Time On Track: Episode 17 – Japan

Time On Track looks to Japan this week for round 17 of the Formula 1 season at the famous Suzuka Circuit. Red Bull Verstappen returned to form this week, taking a dominant victory and bagging the World Constructor Championship for the team in the process, despite Sergio Perez’s most forgettable race of the season. Some strange team orders were the subject of plenty of discussion, including one call that saw a last lap swap between the Alpine drivers, and another that played out between the Mercedes cars looking to keep a Ferrari at bay. Sergio’s strange race also has us wondering if Lewis Hamilton might find himself within striking distance of P2 in the Drivers Championship before the season is out.

As the season heads into its final stages, we begin to consider what kind of changes we might see from the teams going into 2024, both from an engineering standpoint, and from a driver standpoint. The grid is beginning to take shape so we’ll jump into that discussion in the coming weeks, and what our expectations might be for each.

We’ll return in early October after a short break for round 18 taking place in Qatar October 8th, which will set up the final stretch that includes 2 races in the US, including the all-new Las Vegas circuit.