Pain from his seatbelts almost cost Isack Hadjar a chance at making the second part of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, but the Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver reckoned he put together an “unbelievable” lap to overcome it.
Hadjar was heard over the radio complaining about an unspecified cockpit issue in FP3, and had reported in the first part of qualifying that the problem had reoccurred as he attempted to break into Q2.
It emerged that the French driver’s seatbelts were fastened too tight, but he was unable to relieve the pain in Q1 as he didn’t have time to get out of the car to reposition the belts. This was fixed in the interim, but only after he’d cleared the first qualifying hurdle.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Hadjar stated that he had to “pull through” the pain and was delighted with his effort to get into Q2 – which later begat a second F1 Q3 appearance and seventh on the grid for the Japanese GP.
“It was a nightmare, man – honestly, it was,” Hadjar said. “I just pulled through; honestly, I’m really proud of me, like the lap I did in Q1 with what I had, unbelievable.
“I realised straight in T3. I was like ‘okay, this is not going well’, and I nearly crashed actually. But I’m okay. [Between sessions] I had to jump out, and jump back in.”
Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
When speaking to media, including Autosport, Hadjar added: “In Q1, of course you don’t have time to get to jump back out, so I had to deal with it and pull through Q2. But when I came back in the car, put the belts back on, it was all good. It was just pain.”
Hadjar ultimately qualified in seventh, matching his result from the Chinese Grand Prix to outqualify new team-mate Liam Lawson and new Red Bull recruit Yuki Tsunoda.
2024’s F2 title runner-up explained that he slowly started getting braver through the session, and felt confident enough in the car by Q3 to take more risks with his driving – which ultimately put him above Lewis Hamilton on the grid.
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“I was still not happy with everything, every lap we made, we made a nice improvement with the balance, with the settings, and honestly the car just came alive, that final lap,” Hadjar said to Sky Sports F1. “It was fantastic, to be honest; I couldn’t have gotten much faster.
“You feel something different when you know it’s that final lap of Q3. You’re like, ‘I’m just gonna add a tiny bit more everywhere’ and you’re just hoping for it to stick.
“The amount of focus it takes is a lot, but yeah, I was at 100% and I was not previously, so I just managed to be brave enough to make an extra step.”
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Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
Isack Hadjar
RB
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Pain from his seatbelts almost cost Isack Hadjar a chance at making the second part of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, but the Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver reckoned he put together an “unbelievable” lap to overcome it.
Hadjar was heard over the radio complaining about an unspecified cockpit issue in FP3, and had reported in the first part of qualifying that the problem had reoccurred as he attempted to break into Q2.
It emerged that the French driver’s seatbelts were fastened too tight, but he was unable to relieve the pain in Q1 as he didn’t have time to get out of the car to reposition the belts. This was fixed in the interim, but only after he’d cleared the first qualifying hurdle.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Hadjar stated that he had to “pull through” the pain and was delighted with his effort to get into Q2 – which later begat a second F1 Q3 appearance and seventh on the grid for the Japanese GP.
“It was a nightmare, man – honestly, it was,” Hadjar said. “I just pulled through; honestly, I’m really proud of me, like the lap I did in Q1 with what I had, unbelievable.
“I realised straight in T3. I was like ‘okay, this is not going well’, and I nearly crashed actually. But I’m okay. [Between sessions] I had to jump out, and jump back in.”
Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
When speaking to media, including Autosport, Hadjar added: “In Q1, of course you don’t have time to get to jump back out, so I had to deal with it and pull through Q2. But when I came back in the car, put the belts back on, it was all good. It was just pain.”
Hadjar ultimately qualified in seventh, matching his result from the Chinese Grand Prix to outqualify new team-mate Liam Lawson and new Red Bull recruit Yuki Tsunoda.
2024’s F2 title runner-up explained that he slowly started getting braver through the session, and felt confident enough in the car by Q3 to take more risks with his driving – which ultimately put him above Lewis Hamilton on the grid.
Read Also:
“I was still not happy with everything, every lap we made, we made a nice improvement with the balance, with the settings, and honestly the car just came alive, that final lap,” Hadjar said to Sky Sports F1. “It was fantastic, to be honest; I couldn’t have gotten much faster.
“You feel something different when you know it’s that final lap of Q3. You’re like, ‘I’m just gonna add a tiny bit more everywhere’ and you’re just hoping for it to stick.
“The amount of focus it takes is a lot, but yeah, I was at 100% and I was not previously, so I just managed to be brave enough to make an extra step.”
In this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
Isack Hadjar
RB
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Max Verstappen stormed to a surprise pole position at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix as the reigning world champion defeated both McLarens to grab top spot.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had been setting the pace during practice, but it was Verstappen who delivered when it mattered, putting in a new track record of 1m26.983s to secure his fourth successive Suzuka pole.
Early championship leader Norris will start alongside the Dutchman having been pipped by just 0.012 seconds, while Chinese Grand Prix winner Piastri is third alongside Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Before Verstappen’s fine effort, it was Mercedes that had been worrying the McLaren duo but George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli could only make the third row.
There had been plenty of talk about Red Bull’s decision to switch Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda heading to Japan but neither made it into Q3, instead it was the Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar who impressed to go seventh, despite reporting a cockpit issue during the opening session.
Lewis Hamilton will be disappointed to have only managed eighth, ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman, the Haas man making it three rookies in the top 10.
Once again, the hour-long session descended into farce when a fifth red flag of the weekend for a trackside grass fire caused delays in Q2.
A fire fighter sprays the grass at the side of the track to dampen it
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
After the latest incident had been dealt with, there was plenty of improvement across the board, meaning both Lawson and Tsunoda were eliminated.
Lawson will start a place ahead of his Red Bull replacement having gone 14th on his return to Racing Bulls, while Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso also failed to make the top 10 shootout.
Lawson eked out of Q1 in 15th place, just 0.016s faster than the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, whose team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto was also eliminated.
Esteban Ocon, having finished fifth last time out in China, had to settle for 18th on the grid this time around having been unable to match the pace of Bearman in the sister Haas.
Lance Stroll endured a miserable session, running off at Dunlop Curve when on a flying lap and will start at the back, with the rebuilt Alpine of Jack Doohan alongside him after his huge shunt in FP2 on Friday.
F1 Japanese GP – Qualifying results
In this article
Mark Mann-Bryans
Formula 1
Max Verstappen
Red Bull Racing
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Max Verstappen stormed to a surprise pole position at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix as the reigning world champion beat both McLarens to top spot.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had been setting the pace during practice, but it was Verstappen who delivered when it mattered, putting in a new track record of 1m26.983s to secure his four successive Suzuka pole.
Early championship leader Norris will start alongside the Dutchman having been pipped by just 0.012s, while Chinese GP race winner Piastri is third alongside Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Before Verstappen’s fine effort, it was the Mercedes who had been worrying the McLaren duo but George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli could only make the third row.
There had been plenty of talk about Red Bull’s decision to switch Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda heading to Japan but neither made it into Q1, instead it was the Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar who impressed to go seventh, despite reporting a cockpit issue during the opening session.
Lewis Hamilton will be disappointed to have only managed eighth, ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon and Haas driver Oliver Bearman.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Once again, the hour-long session descended into farce when a fourth red flag of the weekend for a trackside grass fire caused delays in Q2.
After the latest incident had been dealt with, there was plenty improvement across the board, meaning both Lawson and Tsunoda would be eliminated.
Lawson will start a place ahead of his Red Bull replacement having gone 14th on his return to Racing Bulls, while Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso also failed to make the top 10 shootout.
Lawson eked out of Q1 in 15th place, just 0.016 seconds faster than the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, whose team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto was also eliminated.
Esteban Ocon, having finished fifth last time out in China after penalties were applied, had to settle for 18th on the grid this time around having been unable to match the pace of Bearman in the sister Haas.
Lance Stroll endured a miserable session, running off at Dunlop when on a flying lap and will start at the back, with the rebuilt Alpine of Jack Doohan alongside him after his huge shunt in FP2 on Friday.
F1 Japanese GP – Qualifying results
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Mark Mann-Bryans
Formula 1
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Lando Norris closed out Japanese Grand Prix practice with the fastest time, just 0.026 seconds ahead of McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Oscar Piastri, as the session faced two red flags due to grass fires.
The championship leader aborted two hot laps during his late-session qualifying simulations on soft tyres due to minor wide moments on the exit of the second Degner corner, but rallied on his third attempt to set a 1m27.965s.
Although Norris did not beat his best first sector time on that lap, he found further improvement in the final two sectors to snatch the best lap from Piastri.
This could not be beaten in the late-session flurry of hot laps of soft tyres; Norris’s timesheet-topper was followed by a grass fire – the second of the session – on the grass alongside 130R.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto had run marginally wide here on the entry to the flat-out left-hander, and just about saved his car from spinning off into the opposite wall. Moments later, the grass here caught fire to bring the session to a close.
Despite overnight attempts to quell any further grass fires, the first of the two FP3 red flags was brought out after just six minutes of running, as the island of grass between Turn 12 and the chicane used for motorbike racing at the Suzuka course was ignited.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Peter Fox – Getty Images
This led to a short seven-minute delay, leaving Max Verstappen’s first timed run on hards perched at the top of the order. But his time was quickly brushed aside by a series of soft-tyre laps on the restart, as Norris shuffled ahead on his first play for a lap; in turn, the Briton was deposed by the two Ferraris.
Piastri then reclaimed top spot, bringing the times into the 1m28s ballpark, before George Russell eclipsed him at the head of the leaderboard. The Australian bounced back to sink below the 1m27s bracket, which Russell found himself almost a tenth shy of entering – but this was simply the prelude to Norris’s later move to the top.
Russell shook out in third ahead of Charles Leclerc, while Verstappen got a late upgrade to fifth after his initial soft tyre run – he had been just a tenth ahead of new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda before the Dutchman was offered a second attempt. He found the car “undriveable” at certain corners, after being offered a chance of a change in diff settings by engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
Lewis Hamilton was sixth ahead of Alex Albon, who sat ahead of Pierre Gasly, Tsunoda – who didn’t get a chance to close in on Verstappen late into the session – and Isack Hadjar. Carlos Sainz was 11th, after surviving an excursion at Turn 6 due to a snap of oversteer.
Both Verstappen and Piastri were pinged by the stewards having appeared to not follow the race director’s instructions governing practice starts on the pitlane exit.
F1 Japanese GP – FP3 results
Photos from Japanese GP – Practice
In this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
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Lando Norris closed out Japanese Grand Prix practice with the fastest time, just 0.026 seconds ahead of McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Oscar Piastri, as the session faced two red flags due to grass fires.
The championship leader aborted two hot laps during his late-session qualifying simulations on soft tyres due to minor wide moments on the exit of the second Degner corner, but rallied on his third attempt to set a 1m27.965s.
Although Norris did not beat his best first sector time on that lap, he found further improvement in the final two sectors to snatch the best lap from Piastri.
This could not be beaten in the late-session flurry of hot laps of soft tyres; Norris’s timesheet-topper was followed by a grass fire – the second of the session – on the grass alongside 130R.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto had run marginally wide here on the entry to the flat-out left-hander, and just about saved his car from spinning off into the opposite wall. Moments later, the grass here caught fire to bring the session to a close.
Despite overnight attempts to quell any further grass fires, the first of the two FP3 red flags was brought out after just six minutes of running, as the island of grass between Turn 12 and the chicane used for motorbike racing at the Suzuka course was ignited.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Peter Fox – Getty Images
This led to a short seven-minute delay, leaving Max Verstappen’s first timed run on hards perched at the top of the order. But his time was quickly brushed aside by a series of soft-tyre laps on the restart, as Norris shuffled ahead on his first play for a lap; in turn, the Briton was deposed by the two Ferraris.
Piastri then reclaimed top spot, bringing the times into the 1m28s ballpark, before George Russell eclipsed him at the head of the leaderboard. The Australian bounced back to sink below the 1m27s bracket, which Russell found himself almost a tenth shy of entering – but this was simply the prelude to Norris’s later move to the top.
Russell shook out in third ahead of Charles Leclerc, while Verstappen got a late upgrade to fifth after his initial soft tyre run – he had been just a tenth ahead of new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda before the Dutchman was offered a second attempt. He found the car “undriveable” at certain corners, after being offered a chance of a change in diff settings by engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
Lewis Hamilton was sixth ahead of Alex Albon, who sat ahead of Pierre Gasly, Tsunoda – who didn’t get a chance to close in on Verstappen late into the session – and Isack Hadjar. Carlos Sainz was 11th, after surviving an excursion at Turn 6 due to a snap of oversteer.
Both Verstappen and Piastri were pinged by the stewards having appeared to not follow the race director’s instructions governing practice starts on the pitlane exit.
F1 Japanese GP – FP3 results
In this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
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“I think the people at Racing Bulls were a bit surprised themselves by the good car they’ve built this year,” Max Verstappen told reporters on Thursday at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Two weeks ago in China, the world champion made it clear that his struggling team-mate Liam Lawson would be faster in the Racing Bulls car than in Red Bull’s RB21, mainly because the VCARB 02 is “easier to drive”.
During Friday’s practice sessions in Suzuka, Verstappen’s claim appeared to hold up. In FP2 Isack Hadjar secured third, just four tenths of a second behind the fastest McLarens, while the newly demoted Lawson finished in P5, right behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen was eighth, though the margin to his now former team-mate was measurable in the hundredths of a second.
The result gives credence to what all the drivers in the Red Bull family said after practice. Lawson mentioned that the VCARB02 has a “wider operating window” than the Red Bull car, essentially confirming what everyone in the paddock already suspected.
Verstappen, in turn, admitted that Red Bull is yet to fully resolve its issues. The team introduced some small updates to the car this weekend – most likely signed off for production before the start of the season – but the four-time world champion concluded there is still work to do: “We tried various things with the car, but a lot of them didn’t work as we had hoped.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
New Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, whose P18 wasn’t representative since one of the four red flags forced him to skip his qualifying-simulation run, also acknowledged that he had been “struggling somewhat”.
PLUS: How Tsunoda and Verstappen’s laps compare on eye-opening first day in Japan
The first practice session went better than expected, according to Tsunoda, but afterwards he found that the RB21 felt significantly different than it did in the simulator.
Tsunoda was more upbeat before getting in the car, saying that based on simulator runs the car’s difficulty had been somewhat exaggerated. Afterwards he admitted its real-life performance painted a different picture.
Comparing Verstappen’s and Hadjar’s laps
Tsunoda’s comments highlight that the Racing Bulls car is at least more driver-friendly than the Red Bull, although the RB21 should still have a slightly higher performance ceiling. But there are important caveats to Friday’s results.
A closer look at the data reveals Racing Bulls mainly gained time over Verstappen on the straights – just as Tsunoda was faster in straight-line sections during the first practice.
This could theoretically indicate something about set-up choices, but it’s more likely fuel levels and engine modes played a role – factors that could also explain why Tsunoda was relatively fast, perhaps to make a strong impression in front of his home crowd.
Photo by: F1-Tempo
Red Bull boss Christian Horner naturally denied his team artificially boosted Tsunoda’s FP1 performance in this way but, given the situation, he would say that, wouldn’t he?
Nevertheless, the data shows Tsunoda mainly gained time in various traction phases in FP1.
When comparing Hadjar’s (P3) and Verstappen’s (P8) laps in FP2, a similar trend emerges. Verstappen was about two and a half tenths faster than Hadjar coming out of the Esses, as illustrated in the telemetry image above. Lawson mentioned that the Esses have become even more intense due to the new asphalt, almost “pulling drivers’ heads off their shoulders”.
Looking at our other telemetry overlay, below, adds some important context to this. Most of the full-throttle sections are highlighted in white, indicating that Hadjar gained most of his time in these areas – particularly in traction phases.
At the hairpin and when entering Spoon, Verstappen gains time again – just as he did in the Esses – putting him 0.130s ahead of Hadjar’s lap time as he exits Spoon. That advantage is then negated on the full-throttle stretch leading to the final chicane, emphasising that the Racing Bulls car is gaining on the straights.
This is further reinforced by the fact Verstappen went through 130R faster than Hadjar. After accelerating out of the final chicane, Verstappen is just slightly ahead of Hadjar’s delta time but, in the sprint to the finish line, this turns into a 0.152s advantage for the Racing Bulls driver.
Photo by: F1-Tempo
The overall picture shows that, while Racing Bulls performed surprisingly well and Red Bull still has a lot of work to do at Suzuka, the sight of both sister-team cars ahead of Verstappen may not be entirely representative.
There are many ‘hidden’ variables during Friday practice. For instance, Helmut Marko has frequently pointed out that Red Bull tends to run cautious engine modes in these sessions – which, while not explaining away the RB21’s vices, is an important factor to keep in mind when analysing the results.
Do the long runs on Friday actually mean anything?
Most teams factor a race simulation into their FP2 run plans, which we can analyse to give some insight into race pace. Circumstances at Suzuka rendered that more challenging than usual.
Four red flags made for a staccato second practice session that yielded little useful data, meaning the numbers below – sourced from data partner PACETEQ – are based on the first session. Here the run plans are different and usually a little shorter.
Despite this, the overview confirms McLaren is strong and once again the clear favourite this weekend. Lando Norris recorded the fastest extended run while also maintaining relatively low tyre degradation – despite his radio complaints about graining.
Behind, the order is less definitive. For instance, Aston Martin’s runs were very short and showed significant tyre wear, so its pace would have inevitably dropped over a longer stint. The same applies to the next name on the list, who doesn’t really belong there: Nico Hulkenberg.
All things considered, George Russell emerged as McLaren’s closest challenger – a position with which Norris and Oscar Piastri concurred. The Mercedes driver was about 0.32s per lap slower, placing him just ahead of the Ferraris.
Red Bull’s numbers, on the other hand, look significantly worse, with two key caveats. First, the long runs in this session weren’t particularly telling.
Second, the overall picture only confirms what Verstappen already acknowledged: Friday was a tough day for Red Bull, a team that has a lot of work ahead.
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In this article
Ronald Vording
Formula 1
Red Bull Racing
RB
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“I think the people at Racing Bulls were a bit surprised themselves by the good car they’ve built this year,” Max Verstappen told reporters on Thursday at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Two weeks ago in China, the world champion made it clear that his struggling team-mate Liam Lawson would be faster in the Racing Bulls car than in Red Bull’s RB21, mainly because the VCARB 02 is “easier to drive”.
During Friday’s practice sessions in Suzuka, Verstappen’s claim appeared to hold up. In FP2 Isack Hadjar secured P3, just four-tenths of a second behind the fastest McLarens, while the newly demoted Lawson finished in P5, right behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen was eighth, though the margin to his now former team-mate was measurable in the hundredths of a second.
The result gives credence to what all the drivers in the Red Bull family said after practice. Lawson mentioned that the VCARB02 has a “wider operating window” than the Red Bull car, essentially confirming what everyone in the paddock already suspected.
Verstappen, in turn, admitted that Red Bull is yet to fully resolve its issues. The team introduced some small updates to the car this weekend – most likely signed off for production before the start of the season – but the four-time world champion concluded there is still work to do: “We tried various things with the car, but a lot of them didn’t work as we had hoped.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
New Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, whose P18 wasn’t representative since one of the four red flags forced him to skip his qualifying-simulation run, also acknowledged that he had been “struggling somewhat”.
The first practice session went better than expected, according to Tsunoda, but afterwards he found that the RB21 felt significantly different than it did in the simulator.
Tsunoda was more upbeat before getting in the car, saying that based on simulator runs the car’s difficulty had been somewhat exaggerated. Afterwards he admitted its real-life performance painted a different picture.
Comparing Verstappen’s and Hadjar’s Laps
Tsunoda’s comments highlight that the Racing Bulls car is at least more driver-friendly than the Red Bull, although the RB21 should still have a slightly higher performance ceiling. But there are important caveats to Friday’s results.
A closer look at the data reveals Racing Bulls mainly gained time over Verstappen on the straights – just as Tsunoda was faster in straight-line sections during the first practice.
This could theoretically indicate something about set-up choices, but it’s more likely fuel levels and engine modes played a role – factors that could also explain why Tsunoda was relatively fast, perhaps to make a strong impression in front of his home crowd.
Photo by: F1-Tempo
Red Bull boss Christian Horner naturally denied his team artificially boosted Yuki’s FP1 performance in this way but, given the situation, he would say that, wouldn’t he?
Nevertheless, the data shows Tsunoda mainly gained time in various traction phases in FP1.
When comparing Hadjar’s (P3) and Verstappen’s (P8) laps in FP2, a similar trend emerges. Verstappen was about two and a half tenths faster than Hadjar coming out of the Esses, as illustrated in the telemetry image above. Lawson mentioned that the Esses have become even more intense due to the new asphalt, almost “pulling drivers’ heads off their shoulders”.
Looking at our other telemetry overlay, below, adds some important context to this. Most of the full-throttle sections are highlighted in white, indicating that Hadjar gained most of his time in these areas – particularly in traction phases.
At the hairpin and when entering Spoon, Verstappen gains time again – just as he did in the Esses – putting him 0.130 seconds ahead of Hadjar’s lap time as he exits Spoon. That advantage is then negated on the full-throttle stretch leading to the final chicane, emphasising that the Racing Bulls car is gaining on the straights.
This is further reinforced by the fact that Verstappen went through 130R faster than Hadjar. After accelerating out of the final chicane, Verstappen is just slightly ahead of Hadjar’s delta time but, in the sprint to the finish line, this turns into a 0.152-second advantage for the Racing Bulls driver.
Photo by: F1-Tempo
The overall picture shows that while Racing Bulls performed surprisingly well and Red Bull still has a lot of work to do in Suzuka, the sight of both sister-team cars ahead of Verstappen may not be entirely representative.
There are many ‘hidden’ variables during Friday practice. For instance, Helmut Marko has frequently pointed out that Red Bull tends to run cautious engine modes in these sessions – which, while not explaining away the RB21’s vices, is an important factor to keep in mind when analysing the results.
Do the long runs on Friday actually mean anything?
Most teams factor a race simulation into their FP2 run plans, which we can analyse to give some insight into race pace. Circumstances at Suzuka rendered that more challenging than usual.
Four red flags made for a staccato second practice session which yielded little useful data, meaning the numbers below – sourced from data partner PACETEQ – are based on the first session. Here the run plans are different and usually a little shorter.
Despite this, the overview confirms McLaren is strong and once again the clear favourite this weekend. Lando Norris recorded the fastest extended run while also maintaining relatively low tyre degradation – despite his radio complaints about graining.
Behind, the order is less definitive. For instance, Aston Martin’s runs were very short and showed significant tyre wear, so its pace would have inevitably dropped over a longer stint. The same applies to the next name on the list, who doesn’t really belong there: Nico Hulkenberg.
All things considered, George Russell emerged as McLaren’s closest challenger – a position with which Norris and Oscar Piastri concurred. The Mercedes driver was about 0.32 seconds per lap slower, placing him just ahead of the Ferrari duo.
Red Bull’s numbers, on the other hand, look significantly worse, with two key caveats. First, the long runs in this session weren’t particularly telling.
Second, the overall picture only confirms what Verstappen already acknowledged: Friday was a tough day for Red Bull, a team which has a lot of work ahead.
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In this article
Ronald Vording
Formula 1
Red Bull Racing
Racing Bulls
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Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso was left confused by his spin during second practice for the Japanese Grand Prix and suggested it may have been caused by a gust of wind.
The Aston Martin driver lost control at the entry to Suzuka’s Turn 8 and spun across the gravel resulting in his AMR25 becoming beached, with FP2’s second red-flag period subsequently happening.
Alonso was the second driver to spin off during the session after Alpine rookie Jack Doohan crashed at Turn 1 having not closed his DRS heading into the high-speed bend.
The Spaniard said: “I need to review it. I lost the car in a weird way, it’s very windy and very gusty out there, and the car is a little bit critical. But yeah, I don’t know if I put a tyre on the grass or something.”
That appears to be exactly what happened. This section of the lap is more technically challenging than it looks since the cars must shed speed at the last of the ‘S’ corners, then build it up again through the constant-radius Nippon curve that follows.
The first Degner Curve, Turn 8, is more open than the second, so the drivers look to carry as much speed through there as possible.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing crash
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
To do this, drivers naturally move to the left-hand extremities of the track to open out the right-hander. Analysis of the onboard footage clearly shows Alonso straying over the white line on the approach, with his left-front wheel on the grass as he passes the 50-metre board.
The left-front was fully on the grass when he began to steer right. This unsettled the car’s rear end, which Alonso tried to correct by jinking the wheel back to the left before steering right again.
But, by this point, the AMR25 was on a trajectory that caused it to miss the apex of the corner and, despite Alonso applying more right-hand steering lock, momentum carried the car onto the kerbs. From there, he was a passenger.
Whether there was a gust of wind at the critical moment only the telemetry is likely to show, but all the drivers complained about having a headwind through the ‘S’ curves during practice. On the run into the Degners, the wind would have been blowing from right to left, and slightly to the rear of the car.
Despite this setback, Alonso remained optimistic for the rest of the Japanese weekend.
“I think we’re slightly more competitive than in China [he retired having started 13th],” he said. “So hopefully Q3 is possible tomorrow.”
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In this article
Stuart Codling
Formula 1
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin Racing
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