[BBC]
Max Verstappen received the Japanese Grand Prix for the fourth successive time as he fended off McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Components 1 now heads to Bahrain for the second race of a triple-header, from 11-13 April.
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Earlier than that, BBC Sport F1 correspondent Andrew Benson solutions your questions.
Why do drivers price Suzuka as their favorite circuit when pole often wins and there may be little or no likelihood of overtaking? Sunday’s race was fairly boring as soon as Max Verstappen obtained to the primary nook earlier than Lando Norris. – Stuart
The 2 issues – the idea of a favorite circuit and one the place overtaking may be very troublesome and the racing due to this fact generally uneventful – usually are not mutually unique.
Simply have a look at Monaco. The drivers love the problem of the observe, however settle for the race is probably going going to be processional. So too with Suzuka.
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Some drivers did comment on the shortage of motion. However Fernando Alonso had a extra nuanced take.
Alonso has received at each Monaco and Suzuka, and made one in all his biggest – one of many biggest – overtaking strikes there when he handed Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari across the outdoors of 130R in 2005.
Alonso stated: “That is Suzuka. I do not keep in mind a race many instances previously the place there may be plenty of overtaking with out the climate altering.
“It appears yearly we repeat at all times on Thursday how nice Suzuka is, how nice Monaco is, the glamour, the spectacular weekend, after which on Sunday we get up and say: ‘Ah, Monaco is boring, what can we do to the observe? Suzuka is boring.’
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“As a substitute of trying on the unfavourable, I attempt to benefit from the expertise, and it was one other nice Suzuka.”
One factor is value mentioning right here. The resurfacing of the observe within the first sector modified Suzuka this yr from a circuit the place tyre degradation was excessive, to 1 the place it was low.
That modified the race from a two-stop technique to a one. Add within the issue of overtaking to an occasion the place there have been no important tyre-pace offsets growing, and the race was at all times prone to be processional.
This, although, led to a race that was pushed just about flat out all the way in which by the drivers. And that – uncommon within the Pirelli period – they take pleasure in.
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So simply because it fell quick as leisure, as a problem for the drivers, it was very actual.
Max Verstappen – sensational all weekend on his method to victory – stated: “It was a enjoyable race. The entire race I noticed two orange vehicles in my mirror and, particularly these final 20 laps, we had been pushing fairly laborious on the market. You needed to carry on combating it, principally being on the restrict.”
On the restrict for an hour and a half across the biggest circuit on the planet. No racing driver is ever going to search out that boring.
Given the demotion to Racing Bulls for Liam Lawson, what are Jack Doohan’s possibilities trying like at Alpine on condition that Franco Colapinto is a reserve driver? – Anjum
Properly, the very first thing to say is simply because Pink Bull demoted Lawson, that doesn’t essentially imply Alpine will do the identical to Doohan.
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On the floor, the Australian has had a traumatic begin to the season. In three races thus far, he has had two large, costly crashes. One when he spun within the moist in Australia, and one in Friday observe in Japan. Each had been his errors.
Doohan was not the one driver to crash within the troublesome moist circumstances in Melbourne. Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz additionally did. And lots of extra drivers spun or made errors.
And there have been some important mitigating circumstances in Suzuka.
Doohan’s crash was attributable to him getting into Flip One with the DRS overtaking support nonetheless open. So the automobile did not have sufficient downforce to deal with the G-forces on it.
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He had been doing the identical within the simulator in preparation for the race, pondering the DRS was closing robotically. However with the small elevate he had on this specific lap, it didn’t.
On the identical time, given his inexperience, it maybe would have been a good suggestion for the engineers to remind him of it.
Alpine, although, had not realised he had been doing this within the simulator.
One other mitigating issue was Doohan was underneath stress to make up time as a result of he had missed first observe whereas reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa was given an outing in his automobile.
Why did Alpine not put Hirakawa in team-mate Pierre Gasly’s automobile for first observe given Doohan’s lack of expertise at Suzuka? That they had a troublesome weekend in China and needed to guage some new set-up concepts, for which they felt they wanted Gasly’s expertise.
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Regardless of the 2 large accidents, Alpine really feel Doohan has, on stability, had a optimistic begin to the season, with some promising tempo hidden by some unlucky circumstances.
However he’s actually not protected but.
Ought to they resolve to interchange him, Alpine have two reserve drivers who may probably step up – Colapinto and Estonian Paul Aron, who is because of drive the automobile in first observe at Bahrain this weekend.
Since signing Colapinto from Williams, following his cameo position within the remaining few races of final season, the idea has been the entry to Latin American cash the Argentine offers means Doohan is on borrowed time.
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However that menace appears to have diminished for now, the funding maybe extra theoretical than actual.
In the end, although, Doohan’s destiny rests on the whim of Alpine govt adviser Flavio Briatore. He’ll resolve what he decides, when he decides it.
Was Yuki Tsunoda’s Pink Bull debut a hit, and is he an enchancment on Liam Lawson? – Ed
Tsunoda set himself the goal of scoring factors on debut at Pink Bull, and completed the race twelfth, behind the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. So, by the requirements he set himself, it was not a hit.
Pink Bull need Tsunoda to be scoring good factors to spice up their bid for the constructors’ title. So by their requirements, it was not a hit both.
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Having stated that, it actually confirmed promise.
He began off strongly, being shut on tempo to Max Verstappen in first observe, and was once more trying first rate in remaining observe.
In first qualifying, once more he was solely 0.1secs from Verstappen.
For second qualifying, Pink Bull selected to present him one set of used tyres and one in all new – not unsual for a fast driver in a fast automobile, however maybe a mistake given his lack of expertise with the crew.
That meant he had just one lifelike shot at moving into the highest 10 shootout. And Tsunoda made an error on his solely flying lap on new tyres, going into Flip One 15km/h sooner than ever earlier than, and having a second.
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His race was dictated by qualifying 14th, however he did overtake Lawson on lap one then pull off an undercut cross on Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
As for comparisons with Lawson earlier than him, Tsunoda was a particular step up. He was sooner than Lawson ever was, and seemed much more in management and assured.
However he must do higher than this sooner or later to have any likelihood of retaining a seat at Pink Bull in 2026.
How doubtless is it that George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli will race for Mercedes in 2026, with each out of contract this yr? – John
The reply to this query relies upon completely upon Max Verstappen.
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If the world champion decides to remain at Pink Bull, Mercedes will preserve Russell and Antonelli subsequent yr.
If he decides to maneuver, Mercedes is his more than likely possibility, by which case Toto Wolff must resolve which driver to maintain.
On efficiency proper now, that will be Russell. However Antonelli is barely 18, simply three races into his profession, and believed to have wealthy promise. Jettisoning him after a yr could be harsh certainly.
In that situation, Russell is prone to be a beautiful candidate to Pink Bull, too.
What’s going to Verstappen do? For now, he’s relaxed and ready to see how the season develops. He’s underneath contract to Pink Bull till the top of 2028, however has performance-related get-out clauses if he desires to depart.
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The issue in making any determination in regards to the future is no-one is completely sure what subsequent yr and past will appear like by way of engines.
Mercedes are extensively believed to be forward on improvement of the brand new 2026 power-units. However their future is unsure.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is pushing for an early abandonment of the 2026 engine formulation and a return to naturally aspirated V10s operating on sustainable gas. Why, he has but to clarify. However for now all that issues is he’s.
That precise route appears to be like unlikely to occur. Ferrari and Pink Bull again the V10 concept, however it’s not interesting to Mercedes, Honda or Audi – and that is greater than sufficient producers to vote that concept down underneath F1’s rule constructions.
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However that doesn’t imply a change will not come earlier than 2031 – the present finish of the brand new engine regs.
Maybe producers would comply with a special, larger engine – a V8, for instance – with a turbo and a few hybrid component, however not as a lot because the 50% of whole energy deliberate for subsequent yr.
There’s a assembly to debate F1’s future engine route in Bahrain on Friday and no-one is aware of what the conclusion will probably be – or certainly if there will probably be one.
Verstappen will wait a bit of longer to see how issues stand on many fronts earlier than making any determination on his future.
Between a packed calendar, different commitments and strict rules on prices, how a lot time do F1 drivers truly get to practise driving their vehicles throughout a season? Is it largely simulator based mostly? – Arv
In-season testing in present vehicles is forbidden by F1’s rules.
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Drivers are allowed to check in vehicles which are greater than a yr outdated. This was unrestricted for some time, however has for 2025 been restricted for present drivers to 1,000km a yr.
Drivers can even take part in Pirelli tyre improvement checks within the newest vehicles, or no matter spec of automobile is required, if referred to as upon.
Apart from that, the one “observe” they get is within the simulator.
Whether or not the most effective drivers on the planet want any observe in a yr by which there are 24 grands prix is one other query.
