Formula 1: The Japanese Grand Prix has been red flagged on the opening lap for a crash that has eliminated Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon.
Ricciardo CRASHES OUT - Lap 1 red flag! | 02:12It’s ironic that in a season Red Bull Racing’s margin appears to have shrunk, even if only by a little bit, Max Verstappen can count on teammate Sergio Pérez backing him up in second.
His race was going so badly that the team retired his car. He was then embarrassingly re-entered into the race to serve a five-second penalty for causing a collision, after which he was retired as second time.You wouldn’t recognise that Pérez on today’s grid. The first is that the car was competitive around this tyre-punishing circuit. It’s not just about pure pace but the fact that the car managed the rubber very well — so well in fact that Leclerc completed the race with just one pit stop.
But again Ferrari stuck to what it knew its car was capable of. It rocketed Leclerc from eighth on the grid up to fourth, fending off the higher starting Norris easily. But he never had the chance to prove it, with a big first-lap crash putting paid to his afternoon — and to his latest chance to jump-start his season.
“He just had so much better drive out of turn 2. I don’t even know if he wanted to be there, but he could see me going a little bit sideways. Just everyone got choked up, and that was that. Unfortunately a short Sunday.” Spare a thought too, though, for Albon — or more specifically for his Williams team, which is down on spares but keeps having to repair huge crashes.“The way the tyre went under the car, it ripped the car, so the car went from a good lap speed to zero really quickly,” he said. “I’m just worried. I didn’t get a good look at it because of the tyres, but hopefully it’s okay.
While Fernando Alonso finished sixth, ahead of both Mercedes drivers, Stroll toiled out of the points all afternoon. But the points tell the story. Alonso beat both Mercedes drivers but Aston Martin only equalled Mercedes’s score, leaving the team fifth in the constructors standings. This year, particularly in the race, the McLaren was only in the mix with Mercedes and Aston Martin, with Ferrari well ahead.
CLAIMS POINTS Qualifying Result Reality Check Japanese Victory Margin QUIET GAINS Pure Pace Melbourne George Russell Never-Ending Final Stint Japanese Driver Eastern Asia Front Wing Brave Passes Constructors Standings Lando Norris Grand Prix Practice Time Kevin Magnussen Victoria Japan First-Lap Crash Putting Fernando Alonso Victory Contention Final Chicane Yuki Tsunoda Christian Horner Track Position Sergio Pérez Real Trouble Executing Tyre Wall Pit Stop Sky Sports Long-Suffering Fans Carbon Fibre Second-Quickest Car First-Lap Crash Home Favourite Oceania Max Verstappen China Undercut Trap Set Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz Lap Time Sister Car Australia And New Zealand One-Two Finish Fresh Contract Luck Strikes Massive Tyre Degradation Smalls Struggles Sergio Perez Post-Race Stewards Investigation Extreme Circuits Key Performance Differentiator Pit Wall Asia Final Stint Australia
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