Suzuka is another Verstappen masterpiece, beautiful race for Antonelli

By just a scant one and a half seconds at the finish, however, the two Woking drivers could have brought McLaren's successes, which remains the best manufacturer on this track in Formula 1 history, to ten. But the record on this Sunday saw them qualify and run all the time behind, never trying, never succeeding. There was also a logic, in hindsight flawed, of protecting the 'first driver' Norris who, after two races, was leading and, even after three, still leads the drivers' championship. For so many years the Orange have tried to remain true to themselves and not give too many team mistakes, but many will say that if they had let Piastri pass they might have been able to go for Red Bull. Moreover, today Piastri celebrates his 24th birthday and can celebrate his 12th podium finish but, in his heart, he knew he could achieve more.

The competitive test itself of a Japan without the dreaded rain was very boring. With all the

important first positions crystallised from qualifying, it was certainly not a dynamic grand prix. But it is also true that it was a similarly driven race with almost 'qualifying' times, where due to even very even performances within the teams and irremediable gaps between the more or less 'successful' cars, on days like today only the tyres could make the difference. And strategies.

There was no unforeseen incident, accident or irregularity that had any impact on the final result. Right from Verstappen's excellent start, keeping the McLarens behind, the whole grid went more than clean: nobody was caught unprepared even in the middle of the pack.

Hamilton is in the most awkward position, with rookie Hadjar who had managed to qualify better but remains ahead of him for a while: he was at least expected to overtake him immediately, but instead waited to take small steps during the course of the 53 laps without taking any risks.

On closer inspection, the most striking event outside the points zone was Tsunoda's overtaking of Lawson on the first lap. Although he started ahead, he succumbed to the pressure and determination of the home favourite: the only Japanese on the grid, at the wheel of the Red Bull in place of the New Zealander from this very weekend. A choice that caused much discussion, because Helmut Marko and Christian Horner appeared too strict in not giving a youngster like Lawson the necessary time to acclimatise with the car and the team. On the other hand, in the paddock there is often a tendency to forget what really mattered in Milton Keynes, such as the urgent need to announce a replacement for Perez already at the end of last year. The harsh reality of another driver unable to score points and support Verstappen in the constructors' championship at the start of the season (indeed, Perez was still doing well in 2024) made a radical change inevitable. It still took five laps to get past him but it didn't change the outcome much: Tsunoda didn't immediately 'get' the Red Bull, made in the image of Verstappen's very direct and nervous driving style, so he had to settle for a 12th place finish, 58 seconds behind his box-mate.

The only change in the top ten then only came on lap six, with Hamilton passing the Frenchman Hadjar. The race was led by Verstappen, the two McLarens with Norris at the front, Leclerc able to hold off the attack from both Mercedes and Hamilton careful not to lose too much ground to his old team, consistent with his tyre strategy that sees him with hard tyres on the first stint as a choice shared only by Ocon and Bortoleto. Having to extend the hard tyres as far as possible should have been Hamilton's best strategy, considering that most teams seemed inclined to opt for the opposite tactic, with the hard tyres at the end, with the car lighter, in the absence of forecasts of weather variations. Unfortunately, no amount of gambling by the race wall helped to change things: that change between the veteran Hamilton and the promising Hadjar was the only one in the top ten.

There could, however, have been a more sensational twist on one occasion on lap 22: at the time of the tyre change there was a nasty mix-up at the pit exit by Norris, who did not want to give way to Verstappen. The Dutchman was in the fast lane before the Englishman, but Papaya chose to end up on the grass rather than change line and try not to lose metres. Ugly to look at and potentially very dangerous and, moreover, liable to a penalty which was not imposed.

Shortly afterwards, on lap 23, the thrill of seeing an Italian in the lead in Formula 1 who, despite changing to medium tyres like the others, still managed to gain on Hamilton and the others with newly changed hard tyres. Hamilton went out seven laps later, he held on for another two laps and managed to get back to sixth place, ahead of Hamilton, by some margin. It was a gap that looked like it could go away quickly, but the surprising thing was that he was still able to stay in front until the end, despite the seven-time world champion fitting softer, fresher tyres in the second stint and therefore logically being the fastest of all. As the only driver on the track in the points zone on medium tyres he should in fact have kept a pace capable of beating his colleagues on the stopwatch. And on lap 37 he realised this to the extent that he was heard asking for an explanation on public team radio: the information was even softer than the sad reality of the facts. The gap to the number 44 Ferrari in certain sectors was so great that Antonelli was able to stay relatively 'calm' in his position without ever seeing him closely in the mirrors. He was so serene that he was even able to take the satisfaction, a few laps from the end, of seeing the 'purple' on the timesheets, of leaving his mark in the annals with the fastest lap in the race.

Tenth in his third race as a starter with a Haas better than usual this year, where however the much more experienced team-mate Ocon finished 17th. But above all, able to keep ahead of two veterans like Alonso, 11th, and Tsunoda, who suffered one of the saddest races of his life as he had the chance to be on the 'first team' in the same winning car as Verstappen, but not being able to score any points.

With this round figure Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc at 27 and a half years of age is in his seventh season in red after a one-year apprenticeship in Sauber in 2018. His 43 podiums so far, 26 pole positions, 10 fastest race laps, eight victories and a world runner-up (2022) as his best result of the season. A highly respectable balance sheet but also one of long expectations for a red public that has always seen the 'next' champion in him: in reality, many factors have led to him not having consistent top results for a long time.