Form 1 | Tops, flops and questions after the Japanese Grand Prix

Tops.

Top n ° 1: Bottas at the top, Bottas rewarded, Bottas requinque?

Since the Azerbaijani Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas was looking for a victory: here it is finally. And she has nothing stolen. In free practice, the Finn had a faster pace than Lewis Hamilton; in qualifying as well, even if the Ferrari proved faster, the Finn managed to get ahead of his teammate again, as also quite often this season. In the race, one could legitimately wonder if, as so often this season, Valtteri Bottas was going to fade behind Lewis Hamilton. It did not happen. Thanks to a brilliant start, which recalled his first F1 victory at the Red Bull Ring in 2017, Valtteri Bottas swallowed the two Ferraris and took the lead at the end of the first lap – certainly helped by the real-false-start Sebastian Vettel, and the clash between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. Subsequently, Valtteri Bottas showed a rhythm easily superior to that of Sebastian Vettel. If her victory is fully deserved, it suffers from a discussion: Mercedes could she have left Lewis Hamilton on the track during his last stint? And if the Briton had not scored his second stop, could he have held the lead of the race? There were only ten laps at that moment … But Mercedes surely also wanted to reward the "Wingman" who needed so much trust for next year. With hindsight, this victory in 2019 surely prepared 2020, since in any case, Mercedes was already titled.

Still, this victory does not erase the great weakness of Valtteri Bottas this season, and that he has recognized himself: his lack of consistency. If Valtteri Bottas becomes anonymous again in Mexico, at the next Grand Prix, he will fall back into the ways that caused him so much damage this year. Winning is good, confirming is necessary. Will trust bring consistency?

Top # 2: Carlos Sainz, "best of others" or a little better in the final standings?

The "best of others" is definitely him. In Japan, Carlos Sainz has again confirmed his status with an authority even higher than the last Grand Prix. In qualifying, the Spaniard first managed, for the fourth time in a row, to beat his team-mate Lando Norris, who had the disadvantage of almost discovering the thorny Japanese route. In the race, Carlos Sainz took an excellent flight and even rose to the height of Lewis Hamilton, before logically giving way. He still managed to swallow Alexander Albon (like Lando Norris) and kept the Red Bull driver in good spirits for much of the race. His pace, finally, in his second stint, was eminently good … which even allowed him to contain the furious return of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc (even if Alexander Albon finish before him). Carlos Sainz is the only driver in the middle grid to have finished in the winner's round (this was not the case of Charles Leclerc by the way). He loses only 2 points on Alexander Albon and regains 6 at once on Pierre Gasly: ​​in other words, the goal of the 6th final place is more than ever in range. Chapeau!

Top # 3: Gasly shines Honda and puts out Kvyat

Race after race, Pierre Gasly confirms that he is gaining power at the wheel of the Toro Rosso he has found since Spa. On a Suzuka track that he knows very well, since he also paced in Super Formula, the French beat, and we could even say crushed, Daniil Kvyat in qualifying: 8 tenths ahead of his teammate in Q2, that's a hit for one, and spot for the other. Before his first stop, the Normand was even 6th. Driving a Toro Rosso intrinsically slower than a Renault, a McLaren or even a Racing Point, he managed to fight like a nice devil in the pack. His resistance against Sergio Perez, in the last lap, was certainly a little lively, but the Mexican was not free of any reproach either. Blanched by the FIA, Pierre Gasly has brought back 4 points after a successful weekend, while his teammate was under the extinguisher.

The flops

Flop # 1: Red Bull-Honda: no man's land

Where did the "Step" What did Red Bull and Honda want to do at this weekend at home in Japan? We are still looking for … Since several Grands Prix, the house pilots had accumulated the penalties to prepare this meeting; a new fuel had been introduced; and the settings of the power unit needed to be refined.

Las! In qualifying and racing, Red Bull certainly did not have the pace of Ferrari and Mercedes. In qualifying, Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon achieved exactly the same time, which is significant, but especially half a second from Lewis Hamilton and 8 tenths from Sebastian Vettel, which is even more so. And to say that Helmut Marko ensured that Red Bull would be at least at the level of Valtteri Bottas … In the race, the image given was even more embarrassing. On the one hand, Max Verstappen quickly gave up, after a collision with Charles Leclerc, as discouraged and disappointed in view of the loss of support suffered by his Red Bull (nearly 25%). The picture was very bad … On the other side, for the only Red Bull remained on track, the race was laborious: Alexander Albon struggled to get rid of both McLaren, and finished almost 50 seconds of the winner … A chasm . For the end of the season, it is worrying; for next season too. Does Max Verstappen have questions about his future in Milton Keynes?

Flop n ° 2: Stolen departure, checkered flags, incident with Leclerc … The FIA ​​gives the impression of being out of date

The FIA ​​has taken some steps in the carpet in Japan. Not to have canceled the day of Saturday: this decision must be welcomed and supported, in particular to have been announced sufficiently in advance so that the teams organize themselves in function, by protecting for example their stands. But three other incidents or events tainted the weekend of Michael Masi, the race director of the FIA. First there was the matter of the stolen departure of Sebastian Vettel: the Ferrari moved well before the red flags, as the pictures show … A survey was logically open, and everyone was waiting for a drive-through, since Kimi RaikkOnen received a penalty for such an offense at the last Grand Prix in Russia. But what was not the general surprise, when it was learned that Sebastian Vettel would finally be whitened! The reason ? The truth of the sensors is not that of images: Sebastian Vettel, in truth, would have remained within the tolerance limit of these electronic systems. The image appears counter-intuitive. And the spectators have reason to feel taken aback. The decision can be technically justified, it is not in terms of communication, constancy or pedagogy – it is the lack of consistency that is the first criticism made to the commissioners. "In this matter, it must be white or black" rightly commented Loïc Duval on this subject.

A second incident, even more embarrassing, and still related to electronics, was also talked about: the checkered flag was posted (electronically) to the teams on the 52nd lap and not the 53rd. A bug related perhaps to reboot of the system after the typhoon would be the origin of this mistake … which was far from symbolic, because it allowed Sergio Perez, injured in the last lap, to finally save 2 points. A second blunder of this type in two years, that's a lot!

Finally, there was an imbroglio, during the first rounds, around the front wing of Charles Leclerc. After his clash with Max Verstappen, the Ferrari driver was asked to come to the pits by the race management … but did not comply, probably not to concede a strategic defeat in the first few laps, and while the loss of support suffered was not considerable. If the decision was justified on the sporting plan, on the other hand, on the other hand, considerable risks were taken since the front wing of Charles Leclerc detached itself to tear off the mirror of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton which followed closely. We can imagine the scandal if the front wing had gone elsewhere … The McLaren Lando Norris also collected debris from the Ferrari, which caused the legitimate anger of Andreas Seidl, the director of the team McLaren F1 … Michael Masi defended himself, assuring that Ferrari had not kept his promise. But the question arises: instead of talking to the Ferrari wall, should not it have been simply to intimidate, without conciliation or mediation, by an orange round flag on a black background, the order to Ferrari to recall the Monegasque? The delay taken by the FIA ​​was very embarrassing …

Flop n ° 3: Renault's rhythm in qualifying despite the evolutions

Make no mistake, the Renault race was superb: starting from a long way backwards, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg made great comebacks to get back into the points, and even to 6th place for Daniel Ricciardo. However, as Cyril Abiteboul admitted, after the race, it was the wind that somewhat masked the aerodynamic weakness of Renault on this circuit. The real pure performance of the French cars is perhaps more reflected in the result of the qualifications, disastrous: elimination in Q1 for Daniel Ricciardo, and 15th place for Nico Hulkenberg. And this, despite the contribution of significant evolutions, especially at the level of the front wing. Renault has shown that it has lost track of the development race, against McLaren and even against Racing Point. Nothing very promising for 2020.

We want to see…

The unusual format of this Grand Prix, an idea to keep anyway?

And if the format of the Grand Prix evolved taking inspiration from this Japanese weekend? The cancellation of Saturday, legitimate because of the arrival of the typhoon, has indeed resulted in some curiosities. The EL2s were particularly animated, not only because the teams knew that it would be necessary to drive twice more to compensate the loss of the EL3, but also because in the event of a cancellation of the qualifications (on Sunday morning), the times EL2s would have been used to establish the starting grid. As a result, Friday was more condensed, rhythmic and exciting than usual … and a day's driving was saved.

"It's a good format" smiled Romain Grosjean, the director of the GPDA. "If we ran only on Saturday and Sunday, with EL1 on Saturday morning, and EL2 in the afternoon – but using those EL2s to set the grid – that would be good. You have to push, you have a good amount of tires, you can always refine the settings of the car … and there is curfew at night, so the mechanics will not go to bed too late. " The typhoon, an unexpected box of ideas for the FIA ​​and the FOM? Ross Brawn, the motorsports manager for Liberty Media, has dismissed this idea for the moment, but it is not impossible to see this debate resurrect …