Verstappen can compete for the fifth world title – but is for the time being alone for it

A huge success or a slight disappointment: on the Grandprix weekend of Red Bull Racing in Japan you can stick both labels. Max Verstappen won his first race of the year on the Suzuka circuit on Sunday, which given the troubles with his car in recent weeks was not an easy job. At the same time, his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda made little impression in the same RB21 that is difficult to control.

Verstappen kept the McLarens of Lando Norris (second) and Oscar Piastri (third) behind. In the championship, the reigning world champion is second, at only one point of leader Norris. Tsunoda finished twelfth, with which Verstappen remains the only Red Bull driver after three races that has scored that points.

The big question in Japan was whether Tsunoda could stay somewhat close to Verstappen at his first performance as a replacement for Liam Lawson. Lawson was not able to handle the RB21 at all and was returned to Red Bull’s satellite team in Formula 1, Racing Bulls.

The weekend started well for Tsunoda: in the training sessions he finished in the top ten, not far behind Verstappen. And also in the first segment of the qualification on Saturday there was hardly any time between the two Red Bull drivers: 0.025 seconds, in favor of Verstappen. Then it went wrong. In the second qualification part (Q2 in professional terms), Tsunoda rode a sloppy round. Result: fifteenth.

Heat up tires

He also found out that the RB21 is a car that requires special treatment. Not only during fast qualification rounds, in which all the steering and braking actions of the driver must be exactly correct to prevent slipping from the rear tires, but also in preparation for this. In the preparation round during the second qualification, Tsunoda did not succeed in temperature in his tires. « The warm-up must be almost perfect ”, Tsunoda said afterwards. « But I didn’t get that in » Q2 « . »

A little later, Verstappen showed that the RB21, if driven with extreme precision, is indeed a fast car. His last qualifying round came so close to perfection that he unexpectedly defeated both McLarens and pole position grabbed. TV cameras filmed Fernando Alonso, the most experienced driver in the field, while he With a big smile Watched Verstappen’s round.

A day later, Verstappen converted his pole position into the victory, in an apparently not very exciting race. No accidents, hardly catching up. But it was hard work for the top three. Due to the low temperature, the tires were slower, so Verstappen, Norris and Piastri were able to keep the pace high. The entire race there was at most four seconds between the trio, a margin in which they could not afford the smallest mistake. Verstappen did not make mistakes: he finished 1.4 seconds for Norris, and 2.1 for Piastri.

Tsunoda drove around anonymously in midfield. He soon caught up with Lawson – which ironically had qualified before him – but then hardly made progress. On the tight and swinging Suzuka, catching up is difficult, so that Tsunoda soon got stuck on the back of paper slower cars. At the finish he was almost a minute behind Verstappen.

More control

There are mitigating circumstances for Tsunoda. He had never driven in the RB21 for last Friday. It takes time to get to know a car really well, so it will only be clear about a few races how fast Tsunoda is. In any case, it is hopeful that he generally seems to have more control over the car than Lawson. He is also less paralyzed by the fear that the rear tires are slipped away. « I have faith in the car, » as he after qualifying in drivers jargon expressed.

And trust is indispensable if Tsunoda wants to get rid of the last few tenths of a second of his lap times, in order to get in acceptable distance from Verstappen – who has meanwhile shown that he has chatted against the superior McLarens. The Dutchman can compete for his fifth world title. But he is still alone for the time being.

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