What time does F1 start on Suzuka? And everything about the GP of Japan 2024

Can Verstappen recover after his failure?

After just six minutes of twelve seconds, the Australia GP was over for Max Verstappen. Because the caliper grabbed the brake disc at the start of the race, there was so much heat that the brake caught fire. Carlos Sainz used this by winning the third F1 victory in his career in a dominant way. Now Red Bull has had the time to analyze and resolve the problem for the Japan GP in 2024.

Anyone who also had a problem to solve after the race in Melbourne was Williams. The team was forced to drive one car because the team did not have a reserve chassis. Again Williams travels with two chassis to a race, so let's hope for Albon and Sargeant that both cars will stay whole this weekend. In addition, the GP of Japan 2024 goes into the books in the Netherlands as the first race to be seen at Viaplay TV.

What should I know about the GP of Japan?

In previous years, the F1 race in Japan was later placed in the calendar to be held after the Monsoon season. Now the race is just before this period. The substitution has been done to make the flight schedule more logical. For example, the races in Australia, Japan and China are now in succession, although there is always a week in between.

Good, back to racing. The GP of Japan is of course held on the circuit in Suzuka. Last year, Verstappen had something to make up for this after his bale weekend in Singapore. Verstappen then drove to victory without any problems and won the constructors' championship. This year we are again expecting a strong Red Bull in Japan, although Verstappen and his colleagues have to look out for Ferrari. It is difficult to say whether Sainz would have been faster than Verstappen if the RB20 had not had a braking problem; The Spanish driver looked very quickly in the Ferrari.

for whom is a lot at stake?

It all seems to go automatically at Verstappen, but because of his failure and the victory of Sainz, the reigning world champion has to look over his shoulder. Leclerc is four points behind, Pérez on five and Sainz on eleven. The latter has driven a race less and could have been above Verstappen now. Not that Sainz will take the championship immediately, but it is a sign on the wall that it is not just a walk in the park for Verstappen.

Behind the Red Bulls and Ferrari's, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin are fighting the crumbs. Lewis Hamilton is in tenth place with only eight points. He also fell out, but the reality is that he only has two points more than single GP driver Oliver Bearman. For the teams, it also seems to be a battle between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari for the time being. Red Bull now has 97 points, Ferrari 93 followed by McLaren at 55 points.

What does Max Verstappen say?

"Suzuka is a super nice circuit to drive, I have experienced. But it is also difficult: you have to get through the curves combinations well. I drove on Suzuka for the first time during a Grand Prix weekend and that alone makes it a special circuit for me, "says Max Verstappen on Com/NL/).

How is it again at Suzuka in Japan?

Because the GP of Japan is at the start of the calendar for the first time, the weather conditions are a bit different. It is around this time called cherry blossom season-or Sakura season-in Japan. During this time the blossom pulls from south to north where a lot of wind, rain and winter temperatures come to look.

It turns out to be a particularly difficult job to predict it again during this season in Suzuka. At one weather station, rain is predicted for all three days, with another it only rains on Saturday and other meteorologists that it is only cloudy.

What seems certain is that it is colder than with other Japanese GPs. The teams will have to take this into account. Pirelli also takes the three hardest tires to Suzuka and, in dry weather, expects drivers to make two pit stops, unless the drivers are able to save their tires so well that only one tire change is needed.