Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull) regained control of Formula 1 this weekend, after a less successful race in Singapore, and took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.
In the 16th race of the season, the two-time champion was widely ahead of his rivals, setting his best lap in 1.28.877 minutes, leaving the second placed, the Australian Óscar Piastri (McLaren), more than half a second behind, at 0.581. , with the British Lando Norris (McLaren) in third place, with 0.616.
After being excluded from the last qualifying phase (Q3) in Singapore a week ago, Verstappen demonstrated this Saturday the dominance he has exercised this season, in which he has already won 12 of the 15 races contested.
The two-time world champion created a greater gap with second place than the one that separated second from seventh, which was the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), of 1.031 seconds.
This was the ninth pole position of the season and the 29th of his career for Verstappen and showed that the change in the regulations, which tightened the wing flexibility criteria, did not affect the performance of the champion team’s cars.
“We had a bad weekend [em Singapura]. Of course, people started saying it was because of the new technical standard. “I think they can go suck an egg,” said the Dutchman after the session.
The Red Bull driver equaled the 29 pole positions of the Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio and was only one behind the German Nico Rosberg.
This time, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc was the best of the Ferraris, in fourth place, beating the second Red Bull, driven by the Mexican Sérgio Pérez.
The Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) starts from sixth position.
The classification was marked by the accident of the American Logan Sargeant (Williams), right in the first phase (Q1), which left the car destroyed and prevented him from setting time.
Sargeant is the only driver without a contract for 2024, after this morning Alpha Tauri confirmed the continuity of the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (he was ninth) and the Australian Daniel Ricciardo (still absent in Japan due to injury).
The Japanese GP is race number 17 on the calendar, but, effectively, race number 16, due to the cancellation, in May, of the Emilia Romagna GP, due to the floods that affected that region of Italy.
This race could also dictate Red Bull’s seventh constructors’ world title, if they add one more point than Mercedes and do not lose more than 24 to Ferrari.
Currently, the team of Max Verstappen and Sérgio Pérez leads with 597 points, compared to 289 for Mercedes and 265 for Ferrari.
Red Bull was champion in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022 and 2023.
Source: TSF
