The 2023 Japanese Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen win his 13th race of the season. His win also led to Red Bull sealing their sixth constructors’ championship title. However, the race was nothing short of chaotic, with Sergio Perez suffering two DNFs that confused fans. Charles Leclerc too, was extremely confused after the race. The Ferrari driver thought he won a podium due to the ‘double DNF’, as per a report published by Dutch GP Fans.
Sergio Perez was the Red Bull driver who suffered two DNFs in Suzuka. This was because the Mexican driver was given multiple time penalties. In the start, made contact with Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. Following this, he also made contact with Fernando Alonso while entering the pit and with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in the end.
P4 in today’s race 🇯🇵 Not much we could have done better, we maximised our potential which is what we need to do in weekends where the pace is a bit less good.
A big congrats to Red Bull for the Constructor’s Championship ! pic.twitter.com/opPJWBC2Ss— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) September 24, 2023
All these factors made Red Bull retire the number 11 car, that to twice in a single race. On the other hand, Leclerc started the race in P4 and finished the race in the same position. However, he thought he could take P3 due to a misjudged Red Bull DNF.
Charles Leclerc confused Perez’s DNF with Verstappen
The Japanese GP started with Verstappen up front followed by the two McLarens in P2 and P3. Leclerc was in P4 and behind him was Perez in P5. However, the confusion started once Perez started getting slapped with penalties.
As the Mexican driver was slapped with four penalties, Red Bull decided to retire his car. But the real confusion began when they brought the former Racing Point driver on the track yet again. Perez came into the track to serve his remaining time penalties, but DNF-ed again. This made Leclerc think that the second Red Bull retirement was Verstappen. The Monegasque driver thought that this would get him the final podium place in Japan.
A strong effort from the boys and some good points for the team 💪#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 pic.twitter.com/hex79gwc3n
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) September 24, 2023
Leclerc said to Motorsport Week as per Dutch GP Fans, “I didn’t even follow what Max did because I saw him stop before or after the safety car. I don’t remember what happened and I thought he was out of the race. So I thought I was on the podium until I looked at the scoreboard on the last lap and I was fourth.”
How did Leclerc and Co. perform this race weekend?
Hopes were high on Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz after the latter’s Singapore GP win. However, the Suzuka track didn’t turn out to be as kind to the Maranello-based outfit as Singapore was. Red Bull and McLaren ended up comprehensively outperforming Ferrari.
The Ferrari duo finished the race in P4 and P6 with Leclerc getting the better performance this weekend. Admittedly, the main reason why the Italian team failed is because of SF-23’s extremely high tire degradation.
Given how weak the Ferrari cars are when it comes to tire wear, expecting a fine result from them wouldn’t have made sense. Nevertheless, Sainz and Leclerc stand P5 and P6 in the standings and would expect to overtake Hamilton and Alonso in the future.
