| 2024 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 4 of 24 in the2024 Formula One World Championship
| |||||
 Layout of the Suzuka International Racing Course | |||||
| Race details[1] | |||||
| Date | 7 April 2024 | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 MSC CruisesJapanese Grand Prix 2024 | ||||
| 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 | 229,000[2] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | ||||
| Time | 1:28.197 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | |||
| Time | 1:33.706 on lap 50 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | ||||
| Second | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2024 Japanese Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 MSC Cruises Japanese Grand Prix 2024) was aFormula One motor race held on 7 April 2024 at theSuzuka International Racing Course inSuzuka,Japan. It was the fourth round of the2024 Formula One World Championship. It was won by polesitterMax Verstappen driving forRed Bull, with teammateSergio Pérez andFerrari driverCarlos Sainz Jr. behind him.Yuki Tsunoda ofRB scored a point, the firstJapanese Formula One driver to do so at their home race since the2012 edition of the race.
The event was held at theSuzuka International Racing Course inSuzuka for the 34th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 5–7 April. The Grand Prix was the fourth round of the2024 Formula One World Championship and the 49th running of theJapanese Grand Prix.[3] The edition was the first time that the event was held as an early-season round, a departure from its traditional schedule between September and November.[4] The move was part of Formula One's regionalisation efforts, which put the Japanese Grand Prix between theAustralian andChinese Grands Prix.[5]
Ahead of the weekend race,Max Verstappen led theDrivers' Championship with 51 points, four points fromCharles Leclerc in second, and five from his teammateSergio Pérez in third.Red Bull Racing led theConstructors' Championship with 97 points, separated fromFerrari by 4 points and fromMcLaren by 42, in second and third, respectively.[6]
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[7]Ayumu Iwasa made his Formula One practice debut forRB, driving in place ofDaniel Ricciardo in the first free practice session.[8]
Tyre supplierPirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (the three hardest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.[9]
Threefree practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 5 April 2024, at 11:30 local time (UTC+9), and was topped byRed Bull driverMax Verstappen ahead of his teammateSergio Pérez andCarlos Sainz Jr. ofFerrari.[10] The session wasred-flagged afterWilliams'Logan Sargeant lost control of his car and hit the wall, breaking his front wing. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 15:00 local time, and was topped byMclaren'sOscar Piastri ahead ofLewis Hamilton ofMercedes andFerrari driverCharles Leclerc.[10] The damp conditions prevented most drivers from completing a run, and only five set competitive lap times.[11] The third free practice session was held on 6 April 2024, at 11:30 local time, and was topped by Verstappen ahead of his teammate Pérez andGeorge Russell of Mercedes.[12][13]
Qualifying was held on 6 April 2024, at 15:00 local time (UTC+9).[12]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Final grid | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |||||
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:28.866 | 1:28.740 | 1:28.197 | 1 |
| 2 | 11 |  Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:29.303 | 1:28.752 | 1:28.263 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |  Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:29.536 | 1:28.940 | 1:28.489 | 3 |
| 4 | 55 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:29.513 | 1:29.099 | 1:28.682 | 4 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston MartinAramco-Mercedes | 1:29.254 | 1:29.082 | 1:28.686 | 5 |
| 6 | 81 |  Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:29.425 | 1:29.148 | 1:28.760 | 6 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:29.661 | 1:28.887 | 1:28.766 | 7 |
| 8 | 16 |  Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:29.338 | 1:29.196 | 1:28.786 | 8 |
| 9 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:29.799 | 1:29.140 | 1:29.008 | 9 |
| 10 | 22 |  Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:29.775 | 1:29.417 | 1:29.413 | 10 |
| 11 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:29.727 | 1:29.472 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 27 |  Nico Hülkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1:29.821 | 1:29.494 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 77 |  Valtteri Bottas | KickSauber-Ferrari | 1:29.602 | 1:29.593 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 23 |  Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1:29.963 | 1:29.714 | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 31 |  Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1:29.811 | 1:29.816 | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 18 |  Lance Stroll | Aston MartinAramco-Mercedes | 1:30.024 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1:30.119 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 20 |  Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:30.131 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 2 |  Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1:30.139 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 24 |  Zhou Guanyu | KickSauber-Ferrari | 1:30.143 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 107% time: 1:35.086 | |||||||
| Source:[14][15] | |||||||
The race was held on 7 April 2024, at 14:00 local time (UTC+9), and was run for 53 laps.[12]
PolesitterMax Verstappen, driving forRed Bull, led the race into the first corner before a crash involvingDaniel Ricciardo andAlexander Albon neutralised the race for over twenty minutes while the tyre barriers had to be repaired.[16] Following thered flag period, the race restarted with a standing start on lap three. On lap 12,Sauber driverZhou Guanyu retired due to a gearbox problem, the third retirement of the race. Verstappen remained unchallenged, eventually making his pit stop on lap 16. This handed the lead of the race toFerrari'sCharles Leclerc, but Verstappen, who had a significant tyre advantage, closed the gap to Leclerc and by lap 20 retook the lead.[16] By that point, it became clear[original research?] that Leclerc was performing a one-stop strategy on his medium tyres, and swapped to hards by the end of lap 26. Leclerc's one-stop strategy would prove effective, while theMercedes drivers ofLewis Hamilton andGeorge Russell, who had swapped to hards during the red-flag period, were struggling with tyre degradation.[16] A brief yellow flag period was observed on lap 42, afterLogan Sargeant in the sole remainingWilliams drove into the gravel at turn 9, but was able to reverse back on track and continue.[17] As the race entered its final laps,Carlos Sainz Jr. overtook Leclerc for the last spot on the podium behind Verstappen's teammateSergio Pérez.[16] Russell attempted to overtakeOscar Piastri at turn 16 in the closing laps; Piastri temporarily maintained his position, but on the final lap Russell successfully overtook Piastri to finish in seventh.[17]Yuki Tsunoda of RB scored one point in tenth, the firstJapanese Formula One driver to score a point at their home race sinceKamui Kobayashi's podium at the2012 Japanese Grand Prix.[18]
Notes
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| Previous race: 2024 Australian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2024 season | Next race: 2024 Chinese Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2023 Japanese Grand Prix | Japanese Grand Prix | Next race: 2025 Japanese Grand Prix |
