Following their first defeat of the season, Red Bull and Max Verstappen landed in Japan with hopes of putting in yet another dominant display. While the two-time defending world champion led the field during both practice sessions on Friday, he admits to Ferrari and McLaren being in close competition. Nonetheless, in an interview after FP2, Verstappen claimed that he knows what needs to be done to avoid any surprises in Suzuka.
Since the Italian GP, the Ferrari cars have enjoyed a surge in performance and have been one of the fastest teams on the grid. As for McLaren, the Woking-based team has upgraded their car for the Suzuka race. As such, both teams look well-equipped to take the fight to Red Bull on race day, and the results of FP1 and FP2 are evidence of the same. Despite the track layout in Suzuka being tricky, Verstappen is still the favorite to win the race.
Max Verstappen knows how to brush aside any competition from Ferrari and McLaren
During both practice sessions in Suzuka, Verstappen led the grid with impressive lap timings. FP1 saw him top the charts with a time of 1:31.647, while in FP2, his time improved to 1:30.688 as he completed the ‘Friday Double.’ After FP2, the Dutchman stopped to have a word about his performances in the sessions with F1 TV. While here, Verstappen also shared his thoughts on facing tough competition from Ferrari and McLaren.
“It looks like it’s all a bit tight behind me. Between Ferrari, McLaren are close. I think at the end of the day, we just focus on ourselves and try to optimise our performance. If we do that, then I’m confident that we fight for pole.”
Once the Suzuka race ends, Red Bull’s outright dominance shown this season could also come to an end. Given recent developments and the team’s commanding lead over the rest of the field, there is a possibility that other teams step up to take a win or two, as Red Bull shift their focus for the 2024 season.
Red Bull might not be the most dominant team for the rest of the season
Following their cost cap breach in 2021, Red Bull faced a 10% time reduction in wind-tunnel for this season. Thus, they do not have much scope for improvement left this season. With six races remaining after the Japanese GP, Red Bull won’t have as much time to work on their car in the wind tunnel as others. Hence, the popular belief is that they will shift focus and start working on the RB20 in hopes of recreating a similar level of dominance in 2024.
🚨 Red Bull’s Singapore update will be a minor one
After this update the sole focus will shift to the development of RB20.
[@formu1a__uno] #F1 pic.twitter.com/Ul1P14DZ4a
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) September 5, 2023
The final few races of the season will be tricky due to some races, such as the inaugural Las Vegas GP. Uncertain of what the race might have in store for them, all the teams will head to these races, relatively evenly matched with teams ranked 4th to 2nd, hoping to gain maximum points to further their cause of becoming the second-best team this season. Even though Red Bull and Max Verstappen might not enjoy a strong ending to the season, there is nothing that can stop him and his team from picking up the championship in each of their disciplines.
