#Formula1 Lenovo #JapaneseGP 2023 Preview. #F1
Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 Race Start, Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka, Mie-Prefecture, Japan. Image credit to Mark Thompson/Getty Images. 2023 Japanese GP Preview, F1 Japanese GP Preview, Japanese Grand Prix Preview, Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix Preview.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – After Carlos Sainz fended-off McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes to score Ferrari’s first victory of the season at a thrilling Singapore Grand Prix and ended Red Bull’s 15-race winning streak, round 16 of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the fast and flowing Suzuka International Racing Course this weekend for the Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2023. This will be the 46th Japanese Grand Prix, the thirty-seventh edition as part of the Formula 1 World Championship since the sport began in 1950 and the thirty-second time the event has been held at Suzuka.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – A look at the Suzuka International Racing Course
Suzuka circuit is a permanent racing circuit located Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by the Mobilityland Corporation a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Located in a theme park with the big wheel dominating the Suzuka Skyline, the circuit was designed as a test track for Honda in 1962 by John Hugenholtz (most notable designer of the Zandvoort, Zolder, Jarama and the stadium section of the Hockenheimring circuits), Suzuka is one of the few circuits in the world to have a figure-eight layout with the 1.2km back straight passing over the front section by an overpass. The circuit features some of the most challenging corners on the calendar including the Esses, the high-speed 130R and the famous Spoon Curve. The circuit has been modified four times during its time.
In 1987, having hosted sportscar racing and Formula 2 and having lost out initially to Fuji Speedway in the race to host the Japanese Grand Prix, Honda finally succeeded, and Formula 1 had a new Japanese home (2007-2008 aside when the race was held at Fuji Speedway), the circuit has stayed ever since and has provided the scene for many nail-biting title deciding finales including the famous collisions between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in 1989 and 1990. These moments added to Suzuka’s appeal with fans around the world and of course the circuit is a favourite amongst the drivers due to its difficult and demanding challenges. Suzuka is also one of the most demanding circuits on tyre wear.
The Suzuka Circuit is 5.807km (3.609 miles) in length with 18 corners and runs uniquely in both a clockwise and anti-clockwise direction.
Race distance is 307.471km (109.062 miles) in length with 53 laps in total.
Lewis Hamilton holds the fastest lap record with a 1:30.983 set in 2019 in his Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team F1 W10 EQ Power+.
Michael Schumacher holds the record for most victories at the Japanese Grand Prix with six.
McLaren are the most successful constructor at the Japanese Grand Prix with nine victories.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – Onboard Pole Lap of Suzuka
Here is the onboard pole lap of Suzuka set at the 2022 by Max Verstappen in his Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 racer. The reigning two-time World Champion posted a 1:29.304. You can watch the video right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAq-Plv9uKY
2023 Japanese GP Preview – The Last Five Winners
2022: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. 2021-20: Not Held. 2019: Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2017: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2016: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – Tyres
Pirelli will be bringing with them to Suzuka, the white side-walled C1 Hards, the yellow-marked C2 Medium tyres and the C3 red-branded Soft rubber along with the green-branded Intermediate and blue-marked Full Wet tyre compounds in case of rain.
The drivers on Friday will have the opportunity to test a new version of the C2 compound with the view of homologating it for next season. This latest evolution of the tyre is expected to provide more grip than the current C2 and will fit in more between the C1 and C3 rubber. For the first two practice sessions, each driver will have two extra sets of tyres, compared to the normal 13 sets per weekend. This test is part of a development programme, which was recently defined for 2024 and will continue with a new C4 compound to be tested at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Drivers as usual will have eight sets of the C3 softs, three sets of the C2 mediums and two sets of the C1 hards.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – DRS Zones
As in 2022, there will only be a single DRS Zone at Suzuka which is on the main straight. The detection point is 50 metres before turn 16 and the activation point is 100 metres before the control line.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – Pitlane Speed Limits
Pitlane speed limits will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Sainz fends off Norris, Hamilton to clinch victory at thrilling Singapore GP
Sainz Singapore GP Victory – Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz amazingly fended-off McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes in an intense Singapore GP to claim his second-career victory, as George Russell crashed out on the final lap.
The Spaniard lead from start-to-finish from pole position and delivered a tactical race to perfection to hold off two fast-charging Mercedes F1 W14 entries in the Grand Prix’s second half by using Norris as a bodyguard.
The Silver Arrows had forecasted a potential strategic advantage after yesterday’s qualifying, with Russell stating he saved an extra set of the C4 medium rubber should there be the opportunity to have a two-stopper.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon presented that opportunity, and following the virtual safety car, both Mercedes took advantage of that cheaper pitstop on lap 44 for that fresh set of tyres.
This gave the Silver Arrows pairing a clear advantage, and although they surrendered their track position to drop into fourth and fifth respectively, Russell and Sir Lewis Hamilton were around two seconds a lap faster than the cars in-front.
The other Ferrari SF-23 entry of Charles Leclerc, who had dropped positions in the earlier round of pitstops under the safety car having moved up into second at the start, was initially up on the two Mercedes, who picked off the Monegasque rapidly and began to reel in Norris ahead.
Recognising his best chance of victory was to ensure Norris had DRS to defend, Sainz backed off to allow Norris to do so for the closing stages, which protected the McLaren driver from the threat of his fellow British-compatriot in the F1 W14 behind.
Russell put Norris under intense pressure on the 59th tour, but the latter did enough to hold firm and keep the Mercedes at bay, giving Sainz more time.
The race leader backed off again to keep Norris with DRS assistance for the final few laps, which proved to be enough. Russell put the result beyond doubt after suffering a crash at turn 10 due to hitting the outside wall to ensure Sainz claimed the Singapore GP victory.
When the 62-lap Singapore GP began, pole-sitter Sainz got a solid run into turn one with Leclerc jumping past Russell into second as Hamilton ran straight into the turn one run-off area and made his way ahead of his Mercedes team-mate into third place at the end of sector one.
At the end of the opening lap Sainz was 1.273 seconds clear of Ferrari team-mate Leclerc with Hamilton third, Russell fourth and McLaren’s Lando Norris rounding out the top five.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda stopped at the end of turn 14 due to a puncture and was the first retirement of the Grand Prix.
Hamilton swapped places with Russell due to gaining an advantage putting the latter into third place.
On the fifth tour Sainz held a 0.937 gap to team-mate Leclerc with Russell third, Norris in fourth as Hamilton gave the place back to his fellow British-compatriot.
On lap six, championship leader Max Verstappen who started 11th after a horrid qualifying session yesterday made his way up into seventh place and got passed Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen down the inside of the Dane at the end of the Bridge.
The tenth tour saw Sainz’s lead at 0.991 seconds over Ferrari team-mate Leclerc with Russell holding third, Norris fourth as Hamilton completed the top five.
On lap 11, Russell was told over the radio that Ferrari were looking to sacrifice Leclerc to try and prevent race-leader Sainz from being undercut when the first round of pit-stops arrived.
Lap 15 saw Sainz increase his lead to 2.422 seconds over Ferrari team-mate Leclerc with Russell third as Norris and Hamilton were tucked behind in fourth and fifth respectively.
On the 18th lap, Russell said to his team: “Let me know what our best shot of winning this race is, what do I need to do.” The team told him to keep the pressure on the Ferrari’s out-front. Whilst Piastri was told by his McLaren team that a brief rain shower could be on the way.
The 20th lap saw Williams’ Logan Sargeant go straight into the wall at turn 14 and damaged his front wing, and scattering debris all over the track deploying the safety car.
The majority pitted for a set of hards other than Verstappen, Perez and Bottas all remained on track due to starting on the C3 white side-walled compounds and are yet to stop.
Sainz emerged in the lead with Verstappen second, Russell third, Perez fourth, Norris fifth and Leclerc down in sixth due to a slow pit-stop.
When the safety car came in on lap 23 and the race returned to green, Sainz made a solid jump away from Verstappen out of the final two corners and into turn one.
Behind Sainz, Verstappen was under intense pressure from Russell with the latter getting passed the Red Bull a bit later on in the lap – Leclerc lost a couple of places to both Hamilton and Perez who was also had the Mercedes right on his tail.
A tour later, Hamilton made his way past Perez to grab fifth place at the end of sector one and Norris jumped ahead of Verstappen to take third.
On lap 26, Sainz was told to back the field up and had the Mercedes of Russell 0.684 seconds behind him with Norris third, the yet-to-pit Verstappen fourth as Hamilton rounded out the top five.
The 27th tour saw Hamilton dive up the inside of Verstappen at the end of sector one to take fourth place off the Red Bull.
On the 28th lap, Leclerc followed suit and made the same move as Hamilton at turn seven to get ahead of Verstappen to take sixth place.
With 32 tours remaining, Sainz’s lead was up to 1.232 seconds over Russell with Norris 0.909 seconds behind his fellow British-compatriot in third, Hamilton in fourth as Leclerc completed the top five.
On lap 33, Russell radioed his team saying he really wanted to go for the win, but was on the same strategy to race leader Sainz – Verstappen reported to his team that it felt like he was “driving on ice”
On the 35th lap Russell was still lapping quicker than Sainz, but still could not find his way by the Ferrari as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly forced his way past Haas’ Magnussen into tenth place.
Sainz reported to his team that he had one second in hand and asked when he could push to clear ahead of the Mercedes.
With 22 laps remaining, Sainz had a 0.464 second gap over Russell with Norris third, Hamilton fourth as Leclerc rounded out the top five with the yet-to-pit Verstappen in sixth place.
Perez also pitted for a fresh set of C4 yellow-marked mediums and emerged in 18th place behind Sargeant.
His Red Bull team-mate followed suit a tour later also for mediums and came out in 15th behind Magnussen.
With 19 laps remaining, race leader Sainz still had Russell right on his tail, a 0.609 seconds with Norris third, Hamilton fourth and Leclerc rounding out the top five as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon suffered a power-unit issue and parked it in-between turns one and two bringing out the virtual safety car.
On lap 45, Mercedes brought in both Russell and Hamilton for a fresh set of mediums to take advantage of the virtual safety car along with Alonso who served his five-second timed-penalty and had a slot front-right issue and emerged in 15th behind Magnussen.
Russell and Hamilton emerged in fourth and fifth respectively and were lapping at a rate of knots compared to the front-three.
With 15 laps left, Sainz held a 2.087 gap over Norris with Leclerc in third place as the two charging Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton were in fourth and fifth.
Lap 50 saw Russell 12.2 off race leader Sainz and Hamilton a further 15.5 seconds off the Spaniard as both Mercedes were closing in on third-placed Leclerc.
With ten laps remaining, Sainz held a 1.615 second lead over Norris with Leclerc third and Russell 1.255 seconds off the third-placed Ferrari as Hamilton was a further 2.026 off his team-mate in fifth.
On lap 53, Russell forced his way ahead of Leclerc into turn 14 taking third place from the Monegasque driver.
A lap later, Hamilton made his way around the outside of Leclerc to grab fourth at the end of sector one.
With five laps left, Sainz had a gap of 0.857 seconds over second-placed Norris with Russell 1.082 behind the McLaren with Hamilton fourth as Leclerc rounded out the top five.
With four laps remaining, in the battle for second, Russell was looking all over the back of Norris’s MCL60, but the latter managed to keep ahead of the F1 W14 entry.
On the final lap, Russell clipped the wall and went straight on into the wall at turn ten and retired as Ferrari’s Sainz crossed the line by 0.604 seconds to take victory at the Singapore GP over Norris as Hamilton completed the top three.
The other SF-23 entry of Leclerc finished a distant fourth and in-front of a fast-charging Red Bull of Max Verstappen, whose alternate strategy paid off having recovered through the field on a fresh set of C4 mediums. Neither Red Bull pitted during the safety car period, and their out-of-normal position at the front on the hards made them easy for their rivals.
Regardless, the championship leader managed to pull off an effective drive to finish in the top five, having overtaken Gasly for sixth and moving up a place when Russell retired.
Gasly finished three seconds clear of McLaren’s Piastri, who did not have the upgrades for his MCL60 racer for this weekend’s Grand Prix, whilst the other Red Bull RB19 entry of Perez managed to take eighth having fallen to the back after his only pitstop.
The Mexican clashed with the aforementioned Tsunoda on the opening tour, which put the AlphaTauri driver out early with a puncture and is also part of an investigation by the stewards for tangle with Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon at turn 13.
Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson scored his first points in Formula 1 finishing ninth as Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top ten.
Albon and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu ended their race in 11th and 12th respectively with the latter starting in the pit-lane due to a power unit change, and Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg settled for 13th.
Williams Racing’s Sargeant managed to recover to 14th with Aston Martin’s Alonso the last of the drivers to finish.
Alonso’s Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll was forced to miss the race due to yesterday’s heavy qualifying shunt.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – The Situation
After Red Bull’s winning streak was broken last weekend in Singapore, all eyes will be whether this was a one-off anomaly for the RB19, or if it has lost some of its dominant pace.
Suzuka is one of the best tracks on the Formula 1 calendar and having missed their first opportunity to wrap up the World Constructor’s Championship at the Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull will once again be looking to confirm back-to-back titles this weekend in Japan.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen can’t quite secure his third World Driver’s Championship crown as of yet, as he did when Formula 1 last visited the Suzuka International Racing Course but can put himself on the brink of it ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time.
After ending a 14-month wait for another Grand Prix victory, Ferrari will be on the hunt for back-to-back victories and three pole positions in succession with eyes renewed on chasing down Mercedes for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
The fight for third place in the World Drivers’ Championship standings heats up – and perhaps even further on – second place – is also intensifying after Sir Lewis Hamilton moved ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for the first time this season.
Singapore GP winner Carlos Sainz is not too far behind the legendary duo now either with seven races left.
Max Verstappen returns to the “Land of the Rising Sun” sitting on top of the World Driver’s Championship with 374 points and a 151-point advantage over closest rival and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who is second on 223 points while Sir Lewis Hamilton is third and a further 194 behind the Dutchman on 180 points.
Oracle Red Bull Racing returns to Japan comfortably on top of the Constructors Championship with 597 points and a 312-point lead over nearest rivals Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team who are second on 289 points while Scuderia Ferrari are a further 332 behind the Milton Keynes based-outfit in third on 265 points.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – How Red Bull can secure the Constructors Championship in Suzuka
For Red Bull Racing to be celebrating their sixth constructors’ title in their history on Sunday, the Milton Keynes based-outfit must hold a lead of 309 points or more over their nearest rivals.
That’s currently Mercedes who are currently in second place, but third-placed Ferrari are also not yet mathematically out of the equation either after their triumph in Singapore.
Red Bull Racing currently lead the Silver Arrows by 308 points and the Scuderia by 332.
For Red Bull to win the Constructors Championship they must outscore Mercedes by a single point or more and not be outscored by Ferrari by 24 points or more.
2023 Japanese GP Preview – McLaren announces Piastri extension until end of 2026
Yesterday, the McLaren Formula 1 Team announced a multi-year extension with Oscar Piastri to the end of the 2026 campaign, further extending their partnership and securing his long-term future with the Woking based-outfit.
Piastri joined McLaren at the end of the 2022 season on a multi-year contract, making his debut for the Woking team at the post-season Abu Dhabi Young Drivers Test. The Australian continually impressed, proving his talent with a top-three finish scoring second-place in the Sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Piastri has had an incredible career to date, which includes successive titles in the 2019 Formula Renault Cup Championship, the 2020 FIA Formula 3 and 2021 FIA Formula 2 World Championships.
“I am thrilled to be extending my partnership with McLaren for many years. “Explained Piastri. “I want to be fighting it out at the front of the grid with this team and I am excited by the vision and foundations that are already being laid to get us there,”
“The welcome that I have received and the relationships that I have built make this feel like home already. The team’s consistent commitment in me has made me feel incredibly valued and the desire from the team for me to be part of its long-term future made this an easy decision. To be wanted like that and for the team to show so much belief in me after just half a season, means a lot,”
“Ever since the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test last year, I feel a real part of all things papaya and my thanks go to everyone in and around the team as well as all the fans,”
“Stability is a huge advantage in this early part of my career and to have that with a brand as prestigious as McLaren gives me the opportunity to continue the work that we’ve started,”
“We’ve enjoyed some good moments together in my rookie season, but I’m excited to work together with everyone at MTC over the coming years to create some great moments.” Piastri concluded, credit to the McLaren for the quote.
McLaren CEO and Team Principal Zak Brown added: “I’m delighted to be continuing our partnership with Oscar through to the end of 2026. He’s an incredible talent and an asset to the team so it’s fantastic to be committing to each other in the long term. Oscar is already proving what he can do out on track and has been instrumental in the turnaround we’ve had so far this season. He’s fit into the team brilliantly and is really valued by the whole McLaren Racing family. I’m excited to see how he continues to grow both on and off track.” Brown concluded, credit to McLaren for the quote.
With Norris’s extension back in February, this confirms the McLaren team line-up of Norris and Piastri through until at least the end of the 2025 campaign.
The Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2023 weekend begins Friday September 22 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday September 23 and the 53 lap Race Sunday September 24.
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