Race 17: 2023 Japanese GP [Suzuka]

[airshifter]

Not really much of a race overall at Suzuka, but it's such an interesting track that it doesn't take massive battles to make it fun to watch.

As expected Max on top in the RB. I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed myself, he joked about winning by 20 seconds and only won by 19.3 seconds. Rather sloppy for a two time WDC if you ask me. Hopefully this will put to rest the TD speculation about it being the "cheating" RB cars.

Checo was a mess, I'm shocked that RB are still talking as if Checo is a sure thing for next year. With RB pull and money, I think they have more options compared to most teams, and I'm surprised they aren't taking one of them yet. I'd go so far as to say that drivers RB has disposed of might do better back in the car at this point. Sergio has just been so inconsistent it makes no sense to keep him long term. At the rate he's going Lewis might end up 2nd in the WDC, but in a much lesser car.

Both Ferrari and Merc kind of screwed their strategy some, but it more or less evened out in the end. George on Lewis was sloppy at best by both drivers IMHO, and shows that while Toto is away from the pit wall they will push limits more. But then when Lewis was obviously faster later in the race, they let George argue it a bit long and cost Lewis time in the end. They need to make decisive decisions to swap or not, not negotiate them as the race goes on. As for Ferrari, rather than react they left Carlos out to hang, and the undercut just got more painful without a reaction. Had they reacted at the time he might have stayed out of touch of Lewis.

Piastri got lucky with the VSC timing, otherwise he might have fallen back into the clutches of Charles and Lewis, maybe even Carlos. He might have been able to up pace under pressure, and it worked out great for McLaren in the end.

Logan seems to be a mess, and is not coming to grips with F1. I think he will end up with this being his last season, if he makes it to the end.



Alonso had a mighty start, but it faded. It's interesting that AM have been nailed with wing issues even before the recent TD, and had a car DNF with wing problems, not to mention relative lack of pace from Fred the last couple of races, but nobody wants to share theories on AM being impacted by the TD. They even ran extra sensors on the rear, so they are obviously worried about it, and we know they have already had one rear wing design made illegal, along with one Merc front wing design. Yet people want to point at RB, who is not falling off the pace while some others seem to be.


The largest qually margin in two decades at Suzuka. I think that clarifies what car wasn't impacted by the TD.

[Used to be Starter]

I hoped he would at least perform as well as Rossi. He has squandered his chances and had too many crashes which has cost the team dearly. It is too late for him to turn things around as the damage is done. The question now is who would replace him. My money is on Liam Lawson.

Good bet.

[Used to be Starter]

Logan seems to be a mess, and is not coming to grips with F1. I think he will end up with this being his last season, if he makes it to the end.

He came out of F2 way too soon and has been unable to get his head in a good place. He is now his own worst enemy. I'm afraid his career is already done - at least at the top levels of the sport. There are a couple of young American drivers in IndyCar who it seems would have been better choices for the seat.

[gm99]

Has Felipe had track time to show what he can do?

A couple of FP1 outings, nothing spectacular.
Personally, I think Lawson would be the better choice from Williams' perspective, but I'm not sure Red Bull really want him to go there.
Also, for Lawson there is a reasonable chance he might get another call-up from AT or even RBR next season. The doctor may well finally lose his patience with either Perez or Tsunoda, or Ricciardo may not come back strongly from his injury.

[gm99]

He came out of F2 way too soon and has been unable to get his head in a good place. He is now his own worst enemy. I'm afraid his career is already done - at least at the top levels of the sport. There are a couple of young American drivers in IndyCar who it seems would have been better choices for the seat.

Would they have been eligible for a super license, though? We already know Colton Herta, who finished tenth in IndyCar in 2022, wasn't. The only Americans who finished ahead of him were Newgarden and Rossi, who at 32 and 31 are not really young. Kirkwood and Ferrucci would almost certainly not have met the criteria for a superlicense in 2023 (and I'd better not mention Sting Ray Robb )

[Used to be Starter]

Would they have been eligible for a super license, though? We already know Colton Herta, who finished tenth in IndyCar in 2022, wasn't. The only Americans who finished ahead of him were Newgarden and Rossi, who at 32 and 31 are not really young. Kirkwood and Ferrucci would almost certainly not have met the criteria for a superlicense in 2023 (and I'd better not mention Sting Ray Robb )

You are correct about the super license. That's been a hurdle for American drivers for years. IndyCar is the top road racing series in the US, is very competitive, yet isn't given as much consideration as F2, F3 or some of the other lesser series around the world. If you are a young American driver it's IndyCar, NASCAR or go home.

[Nitrodaze]

A couple of FP1 outings, nothing spectacular.
Personally, I think Lawson would be the better choice from Williams' perspective, but I'm not sure Red Bull really want him to go there.
Also, for Lawson there is a reasonable chance he might get another call-up from AT or even RBR next season. The doctor may well finally lose his patience with either Perez or Tsunoda, or Ricciardo may not come back strongly from his injury.

I think Vowe has many options to choose from. There is Mike Schumacher and Nick De Vries also. They even have the option of trying to get Vettel back on the grid to help them develop the car further. Not to mention some very good drivers racing in formula-e and Indy-car.

Personally, l would think experience coupled with great speed should form their criteria for the second seat. To ensure whomever they choose can help them push the development of the car further up the grid. After all, they are no longer a backmarker team as of this season.