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Sad News as Boss Christian horner announced dead earlier today by BBC

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9 months ago

April 3, 2024

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Sad News as Boss Christian horner announced dead earlier today by BBC

Red Bull upgrade rumours and tactical slowing: Nine Japanese GP talking points

Formula 1 will make an earlier than usual visit to Suzuka this weekend for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Red Bull suffered a rare defeat in the last round and will be seeking to reassert themselves. Will they have things all their own way again? Here are the talking points for this weekend’s race.

year in a row, Red Bull will turn up at the home race of their power unit manufacturer having suffered a rare defeat in the previous round (inflicted, again, by Carlos Sainz Jnr and Ferrari).

The dominant champions of the past two seasons will be expected to assert themselves once more, not least because the sinuous Suzuka track should play to the RB20’s many overwhelming strengths. It’s one of the most demanding circuits for tyre degradation, requires a strong handling balance through its many medium-to-high speed corners, and the final sector places an onus on straight-line performance.

Last tear Max Verstappen put his Singapore Grand Prix defeat behind him by blowing the competition away at Suzuka. He claimed pole position by well over half a second and contained the threat from McLaren to control the race. You’d be brave to bet against a repeat this weekend.

On top of that, since testing Red Bull have been rumoured to have earmarked this race for their first major car upgrade. Having made a significant change to the cooling arrangement of their RB20 when it was launch, will we see aerodynamic refinements which allow them to draw further ahead of the competition?

Tsunoda rising, Iwasa arriving

Tsunoda holds the upper hand at RB
The only Japanese driver in the field heads to his home race on a high after scoring RB’s first points in Melbourne. It was a badly-needed boost for Yuki Tsunoda who needs to raise his profile in his fourth season at Red Bull’s second team if he’s to be regarded as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez.
He needs to avoid a repeat of last year where he was beaten to the chequered flag by Liam Lawson. However the team’s reserve driver is more a cause for concern to Tsunoda’s team mate Daniel Ricciardo, who has not impressed so far in the second RB.

However Ricciardo’s efforts to get to grips with their new car won’t be helped by his absence from first practice. RB is giving a run to junior driver Ayumu Iwasa, currently racing in Japan’s Super Formula series, meaning it will have an all-Japanese line-up for the first practice session.

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Mercedes the fifth team?

Mercedes’ best finish so far is fifth
The penalty which cost Fernando Alonso sixth place in the Australian Grand Prix had a significance to Mercedes beyond merely highlighting his role in George Russell’s crash.
It also spared the manufacturer team the humiliation of falling to fifth place in the constructors championship behind two of its customers. It heads to Suzuka fourth in the standings, just one point ahead of Alonso’s Aston Martin team.

It may prove difficult for the team to keep its neck above that waterline this weekend. The W15 has not been strong in high-speed corners so far, and there’s plenty of those at Suzuka. Aston Martin have tended to qualify strongly, so their drivers may again find themselves resisting pressure from a chasing Mercedes over the closing stages.

Williams back to full strength?
Mercedes can at least console themselves with the thought one of their customer teams is unlikely to beat them this weekend. Williams got into a pickle all by themselves in Melbourne as they were down to just one car by the second day of running, due to Alexander Albon’s heavy crash. Their decision to displace Logan Sargeant from his seat so Albon could drive was hotly debated, though he ended up just one place away from a point.

The team fully expects to have two chassis ready for this weekend, but will again have no spare. That’s a risky situation to face at Suzuka, where the speeds are high and the barriers are close. It will be a nervy time on the Williams pit wall as they hope both drivers keep it out of the barriers this weekend – just as Sargeant failed to do in Q1 last year.

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Drivers slowing down

Stewards penalised Alonso for suddenly slowing
Alonso’s penalty for slowing sharply in front of George Russell on the penultimate lap of the Australian Grand Prix provoked much debate over exactly what he was doing, how far he intended to hinder Russell, and at what point does a legitimate defensive move leave a rival facing an unavoidable crash?
It’s an area of discussion where drivers’ views should take greatest weight. It will be fascinating to learn what their rivals made of the incident and penalty, particularly those with no need to favour either team.

What were Alonso’s battery and throttle problems in the final stint of his race?
Teams slowing down
At the previous round in Jeddah, Kevin Magnussen demonstrated how to delay a rival more gradually over a series of laps, holding up a queue of cars to help team mate Nico Hulkenberg score a valuable point.

Such tactics are easier to pull off at some circuits than others. Albert Park’s two pairs of DRS zones made defending in this way almost impossible (which was why Alonso resorted to such an extreme move). But Suzuka, with its winding first two sectors, is another track where this kind of tactic could work – much as Jacques Villeneuve attempted in 1997.

With points only covering the top 10 places, and the five quickest teams likely to lock those out, the incentive for midfield teams to try similar tactics could be strong if the cards fall the right way after the start.

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Suzuka’s title-deciding days are done
Since the Japanese Grand Prix first joined the world championship calendar in 1976, with a race at Fuji Speedway, it has always been held in the second half of the season. That first championship-deciding race, and many more subsequent ones at Suzuka, have become fixtures in the folklore of F1.

That changes this year. The 2024 F1 calendar is the longest in the series’ history and Liberty Media has moved this round in a bid to reduce travel time and cut emissions. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on the race, but the days of title-deciding dramas in Japan are behind us.

From farcical to fantastic: Formula 1’s 14 title-deciding Japanese races ranked
Komatsu impressing at Haas

Haas have started well under Komatsu
The Japanese Grand Prix will be a triumphant homecoming for Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu, who can take pride in how his team has performed during his first three rounds in charge. Haas ended last year at the bottom of the standings but lie seventh after claiming three top-10 places so far.
“I left Japan 30 years ago and I didn’t think that in 30 years’ time I’d come back to the Japanese Grand Prix as a team principal,” said Komatsu. “So I think it’s a pretty special moment.”

However Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will have to produce something really special for Komatsu to improve on his best memory of competing at Suzuka so far – when he engineering Romain Grosjean’s third place for Lotus behind a different dominant Red Bull duo 11 years ago.

“We were leading into turn one with an amazing start and we were leading the race for I think about half of the race against the quicker Red Bull,” he remembered. “So that was pretty special.”

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Bianchi 10 years on
Between this Japanese Grand Prix and the next, 10 years will have passed since Jules Bianchi’s terrible crash in the 2014 race, which ultimately claimed his life.

It remains the most recent crash to have claimed the life of an F1 driver, and while the series has taken many steps to improve safety standards since then, it can never afford to be complacent. Pierre Gasly’s shocking encounter with a course vehicle in pouring rain during the 2022 race, so shockingly reminiscent of Bianchi’s appalling crash, was an urgent reminder of F1’s need to remain vigilant.

Are you going to the Japanese Grand Prix?
If you’re heading to Japan for this weekend’s race, we want to hear from you:

Forum: Going to the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka
What do you expect to see in this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix? Have your say below.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring…
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Posted on3rd April 2024, 7:15AuthorKeith CollantineCategories2024 F1 season, Formula 1Tags2024 japanese grand prix, Red Bull
3 comments on “Red Bull upgrade rumours and tactical slowing: Nine Japanese GP talking points”

Oople
3rd April 2024, 7:19

Will there be any repercussions regarding the Taiwan earthquake and resultant tsunami threat in that area of the world?

REPLY REPORT COMMENT

MacLeod (@macleod)
3rd April 2024, 7:55

Not at all as the epic centre was a long way from the circuit and there was no tsunami (alert yes but no wave)

REPLY REPORT COMMENT

Erkr
3rd April 2024, 7:57

Tragic news for Taiwan, but the tsunami warnings have been called off for Japan and Korea

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#LFC stayed calm and carried on despite the early setback today. And while conceding first is not sustainable, the manner in which they keep fighting back show why Man City and Arsenal know this title fight could go all the way 👇🔴

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Liverpool cannot ignore persistent problem as latest emphatic message sent in title race
Report from Ian Doyle after Liverpool come from behind to win again in the Premier League

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ByIan DoyleChief Liverpool FC Writer
16:42, 31 MAR 2024UPDATED17:14, 31 MAR 2024
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Liverpool’s Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah (C) celebrates after scoring his team second goal during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on March 31, 2024. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

That no team has earned more Premier League points from losing positions has become something of a badge of honour for Liverpool this season.

But while an ability to overcome adversity is a required trait of any successful team, for it to be continually needed suggests there is an issue that must be addressed.

And once again, the Reds’ propensity of starting slowly this term – in stark contrast to the whirlwinds that often greeted the first whistle earlier in Jurgen Klopp’s tenure – needed to be overcome here to see off Brighton, so often Klopp’s kryptonite.

READ MORE: Liverpool player ratings as one star stands out in huge Brighton win

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Of the 67 points Liverpool have accrued this campaign, a whopping 26 – more than a third – have now been earned from having been behind in games.

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It hasn’t helped that they’ve started leaking the opener once again, Danny Welbeck’s thunderous second-minute strike a third time in the last four Premier League games the Reds have conceded first.

What isn’t in question, however, is the mentality of Klopp’s team. And there were positive signs not only in the comeback that ultimately ensured the title run-in started with a 2-1 victory at Anfield, but the manner in which it was achieved.

While dreadful referee David Coote rattled the home crowd with a stream of bizarre calls, Liverpool merely gave their collective head a shake and stuck to the gameplan of dealing with the unique demands of facing Brighton. Patience, composure and intensity were the watchwords.

Their two goals evidenced differing qualities, Luis Diaz’s equaliser reward for both the winger’s opportunism and persistence from the Reds in keeping the ball alive at a corner, while Mohamed Salah’s winner capped a devastating, rapid Liverpool move.

Small wonder Klopp spoke before the game of having no doubt over his new-look team’s willingness to scrap for their place in a title race, a fact that, if it wasn’t already, must now be crystal clear to fellow contenders Manchester City and Arsenal. This is a Liverpool team ready to go the distance.

Of course, at this stage of the season all that matters is the three points, regardless of how it is achieved. The Reds, though, would do themselves a favour by banishing at least some of their sloppy openings.

But rarely have Liverpool done things the easy way during the Klopp era. One down, nine to go. The fight for the championship is on.

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Sad News as Boss Christian horner announced dead earlier today by BBC

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