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F1
F1 to 10: Verstappen equals Schumacher hat-trick at the Japanese Grand Prix
There were reasons to celebrate all round at Suzuka as Max Verstappen bounced back from Australian GP disappointment while Yuki Tsunonda elated fans by finishing in the points at his home race.
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1. Japan in exactly 75 words*
Oracle Red Bull Racing’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen extended his lead atop the Formula One standings with a commanding win in the Japanese Grand Prix, the third year in succession the Dutchman has won from pole at the revered Suzuka circuit. Team-mate Sergio Pérez finished second for the third time this season for his best result in Japan, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, the winner of the previous race in Australia, finished in third place.
* 2024 is the 75th season of the F1 world championship
2. The Japanese GP in six pics
To the winner goes the spoils ... and a cold champagne shower
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Thumbs up for Pérez and Verstappen after converting their front-row start
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Slick pit stops only helped Verstappen extend his advantage
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen and Pérez locked out the front row for the third time
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
3. 1-2 the perfect response for Max and Checo
Once Verstappen maintained first off the line, the Dutchman simply flew
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
After his nine-race winning streak was snapped with an early retirement in the previous race in Melbourne, Verstappen had revenge on his mind and history on his side in Japan. Last year, after Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of F1’s annual visit to Suzuka, Verstappen crushed the field by 19.387secs.
The margin was 12.535secs on Sunday, but the three-time world champion was no less dominant. After team-mate Pérez was just 0.066secs behind in qualifying, Verstappen had the measure of the rest of the field in a race of tyre strategy that saw the top 10 chop and change throughout. Verstappen led 48 of the 53 laps, only ceding the lead through the pit stops, and set the fastest lap of the race (1min 33.706secs) with four laps remaining, an exclamation point to his Suzuka dominance.
Japan has become a special place for Verstappen and the team with its long, successful association with Honda, which owns the Suzuka track. In 2022, Verstappen secured his second world title in Japan, while last year, the team wrapped up the constructors’ championship on Honda’s home soil.
More on Max and Checo
Sunday was Pérez’s third second place to Verstappen in four races this year and was a hugely important bounce-back weekend after last year’s Suzuka visit went awry.
The Mexican retired early in last year’s Japanese Grand Prix and copped two penalties for being found at fault in a pair of incidents in the race, but he was on strong form all weekend eight months later, this year’s race taking place in April rather than Japan’s traditional September timeslot.
Pérez backed up his first-ever qualifying result inside the top three in 12 Suzuka visits to add to his 2022 podium at the track, when he also finished second. Banishing the disappointment of a fifth-place result in Melbourne – and those memories of last year – left him with a smile on his face.
“If you remember here last year, it was probably my worst weekend,” Pérez said. “If we are strong in places like this with a lot of high-speed corners, a lot of medium-speed, we can be strong anywhere else. It’s been a good weekend.”
4. Tsunoda sends fans home happy
Tsunoda fought like a lion to stay in 10th and secure a precious point
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Japan's Yuki Tsunoda made it back-to-back points-scoring finishes for the Visa Cash App RB Team, the local hero scoring points at his home Grand Prix for the first time after a fightback to 10th place after falling down the field early on.
Tsunoda, who was seventh in Australia last time out, qualified 10th on Saturday for his third appearance in Q3 in four races this year, and became the first local driver to score points at Suzuka since Kamui Kobayashi for Sauber in 2012 as he improved to 11th in the world championship standings with seven points.
Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo had a much shorter and less memorable Suzuka showing, the Australian qualifying 11th and then being involved in a first-lap accident that also eliminated Williams driver Alexander Albon at Turn 2 soon after the race began. Damage to both cars and the trackside barriers prompted a red flag and a half-hour delay, as Ricciardo’s wait for his first points in 2024 continues.
5. The number you need to know
2: Verstappen’s third consecutive win in Japan from pole position is a feat only managed by one other driver, Michael Schumacher for Ferrari from 2000-02.
6. The word from the paddock
It was very nice. The critical bit was the start, to stay ahead, and after that, the car got better and better for me. Everything just went really well, pit stops, strategy. Couldn’t have been any better
7. The stats that matter
Drivers' Championship top 5
Position
Driver
Team
Points
Gap
1
Max Verstappen
Oracle Red Bull Racing
77
-
2
Sergio Pérez
Oracle Red Bull Racing
64
-13
3
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
59
-18
4
Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
55
-22
5
Lando Norris
McLaren
37
-40
Constructors' Championship top 5
Position
Team
Points
Gap
1
Oracle Red Bull Racing
141
-
2
Ferrari
120
-21
3
McLaren
69
-72
4
Mercedes
34
-107
5
Aston Martin
33
-108
8. Away from the track
The racing series you’ve been waiting for is back; no, not Formula One, but the return of the (Un)Serious Race Series, where we take the Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB drivers out of their comfort zones and into head-to-head challenges for another year.
To kick off 2024, Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez take on Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda in Ricciardo’s backyard, the Aussie beach, in a coastline challenge to see which team can show their mettle as surf lifesavers, one of the hardest professions in Australia.
After the first season of the (Un)Serious Race Series saw the drivers compete in hovercrafts, monster trucks, kei trucks and mini jet boats, the Can-Am Commander was the vehicle of choice Down Under. To add to the Aussie flavour, snowboarding legend Scotty James and current world number-one surfer Molly Picklum were in charge of judging on the day.
Who stood tallest on the sand? Watch the video below to find out.
7 min
Formula One drivers race as Australian surf lifesavers
Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda race Can-Am Commanders in Melbourne.
9. Where to next, and what do I need to know?
Round 5 (China), April 19-21
Circuit name/location: Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai
Length/laps: 5.451km, 56 laps (Sprint: 19 laps)
Grands Prix held/debut: 16, 2004
Most successful driver: Lewis Hamilton (six wins)
Most successful team: Mercedes (six wins)
2019 podium (most recent race): 1st: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2nd: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), 3rd: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
10. Inside the wide world of Red Bull Motorsports
Acosta is first across the line
© David Goldman/Red Bull Content Pool
The hype surrounding the ascension of Pedro Acosta to MotoGP™ was loud and justifiable, given the teenager came to the premier class of world motorcycle racing as a Moto3™ and Moto2™ champion before his 19th birthday. Two races in, the Spanish sensation has showed why.
Acosta finished third in Portugal last time out for the Red Bull GasGas Tech3 team; to put that into perspective, he’s just the fifth rider to stand on the podium within two races of his MotoGP™ career along with Marc Márquez (third in his first race in 2013), Jorge Lorenzo (second in his first race in 2008), Dani Pedrosa (second in his first race in 2006) and Jorge Martín (third in his second race in 2021). Esteemed company, indeed.
Catch up with the rising star in our in-depth Q&A, where Acosta talks about adapting to the category, how he’s training his body to cope with the brutish top-flight machines, and – of course – the expectations for the first year of what’s expected to be a long, successful stint in MotoGP™.
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