After their first defeat of the season, Red Bull and Max Verstappen traveled to Japan hoping to put in another dominant performance. While the two-time reigning world champion led the field in both Friday practice sessions, he admitted Ferrari and McLaren were in close competition. However, in an interview after FP2, Verstappen insisted he knew what needed to be done to avoid anything unexpected happening to Suzuka.
Since the Italian GP, the Ferrari cars have made progress in performance and have become one of the fastest teams on the track. As for McLaren, the Woking-based team has improved its car for the Suzuka circuit. Both teams are therefore fully equipped to take on Red Bull on race day and the results from FP1 and FP2 are proof of that. Although the track layout at Suzuka is complex, Verstappen remains the favorite to win the race.
Max Verstappen knows how to prevent any competition from Ferrari and McLaren.
“It looks like things are a little cramped behind me. Between Ferrari and McLaren are very close. I think at the end of the day, we just focus on ourselves and trying to optimize our performance. If we succeed, I’m sure we will fight for pole.
Once the Suzuka race ends, Red Bull’s complete dominance shown this season could also come to an end. Given recent developments and the team’s significant lead over the rest of the field, it’s possible other teams will step up to score a win or two as Red Bull shifts its focus to the 2024 season.
Red Bull may not be the most dominant team for the rest of the season
After exceeding its cost cap in 2021, Red Bull faces a 10% reduction in wind tunnel time for this season. Therefore, there are not many opportunities left for them to improve this season. With six races remaining in the Japanese GP, Red Bull will not have as much time as other competitors to work on its car in the wind tunnel. Therefore, the popular belief is that they will change course and start working on the RB20 with the hope of reestablishing the same level of dominance in 2024.
The final races of the season will be very difficult due to certain races, such as the first GP in Las Vegas. Unsure of what the races might hold for them, all teams will aim for these races, relatively evenly matched with the 4th to 2nd placed teams, hoping to earn maximum points to continue the goal of becoming the second-place team this season. Although Red Bull and Max Verstappen may not have had a good end to the season, nothing could stop him and his team from winning the championship in each of their disciplines.
In both practice sessions at Suzuka, Verstappen led with an impressive number of laps. FP1 saw him top the leaderboard with a time of 1:
31,647, while in FP2 his time improved by 1:
30,688 when he completed his “Sixth Double”. After FP2, the Dutch driver stopped to talk about his performance in sessions with F1 TV. During his time here, Verstappen also shared his thoughts on the fierce competition from Ferrari and McLaren.