Round 4 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at Suzuka will be remembered as another race dominated by Red Bull. Max Verstappen finished ahead of Perez Perez, claiming victory with a 20.8-second lead over Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. This Sunday lockout marked Red Bull Racing’s 31st one-two finish in Formula 1.
In his post-race column on Red Bull’s Speedweek, Marko summarized the weekend: “Max was highly motivated but not entirely satisfied with the car’s setup during the practice sessions. The qualifying lap was also less than ideal, but it was enough to secure pole position. It wasn’t until the race that we found our rhythm again. This was partly due to the changes made after qualifying and the higher temperatures on race day, which traditionally favor Red Bull.”
Following the race in Japan, Red Bull now leads the 2024 F1 Constructors’ Championship by 21 points over Ferrari. Verstappen, driving the Blue #1 car, is on track for his fourth F1 World Championship title. Despite a DNF in Australia, he currently leads his teammate Perez by 13 points.
Last year at Suzuka, in September, Verstappen won the Grand Prix with a 19.4-second lead over McLaren’s Lando Norris in second place. This raises the question among F1 fans and experts: Are Red Bull’s rivals closer to challenging them this season compared to last year?
Marko unintentionally addresses this question: “The reason for our suboptimal setup was likely a major update we introduced in Japan. The second practice session on Friday was mostly cancelled due to mixed track conditions. It was too wet for slick tires and too dry for intermediates. These things can happen. The weather forecast predicted good conditions for Friday, but rain for Saturday.
“In reality, it was the opposite. Adjusting the front wing turned out to be crucial for Max, especially with the higher temperatures on Sunday. Max wanted more wing, while his race engineer GP Lambiase preferred less. Since the race was cancelled, we were fortunate enough to make the necessary adjustments.
“In a way, you could say that Ricciardo helped Verstappen because everything went smoothly for Max after the restart. By the way, the poor start of the Red Bull cars was due to the hard tires,” Marko added.
Regarding Ricciardo, he was outperformed by Tsunoda in qualifying, making it 0-4 in favor of his younger teammate. Unfortunately, Ricciardo’s 243rd Grand Prix ended in a crash just a kilometer from the startline.
The incident occurred in Turn 3, but the downfall for Ricciardo – who had a fairly decent start – was the apprehension that was evident as the pack thundered into Turn 1 and he was overtaken by slower starters (Yuki) and those behind.
“Ricciardo was excessively cautious in the initial corner and was surpassed on both the left and right sides. Then there was this racing incident, which is easily conceivable at the start,” evaluated Marko.
Marko also commended the other two drivers, starting with Tsunoda: “During the second start, Yuki performed astonishingly well. His overtaking maneuvers were the highlight of the day. The local fans were absolutely ecstatic. Throughout the weekend, he performed at the same level as Max, Alonso, and the rest. Impeccable, a remarkable performance under the pressure of his home race.”
Marko also had positive remarks about Perez: “Checo was also exceptionally steady. He had some misfortune during the pit stop, but he regained his position with a brilliant maneuver against Hamilton in the R160 corner. This is his most impressive season with us thus far.”