Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), winner of the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago, will try to continue questioning Red Bull’s dominance -team where Dutchman Max Verstappen, leader of the championship, drives; and the Mexican Sergio Pérez, third overall – in Suzuka (Japan), headquarters this weekend of the fourth round of the Formula One World Championship; where his countryman, the Asturian double world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) is also aiming high.
Sainz, 29, achieved an epic victory in Melbourne, just two weeks after undergoing emergency surgery for appendicitis in Jeddah; where, for that reason, he missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
And after Red Bull signed two ‘doubles’ led by Verstappen in the first two tests of the year, the talented driver from Madrid won at Albert Park – ahead of his teammate, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc – a race in which ‘Mad Max’ was abandoned. , due to a brake problem, on the second lap; and? Alonso finished sixth, but where, after receiving a 20-second penalty, he lost two places.
After the sensational performance of Sainz, who signed his third victory in the main categoryafter the achievements at Silverstone (Great Britain), two seasons ago, and on the night of Singapore, last year, Verstappen – who will come in the spirit of revenge at Suzuka: a circuit owned by Honda, the motorcyclist of his team – leads the World Cup with 51 points, four more than Leclerc.
Five ahead of ‘Checo’ -fifth two weeks ago in Australia- and ten ahead of Sainzwho finished third in the first race of the year in Bahrain and fourth in a competition where Alonso was in eighth place, with 16 points.
Just a few days after it was announced that Liberty Media, the owner of F1, has acquired Dorna – the company that manages MotoGP, the World Motorcycle Championship -, the top competition in the class continues at Suzuka.
A ‘pilot’ circuit, 5,807 meters long, narrow, with 18 curves – where The Spoon, the 130R and those linked to the first sector stand out, a unique design -in the shape of an eight- and a sloping finish line.
Where to expect the reaction of Red Bull, which last year, in addition to celebrating Verstappen’s third consecutive title, reaffirmed the constructors’ title; and that he has announced improvements in Japan so that, from his point of view, the waters return to normal in the noble division of motorsports.
The Austrian team leads the Constructors’ World Championship with 97 points, just four more than Ferrari; who, in another good performance, can lead a classification where McLaren is third – with 55 – and Mercedes occupies fourth place, with one more point (26) than Aston Martin.
In the dry – during the race precipitation is not excluded – at Suzuka, a circuit where fast corners cause greater tire wear, the hardest set of compounds will be used. Meaning: C1 (hard, distinguished by a white stripe), C2 (medium, yellow stripe) and C3 (soft, red). In another Grand Prix that in Central European time can be seen at dawn and first thing in the morning.
Free practice, which starts this Friday – the night from Thursday to Friday, in Spain – will be completed on Saturday, hours before qualifying which will dictate the starting line-up for Sunday’s race. Planned for 53 laps, to complete 307.7 kilometers; and? In Spanish peninsular time it starts at 7 am.
The Japanese Grand Prix was held for the first time in 1976. It was an unforgettable event, held at Fuji, which decided the title, by one point, under the deluge and in the last race of the year, in favor of the Englishman James Hunt and at the expense of the Austrian Niki Lauda – just a few weeks after the terrible accident that almost taxed him his life in the three-time Viennese world champion at the German Nürburgring. A sporting struggle that was faithfully captured in the movie ‘Rush’.
Four editions of the first Grand Prix hosted in Asia have been held at Fuji. The other 33 took place at Suzuka.
No one has won as many times (six) in Japan as German Michael Schumacher. And both the other seven-time world champion, Englishman Lewis Hamilton (from Mercedes, five-time winner), and Alonso, are the only winners on the same Japanese track.
The brilliant Asturian driver – who achieved two of his 32 victories in the premier category in Japan – did so in 2006 at Suzuka, in a decisive race for him to retain the title that year; and two years later, at Fuji.
After two years (2020-21) that it was not held, due to the covid-19 pandemic, last year, Verstappen – 56 times and with 100 podiums in F1 – repeated his success at the Japanese Grand Prix. success of the previous one. On that occasion, ‘Mad Max’ was joined on the podium by the Englishman Lando Norris and the Australian Oscar Piastri – third and fourth two Sundays ago in Melbourne -: the two McLaren drivers: the most successful team in the land of the Rising Sun.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
