Verstappevn achieves his first victory of the season after managing to keep McLaren’s at a distance, barely troubling the four-time world champion, who drove an impressive race in a worse car. Piastri asked to overtake Norris to catch the defending champion, but there were no team orders. Alonso outmanoeuvred Gasly at the start and finished just one place away from the points. There was no rain and we saw hardly any action or overtaking in the race. Carlos Sainz gained a position when he switched to the soft tires in the final stretch of the race
Verstappen presents his candidacy to fight for the World Championship
The four-time world champion once again gave a master class at the Suzuka circuit, keeping the McLaren drivers at bay. Lando Norris, who finished second, was unable to unsettle Max throughout the GP. The New Zealander stole first place from the “papayas” in qualifying, and there was no way to get him out of there. The Red Bull is a worse car, but Verstappen is a much better driver and thus presents his candidacy to fight for the drivers’ world championship. It will be difficult for him if the team does not step up, but he will fight for it, there is no doubt about that.
McLaren, without solutions
McLaren were surprised that Verstappen beat them in qualifying and, from then on, they failed to manage the race in order to put pressure on the Red Bull driver, hoping that the superiority of the car would be enough to achieve victory. Lando Norris was right behind the New Zealander for the whole race. It is surprising that both drivers made their stops on the same lap in a one-stop race. He was unable to fight for the lead at any point during the race.
With ten laps to go, and powerless to do anything about Norris’s inability to fight, Oscar Piastri, who was in third place and seemed to have more pace than the Briton, asked the team to let him through to try and win, but there were no team orders. McLaren’s poor management was surprising, they were unable to come up with anything to try and find a win, they gambled everything on the superiority of the car, but came up against the superiority and quality of Verstappen, who didn’t let go.
Fernando Alonso misses out on points
Fernando Alonso fought a good fight at the start with Pierre Gasly, who gained the position at the start, to finish in eleventh position from start to finish (not taking into account the jostling for positions at the pit entrances. He lost the chance to catch Bearman at his pit stop, where the team lost a lot of time. The long-awaited rain did not come, and he had to settle for just missing out on the points. He managed to keep Verstappen’s Red Bull behind
Carlos Sainz, with no options
Carlos Sainz finished the race having gained a position from the start. He chose to look after his tyres and stopped last together with Lando Norris, to such an extent that he was able to put on the soft tyres in the final part of the race to gain three positions. He was very strong on this compound, showing one of the best paces in the final stretch. He continues to gain mileage and experience, but he was far from being able to fight for points. Albon was ninth.
Ferrari, on the verge of the podium
Charles Leclerc started as he finished, in fourth place, waiting for the race to be altered from above. He was consistent and regular, but he was not able to do anything to get on the podium. The pace above him was superior. He achieved his best position of the season, but it is still not enough. Hamilton, meanwhile, regained a position, but could only finish seventh, behind the two Mercedes, which this time were further from the front, especially Russell, compared to the first two races.