Verstappen took pole position in Japan against the McLarens; Sainz and Alonso, far away

Max Verstappen and Red Bull They didn’t fail twice. After your bad Singapore GPthe renowned leader of world and current king of f1 once again showed his immense dominance throughout the season in F1 Japanese GP 2023 which captured his 9th pole out of 16 possible this season.

In Singapore, Carlos Sainz snapped his massive 10-game winning streak, historical record on the ‘Great Circus’. The only non-Red Bull man capable of winning a race in 15 rounds this year. But a week later, Red Bull and Max have made it clear that they don’t plan on letting any more victories slip away and continue to go out on a high.

Classification of Japan GP F1 2023:

1. Max Verstappen (PB/Red Bull) 1:28.877
2. Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:29.458
3. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:29.493
4. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:29.542
5. Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:29.650
6. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 1:29.850
7. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:29.908
8. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:30.219
9. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:30.303
10. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:30.560
11. Liam Lawson (NZL/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:30.508
12. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:30.509
13. Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 1:30.537
14. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:30.586
15. Kevin Magnussen (DIN/Haas-Ferrari) 1:30.665
16. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1:31.049
17. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:31.181
18. Nico Hülkenberg (ALE/Haas-Ferrari) 1:31.299
19. Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1:31.398
20. Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) Accident Q1

The Dutchman will start first this Sunday after securing his 29th pole. At the age of 25 (he will be 26 on September 30) he has already reached the number of poles achieved by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, in which he holds the 9th position in the history of the ranking of drivers with most pole positions in history. It has everything to crush records. All the time in the world and a dominant car you want to keep taking advantage of until someone catches you. It has no rival. I shouldn’t be with it Japanese GP in this Sunday’s race (7.00 peninsular time/DAZN F1) after passing the two McLarenwith the Oscar Piastri 2nd at 0″581 and Lando Norris 3rd at 0″616. Max still had half a second. He had already passed Piastri by 4 tenths in his first attempt and completed the loop to the delight of the Japanese fans with a better second lap. This Sunday he wants to sweep. He arrived from Singapore wounded and did not want to leave even the crumbs to get closer to the ‘match ball’ for the title.

McLaren, second best car

This time, the second best car is the McLaren. The ones from Woking started out as one of the worst cars of the year. They completely ditched that car to bring a new one in the middle of the course which put them in the fight for being the second best car since Silverstone, alternating with Mercedes and Ferrari depending on the track, with Aston Martin behind, too reliant on Alonso’s magic and not his car. Not satisfied with them, and surprisingly given the budget ceiling limit that the teams have, McLare n doubled their bet in Singapore, bringing another great package of evolutions last week where they made another step on this Suzuka track.

Its evolution is wonderful, remarkable, surprising. If the big initial surprise was Aston Martin’s massive improvement over the winter, McLaren did the same with incredible progress once the course started, something more complicated and making them the second force at Suzuka. Piastri and Norris took advantage of this to enter the provisional podium position against Leclerc (4th) who this time was the first Ferrari. The red car can take a step forward, but it finds itself facing very competitive rivals on a track that fits the orange car like a glove.

SHE’S NOT DEAD, SHE’S PARRANDA 😂

Verstappen returns more devastating than before and takes a STRATOSPHERIC pole position#JapanDAZNF1 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/DkT3wqGjK9

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) September 23, 2023

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Ferrari and Sainz, complex podium

Ferrari returned to reality after the ‘oasis’ of Monza and Singapore. The podium is very expensive for Charles (4th at 0″665), with an SF23 always thinning out the race due to its greater wear and tear. It will be more complicated Carlos Sainz (6th), who this time could not beat his teammate Leclerc within a lap after beating him in the last races, handicapped this time by experimenting too much with the settings, without finding the right for at the end of the week.

The Monegasque, more comfortable in Japan than in previous events, got that magical boost from a turn he normally needed to get fourth, close behind the two McLarens. If Piastri is 5 tenths behind and Norris 0.616, ‘Il Principino’ is only 49 thousandths behind Lando. However, in the race, it will be more difficult for him to fight with the two McLarens and keep ‘Checo’ Pérez behind (5th in 0 “773) with a Red Bull that is more superior in tire management. The scenario for Ferrari is more like what was usual before Carlos’ unexpected victory in Singapore and his pace at Monza.

🗣️ @Carlossainz55: “A bit back to reality. It’s been a complicated weekend, I have to play around with the setup”#JapanDAZNF1 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/U2RdOVAj5I

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) September 23, 2023

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Leclerc and Sainz must also know the two Mercedes very well. Hamilton was 7th at 1’031 and Russell, 8th at 1’342, but in the long run they tend to have better wear and tear. For Leclerc, it seems more realistic not to look at the podium but in the rearview mirrors to fight to defend fifth or sixth place with Carlos.

Alonso, 10th with a car not from Q3

The mere fact that Fernando Alonso has been seen to make it through Q3 with Aston Martin should be seen as a goal more than achieved. That speaks volumes about Aston Martin’s current situation. From being the second best car at the beginning of the year, to being overtaken in the evolutionary race by McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and fighting for a Q3 with a car that the Asturian himself recognized as “more meat for Q1 or Q2 .” While Lance Stroll was once again left behind in Q2 with the 17th best time, Fernando Alonso achieved the goal of getting his car into Q3, among the top 10, just by the skin of his teeth. He achieved this, according to him, with a good lap and an important change in settings after a very difficult Q1 in which he finished in 14th position.

“In Q1, we struggled a bit, we were not completely comfortable. But then we made some adjustments to the wing and in Q2 and Q3, we were happy. We lack pace, we cannot hide in that sense. Right now, I think, with the improvement of AlphaTauri and other teams, we still have more meat in Q1 and Q2 than in Q3 and we still stay in Q3, therefore, the small miracles like coming back from Singaporewhich I thought was very good, and the one here at Suzuka, they still keep us a little bit in the dark,” admitted Alonso who will try to scratch some points from Suzuka.

TO THE LIMIT AND SUFFER!!

Fernando Alonso had to make the most of his Aston Martin to reach Q3#JapanDAZNF1 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/zXyyd2kDcp

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) September 23, 2023

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The difficulties of being among the best were clear in Q2, where it was clear that the battle was going to be tough for Alonso against the AlphaTauri. The Spaniard managed to beat Liam Lawson by just 43 thousandths to get into Q3, and in the final session, he was up against Tsunoda again. This time, with only one new rubber to make one last attempt, he was overtaken by the Japanese, who had always idolized the Oviedo player since he was a child. Tsunoda was 9th at 1″426 and Alonso was 10th at 1″683. The Spaniard was unarmed to find the podium on a bad route for the power of his AMR23. Better races like Mexico are to come, although with stronger rivals than at the start of the course. Here, Alonso must minimize losses. Same as the next one in Qatar.