2024 F1 Japanese Grand Prix Preview: Will Red Bull's dominance be restored?

The 2024 F1 World Championship kicks off this weekend with the fourth round of the Japanese Grand Prix at the legendary Suzuka Circuit.

This race is normally held later in the season, but due to logistical considerations, it has been moved up to a nearby race (the previous Australian GP and the upcoming Chinese GP). The weather at this time of the year varies from team to team and will no doubt affect track conditions. The current forecast calls for cool but sunny conditions for the weekend.

Suzuka Circuit is famous for its figure-eight layout, making it the only F1 track that runs both clockwise and counter-clockwise. Designed by Dutch car and race track designer John Hugenholtz in 1962, the Suzuka Circuit was originally used as a test track for Honda, and was converted to an F1 track beginning with the 1987 season. [The 3.6-mile-long Suzuka Circuit has all kinds of corners: high-speed corners, flowing link corners, curved corners, chicanes, hairpins, and more. However, there are not so many straights, and there is only one DRS zone.

There are also few heavy braking zones or run-off areas, making the course a real challenge for the drivers. The narrow width also makes overtaking difficult. The best strategy is to find a rhythm and get the aero balance right.

The track surface is also the roughest and most abrasive of the year, which means that tire wear and degradation will be severe. As a result, Pirelli has named the hardest compounds for this weekend: white hard for C1, yellow medium for C2, and red soft for C3.

Reigning World Champion and current points leader Max Verstappen retired from the previous race in Australia due to mechanical problems. In Friday's shortened free practice session due to heavy rain, Red Bull's Verstappen set the pace early on, followed by teammate Sergio Perez, but rival teams, especially Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz AMG, were much closer than in previous free sessions.

Going into Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race, Verstappen leads the 2024 drivers' championship with 51 points. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is second with 47 points and Perez is third with 46 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull leads with 97 points, followed by Ferrari with 93 points and McLaren with 55 points. Last year's Japanese GP winner was Red Bull's Verstappen.