Метка: Japanese GP

Horner has learned “not to listen” to Wolff over F1 title claim

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Max Verstappen’s dominant performance at the Japanese Grand Prix, as he took his third win from four races this year, left few in any doubt that the Dutchman is the clear favourite to grab his fourth world title this season.

And while closest challenger Ferrari hopes it can find gains to start putting Red Bull under more pressure for wins, Wolff thinks it a pipe dream that anyone can stop Verstappen.

“No one is going to catch Max this year,” said Wolff in Japan. “His driving and the car is just spectacular. You can see the way he manages the tyres and, basically, this season now is [about] best of the rest.”

But Red Bull does not see things being as straightforward as that, with Horner taking the opportunity to have a subtle dig at his nemesis.

“It’s very early to write off your year,” said Horner when asked about Wolff’s comments. “There’s still 20 races to go, but I’ve learned not to listen too much to what Toto said over the years.”

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko also backed up Horner’s view that it was far too early for rivals to be congratulating them on securing the title.

“Please leave me alone,” Marko told oe24 about Wolff’s remarks. “We’ve only driven four races. There are 20 to go. In Melbourne, we saw how quickly everything can turn around. Ferrari is strong and reliable, we can’t write them off yet.”

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Marko did agree with Wolff’s assessment, however, that Verstappen was driving so well at the moment.

“We have a good car, but then Max makes the difference once again,” he added. “Everything was clear in Suzuka, but then Max drove this incredible fastest lap on worn tyres, not just for fun, but to get his message across: ‘Hello, the rest of you are only there to finish second!’

Despite being mindful that the world championship is far from won, Horner also reckoned that Verstappen was in incredible form.

“I think he’s in great shape,” he said. “He’s changed trainer over the winter. He’s fit, he is lean and the car is in a great window. You can hear the spare capacity he has in the car.

“He’s wanting to know about not just who’s behind him, but who’s behind that as well, and what times are they doing. The capacity he has is very impressive. So, yeah, the form that he had last year has just carried through.”

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Alonso will be «first to raise my hand» if he loses F1 edge at 45

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Alonso put pen to paper on a multi-year deal with Aston Martin after mulling over his future options, a deal which will include driving in F1 for at least the 2025 and 2026 season.

Depending on whether Alonso will want to continue or not, that F1 deal can either be extended or converted into a non-driving role with the brand in what the Spaniard called a «lifetime project».

Alonso will turn 45 during the 2026 season and while the two-time world champion sees no signs of slowing down any time soon, he says he will be honest if he does feel he is losing any of his drive.

«It is true, I will be 45 or more and keep racing,» he said. «If one day, I feel that I’m not motivated, not in good shape or not fast…I think I have a very honest relationship with Aston.

«I will be the first one to raise my hand and say: ‘You know, I have maybe lost here or there’ and we will find solutions.

«But I don’t see that coming for the next few years. As I said in Japan, probably one of my best races ever maybe happened just five days ago, so I am feeling good. I don’t see any problem there.

«And Lewis will turn 40 next year in January, so at least I will not be the only 40 plus that you will talk [about]!»

Alonso, who said retirement from racing in general was never an option, explained he used the hectic season start to question whether or not he wanted to continue his flat-out commitment to F1’s relentless schedule with 24 races and off-track activities.

After the Australian Grand Prix, he made the decision to seek an extension with Aston Martin as he felt his love for F1 trumped his wariness of the series’ demanding lifestyle.

«Obviously, Formula 1 takes all your time or your energy, you have to give up basically everything in life to keep racing,» he elaborated.

«I needed a few races or a few weeks to really think for myself if I was ready to commit for more years.

«It was not a racing factor, it was more the traveling, to be honest. Looking at this calendar, I was a little bit afraid that this would be heavy on me.

«There are all the commitments pre-season with all the photoshoots, video, car launch. All these kinds of things are quite demanding for drivers, and for me particularly in this part of my career.

«So I said, let me go through that tough period at the beginning of the year and that tough period of traveling, time zones, big planes and these kinds of things.

He concluded: «I felt that I love too much driving, that I cannot stop at the moment. And I think the sacrifices that you have to make are smaller than the joy of driving and the passion that I have for driving.

«I breathe Formula 1, I live Formula 1, I train to be fit to drive Formula 1 cars, I eat to be fit to drive Formula 1 cars.

«And it didn’t arrive, the moment that I felt I need to change the lifestyle. My lifestyle is great.

«I love what I do, so I will not be happy sitting at home and watching Formula 1 races because at the moment I still feel that I should be there.»



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Alpine made first “step backwards” since F1 season start

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While the pace of the Frenchman and team-mate Pierre Gasly was impacted by damage picked up following an opening-lap clash, Ocon does not think that should be an excuse for an overall lack of performance.

While both drivers were left facing a downforce deficit – with Gasly said to have lost around 33 points compared to Ocon’s 15 – the slump down the order was not solely caused by that.

Speaking after the race, having finished in 15th and more than 20 seconds adrift of Valtteri Bottas ahead of him, Ocon was downbeat about things.

Asked if the first lap damage had effectively derailed hopes of a good showing, Ocon said: “I don’t think it has changed the overall picture of the race, unfortunately.

“It didn’t help, that’s for sure, but we didn’t lose that much performance on both cars. I think we were just not quick enough.

“I think we did this weekend a good step forward in qualifying, but in the race, that’s probably the first step backwards that we’re doing since Bahrain. And there are some similarities between here and Bahrain, so we need to look at that.”

Ocon said that while Alpine had gone aggressive with its strategy to try something different, there was ultimately little it could do against rivals.

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524 Logan Sargeant, Williams FW46

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524 Logan Sargeant, Williams FW46

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“Strategy-wise, we tried to be bold, and we tried to undercut a lot of cars, which we did,” he said. “We passed four cars at one point but yeah, I could not do anything to hold them behind. And that was it today, unfortunately.

“I felt like I couldn’t fight. The other ones were in another category.”

The disappointing race form came after the team appeared to have made some progress with its single-lap pace, as Ocon had made it through to Q2 again.

But he suggests that its form had perhaps been flattered by changes the team made, which have had consequences for long-run form.

“There are some things that we changed which could mean that we struggle more in the race,” he said. “But for sure, it wasn’t good.”



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Aston Martin F1 team no longer in “no-man’s land”

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After Bahrain, the AMR24 appeared benchmarked as the fifth fastest car in the leading group on race pace, finishing ninth and 10th.

Fernando Alonso subsequently finished fifth in Saudi Arabia and sixth on the road in Australia, prior to receiving a penalty.

In Japan, the Spaniard earned sixth after what he claimed to be one of the best five weekends of his career while team-mate Lance Stroll had a more difficult time, though the Canadian moved up from 16th on the grid to 12th at the flag, passing several cars along the way.

But Krack says that Alonso beating both Mercedes drivers fair and square at Suzuka was a further indication that the team is no longer at the back of the leading group on race pace.

“I think we can agree that we were not in no man’s land and that is positive,” he said.

“Because here, with the high degradation and — you can pass, we have seen you can pass in incredible places, although I wasn’t aware that you can pass through the Esses — but you see that with a large enough pace delta and tyre delta, you can do it if you’re brave enough.

“But we did not seem to be in no-man’s land. We seem to be in the pack. We were ahead of the Mercedes. So that is very encouraging.

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“But again, it’s one data point. Bahrain is easier to pass than here. But we were never really under threat, let’s put it like that. Let’s see, we need to confirm over the next races.”

Krack said that the decision to start Alonso on soft tyres – the Spaniard was the only frontrunner to do so – had paid off.

“We were praying for the clouds to be there,” he said. “And then they went! The interruption [red flag] helped also. And also, when you start on softs, if you have an interruption or slow running, that always helps to introduce them better.

“On the other hand, we have had traditionally, or statistically, a lot of safety cars in the beginning here, so kind of that you can run in your tyres after lap two or lap three. So these were all choices that were made strategically.

“Would we do the same? It is a good question. I think you saw a lot of cars probably being surprised a bit about the hard tyres and also surprised about the yellows [mediums] — they held on really well. So yeah, I think it’s difficult to say.”

Krack was reluctant to give an initial assessment of the upgrade package that the team introduced in Suzuka, which included a new floor.

“We’re looking into everything at the moment to try and understand and quantify,» he said. “Again, it’s one data sample. And this is something we need to find out.

“I said it before, cars are complex, and sometimes you need a bit more time to really understand what you have changed. It was not easy with the lost session [FP2] that we had on Friday. So we are learning a lot about it.

“Again, I don’t have the full numbers yet in terms of we know how far off we were in the first races and it seems we have been a bit closer now. This we need to understand – how much is it? And where do we move from here?”



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Gasly rues costly floor damage from Ocon contact in F1 Japanese GP

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The pair touched at the restart following the early red flag, with Gasly losing what the team later estimated as around 33 points of downforce, which equates to a potential lap time impact of up to 0.7-0.9 seconds.

Ocon also suffered some damage and thereafter both drivers had an even trickier race than they had anticipated with the difficult A524, eventually finishing 15th and 16th, with Gasly behind.

“We had an amazing first start and managed to move up three positions,” said Gasly.

“The second start was very good, I managed to pass Esteban and go alongside Yuki [Tsunoda], and then unfortunately I got sandwiched, with Yuki turning left and Esteban turning right.

“He [Ocon] touched me and took the whole left side of my floor off the car.

“So I was down, the team thinks, a bit less than 40 points of downforce. So after that, it was pretty much game over. I was trying to stay out there hoping for another red flag to change it.

“That was it, pretty much, just a racing incident but it cost us a lot. It was a very, very long, very long, very difficult afternoon.”

Gasly said that the Enstone team did at least make progress in Japan after introducing a package that included a substantially changed front wing.

Press Conference, Pierre Gasly, Alpine F1 Team

Press Conference, Pierre Gasly, Alpine F1 Team

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“On the positive side, we had the first set of upgrades which, apparently, delivered what we expected,” he said. “So that was very positive.

“We just need to crack on with these new parts and upgrades on the car. I know the team’s working really hard, we just need it. Obviously, [Suzuka was] not very representative towards what we had.

“But overall, we know we are still too slow and we’ve got to find more performance, and I know they’re working really hard on it.

“I appreciate they managed to get this first upgrade this weekend, now we need to get the next set as soon as possible.”

Asked by Autosport when the next upgrade is due he said: “Not for China. There is stuff, but obviously, it keeps evolving because we’re in a situation where we can make bigger calls.

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“So we’ll see exactly what we do. But there’ll be new parts coming in the next few races.”

Conceding it will take time for Alpine to have the chance to take a significant step forward, Gasly added: “I think mid-term we need a big thing.

«I think [we can] still improve on this for now as this sort of car concept doesn’t deliver what we expected. But in the meantime, everything we can chip away at every single weekend will get us closer to potentially finishing in the points at some point.

“So at the minute, we’re clearly at the back of that sort of second league. But every single tenth we can get as soon as possible will make a difference at the end of the year.”

Watch: F1 2024 Japanese Grand Prix Review – Normal Service Resumed



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Mercedes could never «abandon» current car for F1 2026 head start

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The German manufacturer is facing up to the reality that it has still not mastered its understanding of the latest ground effect regulations, with its W15 not producing the Red Bull-challenging form hoped for.

In fact, Mercedes has admitted that its 2024 challenger is exhibiting characteristics that ‘make no sense’, with increased levels of downforce not translating into extra performance on track.

It suspects that its issues may be more mechanical related rather than anything to do with pure aerodynamics.

Wolff has said he is in no doubt that Max Verstappen and Red Bull already look well on their way to world championship glory and that finishing best of the rest is his team’s main target right now.

But as it chases answers for what it is lacking with its W15, there is a scenario emerging where Mercedes could decide it is not worth throwing endless resource at the current rules – as it could be better off committing early to its 2026 challenger to ensure it is quick off the blocks.

Such a call does not need to come yet, with the FIA not allowing teams to begin work on the aerodynamics of the new cars until the start of 2025.

But when asked by Autosport if there could come a time later this year where Mercedes has to make a call on abandoning the current rules cycle, Wolff was emphatic about his team’s stance.

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“We are Mercedes,” he said. “We cannot completely abandon the current regulations and continue to perform at the level we are at the moment.

“That’s not the ambition of the brand, nor our own and our partners. So, no. I think you’ve got to continue to push, continue to form your understanding.

“But eventually, when the FIA comes up with some kind of form of regulations, we, like all the other teams, we will be starting to look at it, and probably more on the earlier side.”

Wolff reckons that Mercedes is locked in the chasing pack behind Red Bull with Ferrari and McLaren — which ultimately was not what its F1 ambition was.

“If your expectation is eventually to race for wins and championships, then you can say we’re in a bit of a no man’s land because Max and Red Bull are far ahead,” he explained.

“We are in this bunch, but it’s not satisfying for either team that is fighting for P2, P3, or P4. I’ve always said that if I was to look from a pure sporting point of view, it is P1 what matters and not P2/P3/P4.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24 and George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24 and George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“But this is a reality that we are facing at the moment and we’re trying to do the best out of this new reality.

“That [our aim] is to beat our direct competitors, whilst acknowledging that somebody is just doing a better job, and setting a benchmark that we eventually need to set ourselves again on whether we’re able to win races this year, and I wouldn’t want to let that ambition go. And certainly not next year.

“For 2026 there is a big reset, which certainly provides the most realistic opportunity for any other team to beat Red Bull. But there is one-and-three-quarter seasons before that, and I don’t want to go through much more suffering in the next 18 months. I would just hope for highlights and a trajectory that’s going upwards.”

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No guarantee that Ferrari F1 tyre issues are resolved

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Last year tyre management over race stints was a major weakness for Ferrari, with a lack of consistency across stints and from set to set.

The SF-24 has been competitive over long runs at the first four events of the season, with Carlos Sainz winning in Australia and the team making the podium in the other three races.

However, Vasseur still wants to see how the car performs at other venues and in cooler conditions after hot weather dominated the early events of the season.

“I think from the beginning of the season we are much better on the tyre management,” he said after the Suzuka race. 

“And degradation – I think we were able to do the fastest lap in Jeddah and Melbourne on the last lap. It was almost the case today for one-tenth, I think.

“We did a very good step forward on this one, we worked a lot on the weaknesses, and we improved massively on the tyre management, drivers, strategy, and the team.

“And yeah, now we have some other weaknesses, and we have to improve somewhere else if we want to do a better job.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“But I think this one is very well under control now. But what is true one day, it’s not true the other day, on the tyre management and we don’t have to consider that this is done.

“Next week in China will have another tarmac, different weather conditions, and it will be a new challenge.

Asked if cooler conditions might help Ferrari in its chase of Red Bull Vasseur said: «In China, we will have the opportunity to test in colder conditions. But I don’t know, because also we did only FP3 [in Japan] in colder conditions.

“I’m not sure that we are in a better shape, you never know about the engine settings, level of fuel. The deg was under control for us on Saturday, but also for them. And it was almost the same today.”

Vasseur noted that the outcome of the Suzuka race, which saw Sainz and team-mate Charles Leclerc finish third and fourth, was as good as it could have been.

“I think that everything went very well on Sunday,” he said. “The strategy was the good one for both cars, the defending of the position on track, tyre management was under control, the pitstops went well, the pace was okay.

“I’m very convinced that we need a good Sunday and if we have to change something, it’s more the Saturday that we have to improve, rather than the Sunday. But it was a good job, and a good teamwork.”

Watch: F1 2024 Japanese Grand Prix Review – Normal Service Resumed



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Stella defends McLaren F1 team strategy in “complex” Japanese GP

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Norris started third and was the first of the frontrunners to pit, but as the race unfolded he lost out to Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to finish in fifth, while the latter came through to fourth from eighth place on the grid using a one-stop strategy.

After the race, while accepting that the Ferraris were expected to have stronger race pace, Norris suggested he could have run longer before his final pitstop rather than coming in at the same time as Leclerc.

But Stella insisted the team made the right calls with a view to an attacking strategy that might have earned a podium finish.

“I think we were a little out of options because when we stopped Lando at the start, we kind of knew that Ferrari were ready to go to undercut us,” he said.

“So we wanted to play preventatively. We had two sets of hard, so we could stop early, and in stopping Lando early we wanted to see like, can we go for the podium? And we even tried to see can we go to beat Perez?

“I thought it was worthwhile trying that. Ultimately, this put us on a race which might have been slightly unpreferred from overall time [of the race] point of view, but I think it was very worthwhile trying. So on Lando’s side we are happy that we wanted to try finishing on the podium.”

Watch: F1 2024 Japanese Grand Prix Review – Normal Service Resumed

Addressing Norris’s questioning of the timing of his second pit visit, Stella said the team also had to keep an eye on Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

“The timing of the second stop was forced by Leclerc,” he said. “Also there was Carlos approaching Lando. So Carlos would have overtaken Lando and once Carlos overtakes Lando, Lando loses time, and then he ends up behind Hamilton and Russell.

“Because when you race so many cars, you have to consider multiple implications. It’s not like you’re racing only one car.

“I’m not sure how fun it is for spectators, but for us, it makes the race quite complex in terms of who you are actually fighting.”

Asked by Autosport if the team could have done something different and beaten Leclerc, Stella said: “I don’t think today it was possible to do much more, to finish on a podium in particular. Maybe with Lando if we had given up attempting to finish on a podium, we could have finished ahead of Leclerc.

“That is, if anything, the only opportunity in hindsight, that could have come to us, but it would have meant giving up a podium finish, which we were not ready to do.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Stella conceded that Oscar Piastri had a more low-key race on his way to eighth place, as the Australia lost out to Russell in the closing laps.

“With Oscar, I don’t think there were many different options at all today,” he said. “If we look at the final classification, it goes in the order of car competitiveness. I think just a shame that with Oscar, with the final lock up, we lost the position to Russell.

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“Otherwise, we would have finished ahead of Mercedes and that, like I say, could pretty much be the finishing order — considering that Fernando [Alonso] he has done a very good job like he normally does, so he’s a little special in that respect, and I think alters a little bit the competitiveness of the car.”

Summing up the weekend he said: “We are happy. We are [the] third-best scoring team once again, consolidating the third position in the championship. That’s a positive outcome.”



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Alonso joked about F1 ban over Piastri DRS defence tactics

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A fortnight on from receiving a penalty for potentially dangerous driving against George Russell during a last-lap battle in Australia, Alonso found himself needing to hold his rivals back once again at Suzuka.

In the closing stages of the race, Alonso was at the head of an intense fight for sixth place, as George Russell back in eighth unleashed a late fightback on fresh tyres and started closing in on seventh-placed Oscar Piastri.

Well aware that fresher tyres would give Russell a huge advantage if they had to fight wheel-to-wheel, Alonso knew that his best hope of disturbing his Mercedes rival’s advances was to give Piastri behind him the benefit of DRS.

By keeping the McLaren within one second of him, Piastri having the straightline speed boost made it much harder for Russell to be able to find a way past.

This was exactly the same tactic that Carlos Sainz had used to great effect in Singapore last year when he ensured that the pursuing Lando Norris was kept within DRS range as that would help hold back a similar fightback from Russell who has been making progress in third.

Alonso’s tactics paid off brilliantly in slowing Russell’s advance and, when the Mercedes driver clashed with Piastri at the chicane late on to delay the pair briefly, the Aston Martin driver made a break for it over the final laps to secure his position.

Speaking to Spanish television channel DAZN after the race about his defensive games, Alonso said it was just normal racing, but cheekily suggested that after his penalty in Australia nothing could be taken for granted now.

«I don’t know what to say anymore after Australia, let’s see if I get disqualified for the rest of the championship,” he smiled.

“It’s clear that having Piastri behind, it was a way to defend myself from Russell, so I was probably taking a bit of battery off on the last straight to get Piastri within a second.

“Carlos did it like that in Singapore last year too, and it’s a normal racing thing.”

Piastri said it had been pretty obvious to him what game Alonso was up to, as he eventually lost seventh place to Russell on the final lap after making a mistake at the chicane and losing momentum.

“I could tell that Fernando was trying to keep me there by the way he was using his energy,” Piastri explained when asked by Motorsport.com for his view on events.

“With how difficult it is to follow in these cars, it’s quite a good strategy to stop a quicker car coming through.

“There were a few tough moments with George but, in the end, I made a mistake and he got past.

“So, disappointing to let that one slip right at the end but I just struggled a bit in general today.”

Watch: F1 2024 Japanese Grand Prix Review – Normal Service Resumed



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