Max Verstappen wins Japanese Grand Prix as Ricciardo stitched up

Daniel Ricciardo’s race came to an end after less than one lap as Formula 1 camera crew twisted the knife in a moment of brutality.

James McKern

@jLmcKern

5 min read

April 7, 2024 - 5:21PM

Daniel Ricciardo stitched up by camera crew

F1

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For the third straight time, Max Verstappen has cruised to victory around the Suzuka Circuit at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Red Bull master didn’t have brake issues, like the ones that ruined his Australian Grand Prix, as he claimed his third race victory of the season.

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The three-time world champion was hardly troubled at the front of the pack as his teammate Sergio Perez crossed the line second, 12.5 seconds adrift.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz produced a masterful drive to snatch the final spot on the podium away from teammate Charles Leclerc.

Despite promising signs throughout the weekend, Oscar Piastri wasn’t able to capitalise as he crossed the line in eighth place after a mistake on the second last lap opened the door for George Russell to breeze past.

“Yes, that was a very lovely race. The car just got better and better to be honest,” Verstappen said as he crossed the line.

“Really good result.”

Vertappen wins in Japan! pic.twitter.com/bAA97M32Fj
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) April 7, 2024

Piastri’s race however fared better than fellow countryman Daniel Ricciardo who was bundled out of the Grand Prix on the opening lap.

Ricciardo came into contact with Williams driver Alex Albon which saw his RB spin around on track before slamming into the tyre barrier.

The incident saw the race red flagged with a lengthy delay unfolding as track marshalls set about fixing up the scene.

“He got himself in a risky position just from being on the outside of the track,” Anthony Davidson said on Sky Sports.

“For me that’s just a racing incident, wrong place, wrong time.

“It wasn’t Albon’s fault, it wasn’t Ricciardo’s fault, it’s a racing incident.”

David Croft added: “Two cars out of this race already, we often get contact at Turn 2 and it’s happened again.

“(Alex) Albon says he’s OK, that’s really good to hear, we can see Daniel Ricciardo’s OK.

“It was a slow getaway from Daniel Ricciardo. It was a tag from behind, just the merest of contact.”

Ricciardo crashes out at Suzuka. Photo: Fox Sports

As Ricciardo watched the race unfold from the garage, his teammate became the first Japanese driver to score points at Suzuka in over a decade.

JAPAN GRAND PRIX RACE RESULT

1: Max Verstappen

2: Sergio Perez

3: Carlos Sainz

4: Charles Leclerc, 5: Lando Norris, 6: Fernando Alonso, 7: George Russell, 8: Oscar Piastri, 9: Lewis Hamilton, 10: Yuki Tsunoda, 11: Nico Hulkenberg, 12: Lance Stroll, 13: Kevin Magnussen, 14: Valtteri Bottas, 15: Esteban Ocon, 16: Pierre Gasly, 17: Logan Sargeant

4.40pm - 10 laps to go

We’re heading towards another dominant Red Bull effort to start the 2024 season, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez well clear of the field.

It would be a fourth straight one-two team finish to kick start the year, three from Red Bull along with Ferrari’s shutout in Australia.

Charles Leclerc is currently sitting marginally ahead of Lando Norris with Carlos Sainz closing the gap hard on much fresher tyres.

Aussie Oscar Piastri is sitting in seventh place in a battle with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

4.05pm - Camera crew do Ricciardo dirty

As Daniel Ricciardo watched the race unfold from inside the RB garage, the Japanese Grand Prix camera crew saw an opportunity and took it.

With Ricciardo watching over the shoulder of his crew, the camera zoomed out to show reserve driver Liam Lawson lurking menacingly behind.

The chatter surrounding Ricciardo’s future won’t be going anywhere after his latest nightmare with calls for Lawson to be injected into the seat set to grow.

The cameraman knew what he was doing ðŸ‘€ pic.twitter.com/hvh4kOu9py
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) April 7, 2024

4pm - Early stop for Lando Norris pays dividends

McLaren have nailed their early race strategy with Norris pitting multiple laps ahead of those ahead of him.

That move saw him get the jump on Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. While everybody else switched onto the hard tyres, the Red Bulls and Ferrari drivers went back to the medium compound.

3.55pm - Hamilton makes bold teammate call

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has shown he’s the ultimate team player by telling his team he was happy to let teammate George Russell through.

The two Mercedes drivers have been catching the leading group on the hard tyres with Russell showing more pace which left Hamilton to make the call.

The front four runners in Verstappen, Perez, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc have yet to pit after the opening 15 laps.

Zhou Guanyu became the third driver to be out of the race after suffering a gear box issue.

3.45pm - Early pit stops

The soft tyre compound isn’t holding up under the warm Japanese conditions with four drivers hitting the pits to put on the harder compound.

3.40pm - This time we’re racing

The race is underway with no carnage taking place on the restart as Verstappen and Perez look to dance away at the front of the pack.

3.32pm - Teams heading back out for restart

The extended break to fix the barrier has allowed the teams to change up their strategies with Mercedes taking the biggest gamble of all by slapping a set of hard tyres on Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

While conditions are expected to cool down, the harder compound tyre is a big risk but they could be looking at a one-stop strategy.

3.05pm - Ricciardo heartbreak after opening lap carnage

Opening lap carnage has unfolded once again at the Japanese Grand Prix with Daniel Ricciardo crashing out after only a handful of corners.

The Aussie collided with Williams driver Alex Albon and the two went spinning off the track into the tyre barries.

Replays showed that Ricciardo went to adjust to the racing line after seeing the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll on his inside, but he didn’t see the Williams of Albon had snuck up on his outside.

Unfortunately the two made contact and slammed into the wall. Both drivers gave the thumbs up as they got out of their cars.

The race was red flagged shortly after the crash.

Ricciardo crashes out at Suzuka. Photo: Fox Sports

2.30pm - ‘Question mark’ hanging over F1 champ

Red Bull may have the front row locked out, but three-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen isn’t happy ahead of the race.

The dominance of the Red Bull car has been a sight to behold, but the rivals are closing the gap and it’s leaving Verstappen with a lot of worry.

“So far I haven’t been happy with my long runs,” Verstappen said after qualifying.

“The pace wasn’t what I would have liked. So there’s a bit of a question mark going into (the race) because looking at the long runs especially Ferrari, they looked very comfortable.

“Maybe they were not so quick over one lap but they looked fast in the long runs so we’ll have to wait and see how that will evolve in the race.

“(McLaren are) also quite decent. I’m just not very happy with myself and how my long run was so naturally, everyone else looks a little bit better.”