Two weeks after his retirement in Australia, the triple reigning world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) will try to take his revenge this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, the fourth round of the F1 season where he will once again be the big favourite.
The Dutchman, who suffered brake problems in Melbourne, had not finished a race for the first time in two years and had shown his anger when returning to his garage. There is no doubt that the insatiable Red Bull driver will be even more motivated than usual on the Japanese track that he loves so much.
Six months ago, Verstappen had already arrived at Suzuka after a poor performance, his sixth place in Singapore which had ended his series of ten consecutive victories. The response of the Dutch champion had been unequivocal since he won comfortably, with respectively 19 and 36 seconds ahead of the McLarens of the Briton Lando Norris and the Australian Oscar Piastri.
A similar rebound is therefore expected this weekend on the legendary Japanese circuit whose fast curves perfectly suit its Red Bull single-seater, which should exploit its superiority to the maximum.
Ferrari on the lookout
“These things can happen and we must not forget that we had just won nine races in a row. We will try to come back even stronger and the team is confident for this weekend,” Verstappen announced.
As has been the case since the beginning of the season, Ferrari should be the main threat to Red Bull. Two weeks after an improbable double in Australia with the victory of the Spaniard Carlos Sainz ahead of his Monegasque teammate Charles Leclerc, the Scuderia, which has always been on the podium in the first three rounds of the season, will aim to make it four.
“It’s true that we were very strong in Australia, but you have to look at the first three races as a whole. The fact is that we are still two tenths behind Red Bull so we would need to improve, especially on a circuit like Suzuka,” said Sainz, who has won the only two races that have eluded the Austrian team in the last year and a half.
The fast Japanese track should also suit McLaren, which is more likely to benefit from a similar track in Australia. The two papaya-coloured cars finished on the podium last autumn and are once again contenders for places of honour.
Mercedes wants to bounce back
Mercedes, for their part, will try to bounce back after a disastrous Australian round where neither of their two cars finished the race. However, the Silver Arrows are expected to struggle on a circuit that hardly suits them.
“Unlike McLaren, slow corners are one of our strengths, but at Suzuka there are a lot of fast corners and that’s where we’re lacking this year so it’s going to be tough,” George Russell told AFP.
The Briton, who had a big accident in Melbourne after Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) in front of him braked unexpectedly, welcomed the penalty imposed on the Spaniard, even if he considered the 20-second sanction a little harsh.
“The penalty is a bit too harsh. But not sanctioning him would have sent the wrong message when we have a role model for the younger generations of drivers,” he said.
On the French side, the first new features of the season are arriving on the Alpine single-seaters, which have been in decline since the beginning of the year. However, the drivers are not expecting any major improvements this weekend and could continue their ordeal.
“It’s good to have the first developments on the car, but it was already planned before the start of the season, it’s the continuation of the development plan of the car. We don’t expect a major change. We know that it won’t take us where we would like to be… But it’s a first step in the right direction,” stressed the Frenchman Pierre Gasly.
Held for the first time in spring instead of the usual autumn date, the Japanese Grand Prix could be disrupted by the weather on Sunday as forecasts indicate a risk of rain, which could reshuffle the cards.
