[Official] Japanese Grand Prix 2023: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 17 of 23

[Born Racer]

Damn - super busy this week. Looks like business as usual at the sharp end with Red Bull.

[Lancsbreaker]

Yeah, Verstappen topping both Free Practice today, with Leclerc and Sainz each having a second spot, Lando being 3rd. 4th is "the other" Ferrari. Mercs, Hamilton in particular, not showing well, although Russell did get 5th in FP2.


Alonso consistently 6th, and Albon got 7th and 8th.... Perez 12th and 9th.



Lets see what happens tomorrow.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Yeah, Verstappen topping both Free Practice today, with Leclerc and Sainz each having a second spot, Lando being 3rd. 4th is "the other" Ferrari. Mercs, Hamilton in particular, not showing well, although Russell did get 5th in FP2.


Alonso consistently 6th, and Albon got 7th and 8th.... Perez 12th and 9th.



Lets see what happens tomorrow.

Looks like things are more or less back to normal after Singapore.
I like watching qualifying live but a 7:00AM start after a Friday night, might be pushing it and the race itself is at 6:00AM after a Saturday night!

[Rusty Nail]

You guys don't know how lucky you are! Most of the live F1 races in this part of the world are in the small hours of Monday morning - and then you're supposed to be sharp for work !! Suzuka is more civilised late afternoon Sunday.

Not really complaining though, the positives from living in a quiet backwater of the world breeding the likes of Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon, Scotts Dixon and McLaughlin, SVG, not to mention Liam Lawson and a whole host of others makes life really quite enjoyable. The relaxed lifestyle helps too

[chunterer]

Mclarens pushing on in P3. The gap to Max is smaller.

However does anyone really think he can be beaten to pole?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Red flag, as Sargesnt goes into the barrier at the Last Curve.

[bjohnsonsmith]

There we have it, Max on pole. It's like Singapore never happened.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

There we have it, Max on pole. It's like Singapore never happened.

True, but McLaren have really wound themselves up, Zac will be happy with his troops.
Ferrari next best team with RBR very close., then Alpha Tauri, with Tsunoda in the top ten and Lawson 11th (4th in Q1) with a time faster than both Alpines and also faster than the time Alonso put up in Q3.

So we'll see what happens in the race, but it promises some upsets and some stand out performances.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Teretonga

True, but McLaren have really wound themselves up, Zac will be happy with his troops.
Ferrari next best team with RBR very close., then Alpha Tauri, with Tsunoda in the top ten and Lawson 11th (4th in Q1) with a time faster than both Alpines and also faster than the time Alonso put up in Q3.

So we'll see what happens in the race, but it promises some upsets and some stand out performances.

I was being a little facetious but otherwise agreed McLaren are looking very good. Good to see homeboy Tsunoda qualify in the top ten. However, what's happened to Williams? It looked like things were improving in the Dutch and Italian GPs and it's now starting to dwindle.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Debris on the track. SC on the first lap. Bottas loses the left end plate of his front wing, as he is squeezed and collides with Albon.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Perez out after colliding with Hulkenberg. It's all down to Verstappen if RBR are to win the WCC today.

[peebee2]

Watching this from home, it’s unbelievable just how appalling Ted Kravitz’s knowledge is. How is it possible to have someone so utterly clueless??

[bjohnsonsmith]

A great overtake by Leclerc on Russell, round the outside.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to RBR on winning their 6th WCC and congrats to Max Verstappen on equaling Michael Schumacher's and Sebastien Vettel's 13 wins in a season.


Great drives from both McLaren drivers and especially Oscar Piastri on his first podium.

[Tourer]

Felt pretty crazy for the first few laps and different tyre strategies throughout kept it interesting. Must say (as many others have) that it's a fantastic circuit and the sheer enthusiasm of the Japanese fans makes it special.

Outstanding result for RBR to wrap up the Constructors title for 2023 already and pretty special that SuperMax won today on the day of Honda's 75th Anniversary - that's a cool thing.

[BTCC frog]

I thought it was a decent race, with enough going on to keep me very interested throughout. Mainly it was George Russell providing the entertainment. Max Verstappen drove a typically perfect race, and the idea that he will probably win the title in the Qatar sprint is amusing, almost as anti climatic as being told after the race by Johnny Herbert that he is world champion.

Once again, Perez and Sargeant got away with five second penalties for bundling into Magnussen and Bottas with ridiculous moves. It is consistent but has to change for next year.

[Lancsbreaker]

I imagine that Red Bull putting Perez back out after "retirement" having been able to "repair" the car, which conveniently let him serve the outstanding penalty for incompetence before retiring again, is within the rules - but I found it very cynical....so Red Bull........


I'd almost forgotten Verstappen was in it as we almost never saw him on the C4 coverage, but obviously he produced a masterly drive. Good work by McLaren

[Akrapovic]

RBR had a double DNF and Max still won.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

RBR had a double DNF and Max still won.

Good one!

Richard

[seanyb505]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Watching this from home, it’s unbelievable just how appalling Ted Kravitz’s knowledge is. How is it possible to have someone so utterly clueless??

Without wanting to get into the "prove your insider info" debate, care to elaborate? With specifics? It would certainly help convey your point rather than just say he's clueless and move on without details.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

Without wanting to get into the "prove your insider info" debate, care to elaborate? With specifics? It would certainly help convey your point rather than just say he's clueless and move on without details.

No insider info.

Literally everything he says.

On the grid he said Red Bull’s re-found pace was due to a new floor and new ‘beam wing’ which the RBR crew would have found hilarious.

Then during the race he said he’s never heard of a stopped car rejoining a race to avoid a potential penalty at the next race. If so he must walk around with his eyes shut! He’s presumably paid to give viewers ‘insider info’ but I was apparent that he had zero knowledge of the SRs. Thankfully Bernie Collins shut his nonsense down straightaway.

He’s just a total laughing stock.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by peebee2

On the grid he said Red Bull’s re-found pace was due to a new floor and new ‘beam wing’ which the RBR crew would have found hilarious.

He's not the only one reporting that though, so why should he face the criticism alone?

Francesco Bianchi (21 Sep): 'the [Red Bull] team has re-introduced the new floor they already tried in Singapore to test it again during Friday’s FP1, as this new solution could give more interesting results on a proper track like Suzuka. [...] Moreover, they are also choosing to run a medium downforce rear wing (this spec is the one previously used in Bahrain, Austria and Canada), with a spoon mainplane and quite a big DRS flap, [...]

[...] this decision could come from the new floor providing them with a lot more vertical load, allowing the team to run a less loaded rear wing.'

pitpass.com (22 Sep): 'At Red Bull, Verstappen had the new floor first introduced - then dropped - at Singapore,'

Lydia Mee (23 Sep): 'Speaking of Red Bull, the Milton Keynes outfit will be testing the floor edges they removed from the car after the Friday practice in Singapore.'


Are they all wrong, and Red Bull made no changes to the floor between Singapore and Japan?

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

He's not the only one reporting that though, so why should he face the criticism alone?

Francesco Bianchi (21 Sep): 'the [Red Bull] team has re-introduced the new floor they already tried in Singapore to test it again during Friday’s FP1, as this new solution could give more interesting results on a proper track like Suzuka. [...] Moreover, they are also choosing to run a medium downforce rear wing (this spec is the one previously used in Bahrain, Austria and Canada), with a spoon mainplane and quite a big DRS flap, [...]

[...] this decision could come from the new floor providing them with a lot more vertical load, allowing the team to run a less loaded rear wing.'

pitpass.com (22 Sep): 'At Red Bull, Verstappen had the new floor first introduced - then dropped - at Singapore,'

Lydia Mee (23 Sep): 'Speaking of Red Bull, the Milton Keynes outfit will be testing the floor edges they removed from the car after the Friday practice in Singapore.'


Are they all wrong, and Red Bull made no changes to the floor between Singapore and Japan?

That doesn't say that the new floor was the reason for the Suzuka speed though does it?

Yes, they had a revised floor (like at almost every single race). No, those revisions weren't the difference between Max dominating and being P11 again.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by peebee2

That doesn't say that the new floor was the reason for the Suzuka speed though does it?

It doesn't say the new floor wasn't the reason either.

Originally Posted by peebee2

Yes, they had a revised floor (like at almost every single race). No, those revisions weren't the difference between Max dominating and being P11 again.

That begs the question, how do you know those revisions weren't the difference between Max dominating and being P11?


Surely, if they had a revised floor (like at almost every single race), those revisions could be the difference.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

That begs the question, how do you know those revisions weren't the difference between Max dominating and being P11?

Because literally everyone knows that rideheight was the issue in Singapore.

Just as literally everyone knows rideheight is the prime reason for their domination of the last couple of years.

Also, it's funny they call it a "discarded" floor - as I guess they haven't worked out that teams routinely use FP1 etc. for part and set-up validation for future races.