Ratings F1 teams | Red Bull excel, Ferrari and Mercedes miss the mark

The big stars of the Japanese Grand Prix were Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, who captured their second constructors' title in a row with a sensational victory. An extremely strong performance by Red Bull, but how did the other Formula 1 teams perform?

In Honda's home race, where Red Bull had a good chance of clinching the constructors' title, the team kept their composure. Not only did the Austrian formation do everything right in Max Verstappen's race, but its most brilliant move was to send the out-of-favour Sergio Perez back onto the track to serve his time penalty. The team made only correct decisions at the Suzuka Circuit and, together with Verstappen's dominant performance, earned them their sixth constructors' title in F1.

McLaren also put in a very strong performance in Japan. From the first free practice session on Friday, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were right there, which translated to second and third on the grid as well as a double podium in the race. Verstappen's pace was also unmatchable for the McLaren duo, but strategically the Woking-based team kept their cool, keeping ahead of rivals Ferrari and Mercedes.

On the technical Suzuka Circuit, Ferrari held up well against their closest rivals at Mercedes, but McLaren's pace proved too much to handle. The Italian racetrack opted to stagger Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz's second stops, instead of bringing them in shortly after each other or waiting longer for a late change to softs. As a result, Sainz missed the 'window', and Ferrari missed the timing, leaving Lewis Hamilton in fifth place.

Mercedes' strategy can also be questioned. At least the German formation chose not to put both drivers on a one-stopper, otherwise, it would have seen both Ferrari drivers finish ahead. However, in a race where it was clear beforehand that a one-stopper was difficult to achieve, one can wonder why the team allowed George Russell to drive a 48-lap stint.

Several times during the race, a frustrated Fernando Alonso could be heard on the team radio. The Spaniard disagreed with the decision to bring him in earlier than he had expected, causing him to fall far back from the sixth place he had fought tooth and nail to secure. Lance Stroll dropped out with a technical problem to his rear wing, completing Aston Martin's colourless GP weekend.

After a lacklustre start to the season, Alpine drivers are back in the top ten with increasing frequency. Disagreements arose over team orders given to Pierre Gasly in the closing stages of the race, and the driver reluctantly let Esteban Ocon pass. Gasly, in turn, had been gifted the position by his teammate in an attempt to overtake Fernando Alonso. When he failed to do so, he was asked to return the position. The team made the right call by giving the instruction despite Gasly's loud protests.

With a ninth and 11th starting position on the grid, AlphaTauri seemed to have a good chance for the race, but things did not turn out as Red Bull's sister team had hoped. The Italian formation lacked race pace and, moreover, their pit stop strategy was not optimal. No points for Yuki Tsunoda in his home race and neither for rookie Liam Lawson.

A double elimination and thus a dramatic result for Williams. Both Logan Sargeant and Alexander Albon were involved in incidents, resulting in irreparable damage. Both cars were eventually withdrawn from the race. Not a fat fail as the incidents were neither the team's fault nor Albon's, but it was a weekend to soon forget for Williams.

Guanyu Zhou did what he could after being involved in an incident at the start, but more than 13th place was not in the cards for him. He was the only Alfa Romeo driver to reach the finish line, as Valtteri Bottas was tapped off the track by Logan Sargeant. However, the pace had not been there all weekend at the Swiss racetrack.

It was not a memorable weekend for the Haas F1 team. Kevin Magnussen was left behind - through no fault of his own - by the tap he received from Sergio Perez, but Nico Hulkenberg could not do much either. The drivers were the last two to cross the finish line.