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F1 Today | Rapid Red Bull, faltering Ferrari, and terrific Tsunoda
Suzuka Saturday at the Japanese Grand Prix is done and dusted, and after some competitive showing in practice from teams behind the rapid Red Bulls, the Austrian team took the weekend by the scruff of the neck in qualifying. They nailed a dominant 1-2 in both FP3 and qualifying, with Max Verstappen prevailing by +0.066 over his teammate Sergio Perez to take pole position and send an ominous sign to the rest of the grid.
Behind the two RB20s is the McLaren of Lando Norris, who set a superb lap to finish best of the rest, with Oscar Piastri coming in P6 in the other McLaren, as Zak Brown's team will feel the most content asie from the charging Red Bulls. For Mercedes, who showed some positive signs in all free practices, and Ferrari, who were way off the one-lap pace this weekend, it was a day to forget as they look towards Sunday's race.
Verstappen and Perez a class apart from the grid
Early on Saturday, Verstappen and Red Bull again highlighted their credentials for the 2024 season, finishing two-tenths clear of everyone as he topped the timing charts. Verstappen set a 1:29.563, with teammate Perez coming behind the Dutchman in P2.
Suzuka has been a track that has favoured Red Bull since 2021, and it has been no exception so far this weekend, with the RB20 looking lightening fast around the high-speed corners in Japan. That translated to yet another Red Bull 1-2 as they dominated qualifying later in the day, and yet another Verstappen P1, taking his fourth pole of the season in as many races with a 1:28.197.
Perez will also be happy with his lap time as the Mexican continually challenged Verstappen throughout the afternoon session, setting up what could be a titanic battle between the teammates.
Ferrari and Mercedes unable to capitalise
While Red Bull were flying, Ferrari and Mercedes were faltering.
Mercedes showed some promising pace in FP1 and FP3, perhaps their best of the season so far. George Russell finished third in the final practice session on Saturday morning, and Lewis Hamilton pushed the Red Bull pair close during Q2. However, when it mattered the most, they could not find their groove. Hamilton could only muster a P7, despite saying his lap felt "really really good", with teammate Russell finishing two spots being the seven-time world champion in P9, despite that pace in FP3. They were both out-qualified by a fantastic Fernando Alonso, putting his Aston Martin into P5 when the chequered flag fell.
For Ferrari, it has been a nightmare around Suzuka. The Prancing Horse were predicted to be the team that would challenge Red Bull throughout the weekend after Carlos Sainz's fantastic win at the Australian Grand Prix, leading a Ferrari 1-2 after Verstappen retired with a brake failure. However, their one-lap pace has been worrying. Frustration in FP3 for Leclerc with time-management tactics started a poor day for the Monegasque driver, who could only set the eighth-fastest time in Q3. Sainz took P4 but was also very disappointed with the pace shown throughout the day. However, Ferrari's race pace is predicted to be much better than their one-lap pace, so there is slight optimism in their garage.
Tsunoda delights the home fans with a fantastic P10
One of the stories of the day is definitely regarding home favourite Yuki Tsunoda, who sent the Japanese fans in the grandstands wild with a fantastic P10 in qualifying.
The Racing Bulls driver has started this season off in fantastic form, which has continued coming into his home race. Benefiting from Lance Stroll's Q1 elimination, he then found the pace at Suzuka to edge out his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in Q2, bumping the Australian into 11th place and sending himself through to Q3 to the delight of the home fans.
Tsunoda could only finish in P10 as Q3 concluded, but it was another fantastic session from the Japanese driver, and he will have home fans eagerly anticipating his race tomorrow.