2024 Japanese Grand Prix grid

15 comments on “2024 Japanese Grand Prix grid”

1. 

   Yes (@come-on-kubica)
   6th April 2024, 8:04

   Just so boring.
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      6th April 2024, 8:09

      It actually wasn’t that boring. Hamilton set a nice lap to show us what track evolution could do, Perez really did a good one to get close to Max and even looked like he might actually do it. A shame Norris (nor was Sainz) wasn’t able to improve, otherwise he could have been really close too.
      1. 

         pcxmac (@pcxmac)
         6th April 2024, 8:20

         HAM previously ran a used soft.
2. 

   Nick T.
   6th April 2024, 8:10

   Sainz and Alonso seemingly wringing every last potential milliseconds out of their cars. Perez showing this year’s RBR is a lot easier to drive once again, that he’s managed to get his confidence back and that the Red Bull is untouchable.

   Any interesting storylines for the race? Probably where YS and DR will finish relative to each other and maybe whether FA can manage to keep the Mercs, Ferraris and McLarens, all clearly faster cars, behind without Herbert in the steward room. And, yeah, none of that is even more than mildly interesting.
   1. 

      Grockle (@bennyh1)
      6th April 2024, 10:32

      Sainz and Alonso throwing their hat in the ring for the red bull seat.
      1. 

         Nick T.
         6th April 2024, 12:30

         Max and Fernando is the box office pairing that basically everyone wants to see. RBR will be heroes if they do it. If they believe in Max, and they should, I see zero reason not to do it. If that happens, AM would be a great place for Sainz. A team that, IMO, has more upside than Mercedes. They just completed one of the best new facilities last summer and their 1:1 scale wind tunnel is coming online over the summer. And it seems like Mercedes is almost certainly going to put Kimi in their open seat for 2025.

         Hilariously, after I made this comment, I watched the post-race show and they had a whole special segment at the studio about Sainz and Alonso extracting every last bit of speed consistently from their cars.
   2. 

      AlanD
      6th April 2024, 15:39

      the Red Bull is untouchable

      I think the fact that Perez is so easily able to beat the rest of the field shows how untouchable this car is, but at the same time, the way Verstappen can routinely beat Perez without breaking a sweat underlines how fast he is too. It would be so much better for F1 if there was a more competitive driver in the second Red Bull seat, and it would give more credibility to Verstappen’s records too, e.g. like in 88, McLaren was a terrific car, but Senna still had to beat Prost to win the WDC, so no-one can say “it was just the car”.
3. 

   pcxmac (@pcxmac)
   6th April 2024, 8:22

   looks like Pirelli are trying to bring the field in this year to keep up the ‘drama’. It won’t work though cause the faster cars are just going slower to compensate and will ultimately optimize better towards the pointy end.
   1. 

      Nick T.
      6th April 2024, 8:27

      I have no opinion one way or the other, but why do you think Pirelli has anything to do with how the field is set?
      1. 

         pcxmac (@pcxmac)
         6th April 2024, 9:22

         I suspect that the ‘melting point’ of all the compounds has been reduced to keep the performance envelope closer together. Allowing other cars to creep up, closer to the upper limit of the lap times.

         I believe this is also hiding Red Bull’s potential. And it might be punishing guys who like to push their cars harder than ‘normal’ like Charles.

         It wouldn’t be the first time Pirelli was asked to build ‘slow’ tires.
         1. 

            S
            6th April 2024, 9:54

            I suspect that the ‘melting point’ of all the compounds has been reduced

            That would be a great theory, if it weren’t for the fact that slower teams most commonly struggle with overheating the tyres – bringing them up to temp and keeping them there is not the issue.

            And Pirelli aren’t being ‘asked’ (told) to build slow tyres – quite the opposite, actually.
            Relatively speaking, the old Bridgestones which lasted whole races were rock hard by comparison, and thus were terribly slow. F1 wanted faster (softer) tyres with higher degradation, because the cars didn’t appear dynamic/exciting enough and races without pit strategy were awfully dull.
            Enter the Target Letter, and the awarding of the supply contract to Pirelli.

            If Pirelli did produce a slower tyre, you would certainly know about it because the teams and drivers absolutely despise being forced to go slower. They’ve rejected new tyre compounds/constructions before because they weren’t fast enough and didn’t feel ‘nice’ enough – a decision that forced everyone to instead cut downforce off the cars by making the floor smaller.
         2. 

            Nick T.
            6th April 2024, 19:56

            Ah, that’s a very interesting theory. That possibility never occurred to me. Basically an artificial ceiling.
4. 

   Retired (@jeff1s)
   6th April 2024, 18:08

   So no penalty for Russell, even though the rule book says otherwise. Flabbergasted.
   1. 

      earthling (@34rthl1ng)
      6th April 2024, 20:45

      Oh, why am, I not surprised that Cryb4by got scot free
5. 

   Gusm.ai
   6th April 2024, 21:50

   That was piastri fault – he brake tested russel

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