F1 2024 - Round 4 - Suzuka Japan.

rameire

The Japanese Grand Prix.

April 5th

Practice 1 - 3.30am

Practice 2 - 7.00am

April 6th

Practice 3 - 3.30am

Qualifying - 7.00am

April 7th

Race - 6.00am

rameire

Just looking at expected weather for Suzuka.

It's like good ole Irish April weather.

Could be dry, could be wet or even moist.

Temps anything from 2c to 20c.

It all depends on the weather gods or gremlins.

rameire

In addition the race in Suzuka has changed from later in the season usually September to April.

So from the unsettled stormy season to the unsettled wet season.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121963730#Comment_121963730

Lol maybe they should try go for in between them two seasons next time.

Frank Bullitt

Another Saturday night race for me, and again in China.

These truly are strange times.

Andrew76

Will miss FP1 and FP3 at those times, will get up early for the rest though.

Some fun banter between Max and GP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yvlfh7vYQA

Ohmeha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121963730#Comment_121963730

Weather on average is milder and more dry in April so it's a definite factor in moving the race forward on the calendar according to this Reuters article even along with the cheap Yen, looking unlucky for them that the event may be more of the same of worst of the Autumn weather seen in some years at Suzuka but sure who doesn't love the thought of the drama of a proper wet race once half of it isn't stuck behind a safety car

https://www.reuters.com/sports/formula1/japan-f1-host-hopes-calendar-shift-weak-yen-will-boost-foreign-fans-2024-04-03/

flazio

Well Formula E were in Tokyo last week and the weather was really wet on set up days but overcast and dry on race day.

Logan Sergeant with an off. Williams repaired the chassis that Albon damaged in Melbourne and Sergeant is using that one this weekend. There still isn't any spare so both Williams drivers would want to take it handy and get through the weekend in 1 piece

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121977899#Comment_121977899

Sargent doing his best to make sure his car is not the spare for Albon again if he goes off and wrecks his car lol.

AMKC

So I see FP2 was a wetter session and only 13 drivers went out with only 7 of them setting a time that made it onto the time sheets. Hamilton was the first driver out after 15minutes of no one out. Verstappen or Sergio did not go out neither did the Ferraris and only one Mclaren did Lando I think.

Jordan 199

Charles Leclerc will be wearing a Jules Bianchi tribute helmet:

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121980425#Comment_121980425

Yep 10 years this weekend since Jules died on this track.

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121977899#Comment_121977899

Apparently they won't have a new chassis until Miami and Sargeant made shite of all the new parts too so he's back to the old set up

markw7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121978901#Comment_121978901

One would have to wonder how even Sargeant himself thinks he deserves a seat in Formula 1, maybe he's JustAPoorDreamer...

Andrew76

Morning folks. 😁

This is it

🥱.

Andrew76

Ted Kravitz not wearing shorts? I’m shocked. 😂

So Ferrari struggling a little bit with the warmer temps apparently and Merc doing better than expected. Perez closer to Max too I see but let’s see what happens when the pressure is on.

Itssoeasy

morning gents. And morning storm Kathleen here in cork. She’s blowing fairly well.

Andrew76

Lovely first lap from Max.

Itssoeasy

Dany ric pulls a good lap out of the bag. The leClerc on board showed how class Suzuka is as a F1 track.

Andrew76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121982638#Comment_121982638

Yeah the onboard is great, fantastic track. Fantastic lap from Bottas too! Alonso ended the session in second, Stroll 16th and out.

ctrl-alt-delete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121982643#Comment_121982643

Upgrades in Alonsos car looking good, they broke the curfew according to sky to fit them last night.

They didn't have time to upgrade the other car as it is taking quite some time to replace Stroll.

PsychoPete

The Aston seat is wasted on Stroll

PsychoPete

Mighty lap from Yuki, the crowd will love that

Andrew76

Yeah just pipped Ricciardo to grab the last spot for Q3.

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121982668#Comment_121982668

He's really stepped up his game

This is it

Crofty struggling to keep tabs on who's who. Great lap from Norris. Pressure on LeClerc now with only one lap

Andrew76

Max P1 and Sergio only .066 behind, well done with that result. Lando best of the rest.
Danny Ric can say goodbye to any hope of driving for the top team.

Jordan 199

Ocon making it into Q2 😎

thefa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121982700#Comment_121982700

Missed quali. Was Perez on it today or was the Red Bull an absolute rocket and Verstappen’s flying lap was slightly below his standards?

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121983152#Comment_121983152

A bit of both. Perez was on it and Verstappens last lap was not as good as his lap before. His last sector was a bit slower but he still went faster overall. Not a bad session.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121982700#Comment_121982700

id say danny ric is fcuked tbh

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121982700#Comment_121982700

Ricciardo spinning in practice and the camera just cuts to Lawson and I think they done the same in qualifying when he got knocked out. He looks and sounds defeated

dulpit

Interesting quali. Perez is very much on it, which is good to see. Ricciardo was very close to Yuki but the problem was Yuki was p10, so that mean Ricciardo was out in q2.

Big issues coming to light with the 2nd Williams seat, 2nd Aston seat and the 2nd Sauber seat. In all cases the 2nd driver is a waste of a seat. Can't see Sauber or Aston changing mid-season, but there's a chance with Williams with Sargent already p21 in a 20 driver championship (again...)

Andrew76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121983174#Comment_121983174

Pretty sure Max went slightly faster again on his second run (only talking 0.04s) so both of his laps were good enough for pole. Think they said only both Red Bulls went faster on their second runs, Perez was savage around Spoon tbf to him.

Andrew76

Yep, dead man walking Danny is unfortunately.

the-race.com have a decent article about the Merc second seat - sounds like Toto isn’t bothered if he misses out on Sainz or Alonso - if he can’t get Max (which is most likely) then he’s happy to wait to later in the year to see how Antonelli does in the F1 tests - they’ll put him in the ‘21 Merc and then the ‘22. If the kid does well then put him in beside George for 2025 since they’ll probably not be challenging for that title either - give him a years worth of F1 experience before the rules change in 2026. Bearman did very well as a last minute replacement for Sainz so if Kimi is better again then he’ll be fine goes the logic. Makes some sense tbh.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121983737#Comment_121983737

"Pretty sure Max went slightly faster again on his second run (only talking 0.04s)"

Yes I said that

Andrew76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121985456#Comment_121985456

”Verstappens last lap was not as good as his lap before. His last sector was a bit slower but he still went faster overall”

So you did, kind of. Your second sentence completely contradicts your first. His lap was as good as his lap before, better in fact. 😉

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121985956#Comment_121985956

Not at all because his lap before his last lap was a better executed lap but just not as fast as his last lap. His last lap was only faster in the first two sectors and slower in the third sector but it did not matter as overall it was faster.

Widdensushi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121986048#Comment_121986048

Again emphasizes the superiority of the car ,, doesn't need a perfect lap for pole ,car probably turned down,Perez qualified second,,, might be a competition for second

ctrl-alt-delete

Goodmorning to anyone up for this one…

Andrew76

Morning folks. Anyone else awake out there? 🙂

rameire

Hope it's a good one. Looks warm and dry so far.

Andrew76

Yeah warmer temps and higher tyre deg they are saying so might spice things up a bit.

ctrl-alt-delete

Perez getting talked up pre-race on the way to the grid. Watch him go backwards now...

ctrl-alt-delete

Safety car incoming.

Williams and an RB.

It is a red flag

Andrew76

Albon and Ric out, red flag.

Jacovs

Ricciardo and Albon out at turn 2.

Longing

This is going to take awhile to get going again.

ctrl-alt-delete

Racing incident, Albon had nowhere to go.

Onboards would give RIC more blame.

Both might be close to giving up in F1, RIC & Williams that is.

flazio

Halo saving Albon from a massive headache.