Athletistic/Formula 1. The 2024 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix comes at a pivotal time this year. In what was supposed to be a winning season for Red Bull and Max Verstappen, we saw a somewhat unexpected winner in Melbourne. Cause? Reliability and somewhat unique conditions in Australia. The race was won by the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Thanks to this, at least until the Japanese Grand Prix, the championship standings look very interesting.

Verstappen continues to lead, with Charles Leclerc not too far behind in second. If Leclerc wins the Japanese Grand Prix, we will see changes in the standings. Will this happen? Can Formula 1 fans expect this this weekend? Let’s find out.

Main scenarios of the Japanese Grand Prix

Can Ferrari challenge Red Bull?

The victory in Melbourne was entirely Ferrari’s achievement as the car performed brilliantly. It wasn’t like Red Bull lost purely because of reliability, because even if the car was reliable, there was a possibility that we would have seen a serious fight between Verstappen and Sainz.

Red Bull attributed the drop in performance to the particular conditions in Melbourne and did not seem too concerned by the incident. However, the Scuderia certainly received a major confidence boost as they showed they can take on the reigning champions in good conditions.

Will Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz be able to challenge Red Bull at Suzuka? That seems unlikely at this point, but we won’t know until the cars hit the track.

Will Mercedes be able to shoot?

Mercedes has had its worst start to a season in the ground effect era. The car placed fourth or fifth in Melbourne and the team has no idea how to make it work at this stage. For the German team, the most important thing would be to find a more balanced approach in the car’s settings.

The Japanese Grand Prix requires aerodynamic efficiency and excellent top speed, so we could see the German team in trouble this weekend.

Daniel Ricciardo’s form

Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t had the best start to the season. The first three races haven’t been very good, but what’s surprising is that the experts have already started to rule him out.

The Australian will look to correct his trajectory at the Japanese Grand Prix as all eyes will be on him once again.

2024 Japanese Grand Prix: predictions

The last time Max Verstappen lost a race, his dominance became even scarier. We could see history repeat itself this weekend. Red Bull is a brilliant car for Suzuki because not only is it the best in terms of aerodynamics, but it also has no weaknesses in the powertrain department.

Verstappen winning the Japanese Grand Prix by more than 20 seconds might not have been such a surprise.

The big surprise of the weekend could be McLaren, which has a very circuit-specific car and performs very well on some specific track configurations. The Suzuki track layout is ideal for the car the team currently has. McLaren scored a double podium last time out at Suzuka and the team will also be fighting for a podium this weekend.

The disappointment of the weekend could be Mercedes. The powertrain advantage is gone and aerodynamic perfection simply doesn’t exist. Last season, the team had the fourth fastest car. The 2024 Japanese Grand Prix is ​​unlikely to go any better for Mercedes.

Vyacheslav Gorbachev/Athletistic



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