2023 Formula One Japanese Grand Prix

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Who are you cheering in the Japanese Grand Prix?

  • Max Verstappen

    Votes: 46 35.7%
  • Sergio Perez

    Votes: 4 3.1%
  • Carlos Sainz

    Votes: 5 3.9%
  • Charles Leclerc

    Votes: 7 5.4%
  • Lewis Hamilton

    Votes: 15 11.6%
  • George Russell

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • Fernando Alonso

    Votes: 9 7.0%
  • Lance Stroll

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lando Norris

    Votes: 13 10.1%
  • Oscar Piastri

    Votes: 8 6.2%
  • Esteban Ocon

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Pierre Gasly

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • Alex Albon

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Logan Sargeant

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kevin Magnussen

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • Nico Hulkenberg

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • Valtteri Bottas

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • Guanyu Zhou

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • Yuki Tsunoda

    Votes: 8 6.2%
  • Liam Lawson

    Votes: 4 3.1%

  • Total voters
    129
This week's Formula One stop off is the land of the rising sun and Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix. Ferrari has put an end to Red Bull's dominance, but can the bulls fight back?

Image credit: Mercedes Press Site

In this latter stage of the season, it seems Formula One is finally gaining a sense of competitiveness at the front. Monza saw Carlos Sainz hold Max Verstappen outside of the leading position for longer than he has been most of the year and Singapore featured the first non-Red Bull win of the season.

But as the paddock makes its way to the land of the rising sun, the team with Honda affiliation will certainly be keen to return to the front. In fact, this weekend, Red Bull's current engine supplier will be celebrating not only a race in its home country, but at a circuit the manufacturer owns.

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Aside from the fight at the top, there are plenty of stories going on up and down the field. Taking place at one of the all-time top circuits in Formula One, the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix will have a lot to offer.

Pressure Off For Piastri​

Despite a rocky start due to McLaren's poor initial car, it's fair to say Oscar Piastri has had an impressive rookie season in Formula One. Following McLaren's major upgrades earlier this summer, the young Australian put in a succession of eye-catching results from a front row start in the Belgian GP Sprint Race to a top-4 finish at Silverstone.

The most impressive part of all this is that Oscar has achieved all this whilst holding just a single year contract with the Papaya team. The pressure of any mistakes potentially impacting one's career longevity will certainly take its toll.


But as of this weekend, the youngster need not worry for another three years. In fact, he and McLaren have signed a long-term contract until 2026. The team is confident enough in this special talent to retain him even into the series' next ruleset. With the pressure of performance off the driver's shoulders, what can he do in the remaining races of 2023?

Whilst unconfirmed as of the time of writing, rumours in the paddock also point towards another signing taking place this weekend. Prior to the Singapore GP, we mentioned that Alpha Tauri is the only team with a fully unannounced driver pairing for next year. It seems this will no longer be the case come Sunday as Yuki Tsunoda is set to retain his seat at the Red Bull owned outift.

Title On The line?​

Following a dominant season, Red Bull had its first chance to claim the constructor's championship last time out at Singapore. With a rather catastrophic weekend by their standards, the letter was not quite sent on the street circuit. However, with every passing race, the team name is being slowly etched into the trophy.

Indeed, the team has another chance this weekend in Suzuka, though due to the poor points haul last time out, it is still something of an outside chance. But with fewer races to go, Max Verstappen is also now very nearly able to seal the deal on the driver's title. Whilst not possible this weekend due to a lower than usual points haul in Singapore, the odds are certainly in Max' favour for Qatar.


If one track was ever known for its title deciders, it would certainly be Suzuka, having a rich history of nail-biting finishes, controversial decisions and dominant displays. If the history of F1's Suzuka title battles is something that interests you, an article on the best Japanese battles will release this weekend here on RaceDepartment.

How To Watch The Japanese GP​

Taking place halfway around the world from the majority of F1 fans in Europe, Africa and America, the Japanese Grand Prix requires some interesting sleeping patterns. In fact, practice sessions take place in the middle of the night for Europeans. Competitive sessions such as Qualifying and the race force fans to either commit to an early rise, or decide they aren't as passionate as once thought.

As ever, every session will be available to watch live on F1TV as well as each country's official broadcaster. Typically, Formula One posts lots of highlight reels and social media clips to their YouTube channel the week following a GP. So if you appreciate your sleep, you are sure to not miss out. Here are the all important session times for the weekend.

Friday:​

Free Practice 1: 4:30am-5:30am CET
Free Practice 2: 8:00am-9:00am CET

Saturday:​

Free Practice 3: 4:30am-5:30am CET
Qualifying: 8:00am-9:00am CET

Sunday:​

Japanese Grand Prix: 7:00am-9:00am CET

Will you wake up for the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday morning?
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About author
Angus Martin
Motorsport gets my blood pumping more than anything else. Be it physical or virtual, I'm down to bang doors.

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I believe that this is going to be a slaughter. I suppose that RB wanted to win the title at suzuka in front of the Honda directives to be on their good side, the same way as they have Tsunoda in alpha tauri in order to appease Honda.

It would had been very underwhelming to win the constructors title at singapore just before Japan, but as Max would never obey an order to underperform enough to not win the title at singapore it is my guess that they did a undrivable setup to force him to under perform. Now that they want to look good they are going to let him to have a dominating win.
 
I believe that this is going to be a slaughter. I suppose that RB wanted to win the title at suzuka in front of the Honda directives to be on their good side, the same way as they have Tsunoda in alpha tauri in order to appease Honda.

It would had been very underwhelming to win the constructors title at singapore just before Japan, but as Max would never obey an order to underperform enough to not win the title at singapore it is my guess that they did a undrivable setup to force him to under perform. Now that they want to look good they are going to let him to have a dominating win.
Being that Red Bull 's future is with Ford I think it's immaterial where the Championships are wrapped up.
 
Premium
I guess those who were speculating (with hope), that the TD was the reason for a poor RB in Singapore are feeling a bit disappointed now :)
I know Max is an alien of F1 but to be so far ahead of Sergio today???
 
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I guess those who were speculating (with hope), that the TD was the reason for a poor RB in Singapore are feeling a bit disappointed now :)
I know Max is an alien of F1 but to be so far ahead of Sergio today???
He's doing an excellent job with a car that suits him perfectly, Checo on the other and isn't coping so well with a car that doesn't really suit him... and I believe that Max is better too, those things account for the massive difference in track performance.
 
Ohh nice to have the article on friday again xD.. on another note, as someone said, checo is still in singapore xD..but anyway ferrari is not so far from rb and this is the perfect track for the bulls, so..
 
For the record, Checo stated he was running experimental setups that did not work. No surprise considering that after Singapore's flop, the team would want to cover all bases and make sure that no repeat happens.
 
Premium
For the record, Checo stated he was running experimental setups that did not work. No surprise considering that after Singapore's flop, the team would want to cover all bases and make sure that no repeat happens.
That's fair. I expect him to be closer by qualifying and barring issues, to be closer in the race also.
 
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Tyre barriers look like they from the 80's.
More concerning is they don't completely cover that concrete wall.
Behind that is another concrete wall.

"I never realized how close this is to the track" Karun :rolleyes:

SUZUKA.jpg
 
Has Logan Sarg still not figured out wall-riding like NASCAR doesn't work in F1?
Nah, might be a while before Americans realise that the steering wheel turns both ways.

Seriously though, considering the demands of F1 nowadays I'm surprised that heads don't fully detach and hit the wall on their own, I know my lil' neck would snap.
 
Has Logan Sarg still not figured out wall-riding like NASCAR doesn't work in F1?
Sargeant is another Mick Schumacher, it seems. A former F2 driver out of his depth in F1. And like Mick, he will have a very short F1 career…
 
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Sargeant is another Mick Schumacher, it seems. A former F2 driver out of his depth in F1. And like Mick, he will have a very short F1 career…
Mick was an F2 champion actually. Meanwhile the new darling of the english speaking pundits, Lawson, got beaten by Tsunoda again, in a track that they both know well. I don't think Lawson is a bad driver, and i also don't think Mick is either, or even Logan, but it just shows that the talent on the grid is not as bad as people make it out to be.
 
Mick was an F2 champion actually. [...] it just shows that the talent on the grid is not as bad as people make it out to be
That doesn't mean much to me these days. Latiffi came in 2nd place in 2019, behind De Vries. F2 isn't that good a championship. I watched the races between 2020 and 2022, but I only watch highlights now.

No disrespect intended, but I actually think the opposite way: I think that the talent on the grid isn't that great. There are several drivers in F1 who are not that great: Stroll, Tsunoda, Zhou, Bottas, Magnussen, Sargeant, even Perez. Not bad drivers, but not the cream of the crop either. When people say F1 has the best drivers in the world, I can only chuckle a bit... Sure, F1 has elite drivers like Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso, Norris, etc. But I've been watching the sport since 1978 and it never was only "the best drivers", there were always some very average racers on the grid who were there because they had a rich sponsor or a wealthy dad.
 
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Sargeant is another Mick Schumacher, it seems. A former F2 driver out of his depth in F1. And like Mick, he will have a very short F1 career…
Fun fact: Toto Wolff pushed James Vowles to replace Sargeant with Schumacher.
 
That doesn't mean much to me these days. Latiffi came in 2nd place in 2019, behind De Vries. F2 isn't that good a championship. I watched the races between 2020 and 2022, but I only watch highlights now.

No disrespect intended, but I actually think the opposite way: I think that the talent on the grid isn't that great. There are several drivers in F1 who are not that great: Stroll, Tsunoda, Zhou, Bottas, Magnussen, Sargeant, even Perez. Not bad drivers, but not the cream of the crop either. When people say F1 has the best drivers in the world, I can only chuckle a bit... Sure, F1 has elite drivers like Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso, Norris, etc. But I've been watching the sport since 1978 and it never was only "the best drivers", there were always some very average racers on the grid who were there because they had a rich sponsor or a wealthy dad.
Where are those supposedly better drivers then?

No, i think F1 has really good drivers, so good in fact, that only the best of the best from the feeder series can have a go and have a place in the grid. The best are already in the grid, that's why its so hard to do good in F1.

Even total F1 rejects of the past proved to be really good in other series back in the day, and i can cite multiple examples of drivers with shambolic F1 careers, even accounting for their bad cars, that went on to have great careers in other series.


Also recent examples of trying to promote guys who were multiple champions in other series to F1 proved that they were nothing more than average in the middle of the F1 grid.
 
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Fun fact: Toto Wolff pushed James Vowles to replace Sargeant with Schumacher.
Yes, replace one driver who crashes his car with another driver who crashes his car.

If Schumacher's last name was Schmidt or Müller, he would not be in F1.
 

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Angus Martin
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Shifting method

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