Japanese Grand Prix Review

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After a brake failure on Lap 4 of the Australian Grand Prix sent Max Verstappen out of the race, the Dutch Red Bull driver emerged triumphant once more at the Japanese Grand Prix.

This marks Verstappen’s third consecutive win at the Suzuka Circuit, the first time that feat has been accomplished since 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher won three in a row from 2000-2002.

The win is also Verstappen’s 20th victory in 22 races. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz is the only one to break the streak, winning last year’s Singapore Grand Prix and reaping the benefits of Verstappen’s aforementioned brake failure in Melbourne.

Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, finished 12 seconds back in 2nd place. Carlos Sainz rounded out the podium in 3rd with his fellow Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc coming home in 4th.

Another noteworthy performance was that of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda. The 4th-year racer from Japan earned one point on the day with his 10th place result. The driver included some dazzling maneuvers, including two passes around the outside in Suzuka’s tricky Esses complex of turns.

The finish was also the first time since Kamui Kobayashi’s podium in 2012 that a Japanese driver scored points on home soil.

Three drivers retired from the Grand Prix. RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Williams’s Alex Albon collided on Lap 1 in Turn 3, bringing out the red flag. Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu exited the race early with mechanical troubles.

With four rounds of the championship completed, the top 5 in the overall standings perfectly mirror the top 5 from this weekend’s race. Verstappen leads Perez by 13 points, with Sainz, Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris sitting at third through fifth, respectively.

In the constructor’s standings, Red Bull and Ferrari are the only team in triple digits. The combined results of Verstappen and Perez outweigh the Italian outfit by 21 points.

Three teams and seven drivers are still searching for their first points of the season. Alpine, Kick Sauber and Williams sit at zero. Daniel Ricciardo is the seventh driver in that category as Yuki Tsunoda has claimed all of RB’s 7 points so far.

The remaining teams and drivers look to try and dethrone Verstappen at the next stop on the calendar. However, it is a new challenge for a good chunk of the grid as Formula 1 stays in Asia and heads to China in two weeks.

Due to COVID restrictions, the Shanghai International Circuit has not hosted a Formula 1 event since 2019. Lewis Hamilton won that contest during his run towards his 6th world championship that season.

Four drivers on the grid, Oscar Piastri, Yuki Tsunoda, hometown favorite Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant have never raced in an F1 car on this track. It is also the first Chinese Grand Prix since the new aero regs were introduced in 2022.

In its new spring slot, the Japanese Grand Prix gave us a return to normalcy at the top step of the podium, but who knows what is in store for Shanghai on April 21.

Jack Rachinsky is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jjr6682@psu.edu.