR and is likely on par with McLaren. Russell again looked better in the race than Hamilton. Lewis complained the car was miserable once again. Bernie Collins made a great point by reminding us how Lewis said the car has felt the best all year earlier this weekend, and went back to the car is trash after another bad result. Perhaps it's time to look in the mirror bud.

Visa RB had the spotlight this weekend with Yuki in his home race. The dude scored points on merit, well done! Ricciardo's lap 1 incident could be considered a racing incident given all the cars around. However the fact is he didn't have Stroll beside on his left, and simply moved over to the optimal line on the right without seeing Albon there. His fault and with Helmut already at whits end, this could be near the end for Ricciardo's career.

Haas still in the fight for points overall. A great recovery by Hulkenberg. He had a dreadful restart and made his way up to 11th. Perhaps a point was missed out today. KMag looked to be in the mix all race, not sure how he ended up behind Nico.

Sauber have to be disappointed. A very impressive qualifying from Bottas and the car didn't look terrible in the race, but they slowly crept backwards. Of course their pitstops are still horrific. They've been in F1 for how long and why can't they complete a stop in less than 4 seconds? Tough look for Zhou once again.

Alpine's season continues to be a nightmare. They looked better in qualifying but had nothing for the race. For sure the worst car on the grid.

Williams mechanics need a raise or bonuses or something. The amount of repairs they have done in the past few weeks is off the charts and must be a critical blow to their budget. The fact they still only have 2 chassis' is embarrassing. Yet both drives continue to get in big wrecks. The only rule right now has to be to NOT get in a crash. Logan Sargeant maintains his impressive skill to finish dead last of the running cars.

Driver of the Day: Charles Leclerc. Masterclass drive to keep the medium tires alive for so long and still have great pace. Had a little blunder that was almost costly, but Leclerc drove though it and brought home an incredible 4th place.

 

Needed some sleep after the race, so the report had to wait

 

Sainz had the better weekend, but I think Driver of the Day is specifically for the race. To manage the medium tires while still maintaining incredible pace was spectacular by Leclerc IMO.