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2023 Japanese Grand Prix

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2023 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 16 of 22 in the 2023 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Suzuka International Racing Course
Layout of the Suzuka International Racing Course
Race details[1]
Date 24 September 2023
Official name Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2023
Location Suzuka International Racing Course
Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.807 km (3.608 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 307.471 km (191.054 miles)
Weather Sunny
Attendance 222,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Time 1:28.877
Fastest lap
Driver Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Time 1:34.183 on lap 39
Podium
First
Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Second
McLaren-Mercedes
Third
McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2023 Japanese Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2023) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 September 2023 at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Japan.

Max Verstappen started from pole position, set the fastest lap and won the race for Red Bull Racing, allowing the Austrian constructor to win their sixth Constructors' Championship, their second consecutive win after 2022. The team also secured the Drivers' Championship, as only Sergio Pérez remains in the title contest behind Verstappen.

Background

The event was held across the weekend of 22–24 September. It was the sixteenth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and the 48th running of the Japanese Grand Prix.[3]

Championship standings before the race

Coming into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship by 151 points from teammate Sergio Pérez, with Lewis Hamilton third, a further 43 points behind. Red Bull Racing led the Constructors' Championship from Mercedes by 308 points and Ferrari by a further 24 points.[4]

Current World Constructors' Championship leader Red Bull Racing had an opportunity to secure their sixth title, their second in a row. Red Bull Racing could win the title as long as they outscored Mercedes by one point and Ferrari do not outscore them by 24 points. Red Bull Racing could win the title as their advantage would be the same as the number of the obtainable points remaining in the season (309), but Mercedes would not be able to win on a tie breaker due to Red Bull Racing achieving more wins than Mercedes.[5]

Entrants

See also: 2023 Formula One World Championship § Entries

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list, with the exception of Liam Lawson, who was in the seat originally held by Nyck de Vries.[6][a]

Tyre choices

Further information: Formula One tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2 and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.[9]

Practice

Three practice sessions were held for the event. The first practice session was held on 22 September 2023, at 11:30 local time (UTC+9). Max Verstappen topped the session, with Carlos Sainz Jr. recording the second-fastest time and Lando Norris recording the third-fastest.[10]

The second practice session was held on 22 September 2023, at 15:00 local time (UTC+9). Verstappen topped the session, with Charles Leclerc recording the second-fastest time and Norris recording the third-fastest. The session was red-flagged with two minutes before the end and was never resumed due to Pierre Gasly's crash.[11]

The third practice session was held on 23 September 2023, at 11:30 local time (UTC+9). Verstappen topped the session once more, with Norris recording the second-fastest time and his teammate Oscar Piastri the third-fastest.[12]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 23 September 2023, at 15:00 local time (UTC+9).

Qualifying report

During the first segment, Logan Sargeant took his Williams to the walls, bringing out the red flag and taking himself out of the session. Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, Nico Hülkenberg, and Zhou Guanyu also found themselves knocked out. During the second segment, Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen were all knocked out while Charles Leclerc topped the session. During the third segment, Verstappen set the fastest lap, granting him pole position, bettering himself by over a tenth to secure it. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris completed the top 3.[13]

Qualifying classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:29.878 1:29.964 1:28.877 1
2 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.439 1:30.122 1:29.458 2
3 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.063 1:30.296 1:29.493 3
4 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.393 1:29.940 1:29.542 4
5 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:30.652 1:29.965 1:29.650 5
6 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1:30.651 1:30.067 1:29.850 6
7 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.811 1:30.040 1:29.908 7
8 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1:30.811 1:30.268 1:30.219 8
9 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1:30.733 1:30.204 1:30.303 9
10 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:30.971 1:30.465 1:30.560 10
11 40 New Zealand Liam Lawson AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1:30.425 1:30.508 N/A 11
12 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1:30.843 1:30.509 N/A 12
13 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:30.941 1:30.537 N/A 13
14 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1:30.960 1:30.586 N/A 14
15 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:30.976 1:30.665 N/A 15
16 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1:31.049 N/A N/A 16
17 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:31.181 N/A N/A 17
18 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1:31.299 N/A N/A 18
19 24 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1:31.398 N/A N/A 19
107% time: 1:36.169
— 2 United States Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes No time N/A N/A PL1
Source:[14][15]
Notes
  • ^1 – Logan Sargeant failed to set a time during qualifying. He was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion. He was then required to start the race from the pit lane as the new elements of different specification from the ones originally used were installed on his car during parc fermé conditions. He also received a ten-second time penalty as his mechanics assembled a new chassis, this being considered a new car entered for him.[15]

Race

The race was held on 24 September 2023, at 14:00 local time (UTC+9).

Race report

As the race began, Oscar Piastri dropped to third with Lando Norris taking his position. However, it soon became apparent two cars made contact; Valtteri Bottas hit the car of Alexander Albon, bringing out the safety car due to excessive on-track debris. Lewis Hamilton was forced into the grass after trying to pass Sergio Pérez, who caught some damage, so the Red Bull Racing driver went into the pit lane and swapped his front wing, dropping back into the race in last place. Following his Q1 crash the previous day, Williams engineers rebuilt the car of Logan Sargeant. However, using too many new replacement parts not from the original ones meant the car was deemed to be a third car, and Logan was given a ten-second time penalty to serve during the race. He also was required to start from the pit lane due to changes being made in parc fermé.[16] Pérez also received a five-second penalty for also infringing on safety car regulations. Albon took a new front wing.

Bottas then got hit by Sargeant and soon retired after complaining of his car's handling, granting the American yet a five-second penalty. Pérez would then hit Kevin Magnussen, taking the Danish Haas driver out of the race. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll entered the pits and did not come out, and was soon joined by Albon in retirement. Both Mercedes ran wide at Spoon Curve as George Russell attempted to overtake his teammate who subsequently pitted for fresh tyres. Russell would pit later running a one-stop strategy. There was confusion about Pérez's retirement from the race; having hit Magnussen earlier, he went into the pit lane and appeared to have retired. Several laps later he rejoined the race, was immediately called to box and then served his penalty, in a tactic designed to ensure the unserved penalty was not carried over to the following Qatar Grand Prix in the form of a grid penalty. Once the penalty was served, Pérez soon retired once again.

At this point, polesitter Max Verstappen led the field away with a domineering 16 seconds ahead of second-placed Norris. However, Piastri passed Russell for third place, meaning he was set for his first podium in his Formula One career. Soon, Charles Leclerc passed Russell for fourth. Verstappen would win the race 20 seconds ahead of Norris and Piastri, the latter receiving his first career podium and Verstappen, who had obtained the fastest lap, allowing Red Bull Racing to win their sixth Constructors' Championship, their second in a row, having outscored both Mercedes and Ferrari.

Race classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 53 1:30:58.421 1 261
2 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 53 +19.387 3 18
3 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 53 +36.494 2 15
4 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 +43.988 4 12
5 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 +49.376 7 10
6 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 53 +50.221 6 8
7 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 53 +57.659 8 6
8 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 53 +1:14.725 10 4
9 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 53 +1:19.678 14 2
10 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 53 +1:23.155 12 1
11 40 New Zealand Liam Lawson AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 52 +1 lap 11
12 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 52 +1 lap 9
13 24 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 19
14 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 18
15 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 15
Ret 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 26 Collision damage 13
Ret 2 United States Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 22 Collision damage PL
Ret 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 20 Rear wing 17
Ret 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 15 Collision damage 5
Ret 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 7 Collision damage 16
Fastest lap: Netherlands Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT) – 1:34.183 (lap 39)
Source:[15][17][18]

Notes

  • ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.[18]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
  • Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk are the 2023 World Champions.

Notes

  1. ^ Nyck de Vries was originally replaced by Daniel Ricciardo from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards.[7] Ricciardo was subsequently replaced by Liam Lawson whilst Ricciardo recovered from a broken metacarpal bone which he suffered following a crash during the second practice of the Dutch Grand Prix.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Japanese Grand Prix 2023 – F1 Race". Formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  2. ^ "2023 Japanese Grand Prix: Suzuka's Biggest Weekend Attendance Since 2006". f1destinations.com. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  3. ^ "F1 Calendar 2023". F1Calendar.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Singapore 2023 – Championship". StatsF1.com. 17 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Points permutations: Where and when Verstappen can become the 2023 F1 world champion". Formula1.com. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  6. ^ "2023 Japanese Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Breaking: Ricciardo to replace De Vries at AlphaTauri from the Hungarian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. 11 July 2023.
  8. ^ "AlphaTauri confirm Lawson will race at Monza – and until Ricciardo is ready to return to action". Formula1.com. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Unchanged nominations for Singapore, Japan and Qatar – In name at least". Pirelli.com. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Japanese Grand Prix 2023 – F1 Free Practice 1 results". Racingnews365. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Japanese Grand Prix 2023 – F1 Free Practice 2 results". Racingnews365. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  12. ^ "Japanese Grand Prix 2023 – F1 Free Practice 3 results". Racingnews365. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Verstappen hails 'fantastic' run to pole at Suzuka as Red Bull bounce back in style". Formula One Management. 23 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2023 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  15. ^ a b c "Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2023 – Starting Grid". Formula1.com. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  16. ^ Gale, Ewan (24 September 2023). "Sargeant and Williams slapped with double penalty over strange breach". RacingNews365.
  17. ^ "Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2023 – Race Result". Formula1.com. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2023 – Fastest Laps". Formula1.com. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  19. ^ a b "Japan 2023 – Championship". StatsF1.com. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
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