Japanese Grand Prix: stage preview

The Japanese Grand Prix has never been held so early, but with the arrival of Liberty Media, tradition has been replaced by optimization. The calendar was redrawn and the traditional Japanese autumn race became a spring race for the first time in history. At the beginning of April it is cold and rainy in Suzuka. Pirelli traditionally chooses the hardest compounds, so problems with heating cannot be avoided.

The last Japanese Grand Prix took place just six months ago. In 2023, the race for Suzuka was also won by Carlos Sainz and the Red Bull drivers performed without success. Now the situation has repeated itself. But then it was in Suzuka that everything returned to its usual dominance. During the Japanese weekend, Max Verstappen led in all sessions and Red Bull Racing won the constructors’ championship ahead of schedule.

Suzuka has seen many decisive races in the battle for the title, but with a schedule like this, a repeat of this is impossible. I wonder how it could happen that six races at the beginning of the season take place at an inconvenient time for the majority of the Formula 1 audience?

In Formula 1 they only like winners. The crowd cheers them on, sponsors support them and team owners and managers dream of luring them away. The winner takes all!

The attitude of most spectators towards those who do not win is respectful, but without strong sympathy, unless it is a local racer competing at his home track.

And there is a very small group of racers who rarely win, but are almost always surrounded by love and everyone’s attention. One of them is Daniel Ricciardo, for whom this season may be his last.

Daniel was brought into Formula 1 by Helmut Marko and his Red Bull Junior programme. Of the almost hundred participants, many lasted very briefly, only sixteen made it to Formula 1, and real success was achieved by Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, who were not trained by Marco – but he offered something that others had no direct path to the Formula 1.

Marco demands titles in the youth series, where it all started for Ricciardo. After joining the program in 2008, Daniel became Formula Renault 2.0 and British F3 champion. One of his rivals was another participant in the program, Jean-Eric Vergne.

In 2010, Ricciardo fought for the title in Formula Renault 3.5, but was beautifully overtaken in a dramatic finale by Mikhail Aleshin, who became champion at the end of the season, but had already left Red Bull’s youth program. And Daniel continued.

It seemed like all the trails were open. Formula 1 immediately fell in love with the positive Australian, and there was not much pressure – Marco came to an agreement with HRT, the team got a little money and Daniel got the chance to quietly get behind the wheel of a car that nobody cared about expected.

Ricciardo and Vergne spent the next two seasons at Toro Rosso, the battle was even, but Marco gambled on the Australian – and in 2014 Ricciardo pulled out his lucky ticket and replaced Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing. The season went great. The Australian finished third, ahead of teammate and current world champion Sebastian Vettel, who quickly lost motivation, ended the season and left for Ferrari.

Ricciardo had more than enough motivation, he achieved his first victories in Formula 1, believed in himself and waited for the next step. A white streak began in his career, there were few victories, but he turned every victory into a bright show. Who else would think of giving prize champagne to the award ceremony participants from a shoe wet with sweat? And almost no one refused.

In 2015, the Australian’s partner was Daniil Kvyat, who was ahead of Ricciardo at the end of the season. In 2016, the young Max Verstappen arrived. Ricciardo beat Verstapen in 2017, but lost the following year. Marco saw championship potential in Max, which he didn’t see in Daniel, and switched completely to supporting the Dutchman, Ricciardo switched to Renault and that was the end of the white streak.

Changing teams is always a risk. Renault had not won for a long time, the drivers were fighting at the end of the top ten – it was a step back, but Ricciardo believed Cyril Abiteboul, who considered the invitation of a strong driver as a “statement of intent”. The enthusiasm was enough for a season and a half. In Covid 2020, Ricciardo announced his impending move to McLaren before the actual start of the championship.

McLaren boss Zak Brown has tried for two years to convince Ricciardo to sign a contract. But initially the results left much to be desired and the Australian refused, but a year later he agreed.

In 2021, everything seemed to be going well, and even though Daniel was consistently inferior to Lando Norris, he won the race in Monza, taking McLaren’s first since 2012 and the last win for McLaren so far. This victory also turned out to be the last of his career.

After rising high at Red Bull Racing, Daniel slid down an equally steep trajectory, losing his confidence. And the level of competition in the championship has noticeably increased. The end was reached at the end of 2022, when McLaren terminated the contract prematurely.

Daniel Ricciardo: “I have always taken on some of the responsibility. For years, I honestly believed that I was the best in the world, and that no matter how the situation turned out, I could overcome anything.

McLaren failed to do this. I saw that I was not a perfect racer, that I had weaknesses. If I were to start all over again, I would do many things differently. I would ask more questions, make more demands. I won’t say I remember this time with regret, it’s just how the situation developed.”

A few months later, Red Bull invited Ricciardo, who was out of contract, to serve as reserve driver. He admitted that he even got behind the wheel of the simulator with serious doubts about his speed. But soon the old sensations returned.

Daniel also returned – in 2023 he got behind the wheel of an AlphaTauri in Hungary, replacing Nick de Vries, who was fired during the season. Helmut Marko was satisfied with the results, but this year the problems returned. After three Grand Prix, Daniel must be inferior to the not fastest Yuki Tsunoda 0:3 in qualifying and has not yet earned any points.

There is talk again that Daniel lacks pace, and Marco’s new hope, Liam Lawson, is just waiting for the chance to replace him.

Still, I really want Daniel to solve this problem.