The Japanese Grand Prix 2023 was the 16th round of the 2023 F1 season, and took place at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan, during the weekend of the 22nd to the 24th of September.
Max Verstappen won the race from the pole, followed by Lando Norris, and Oscar Piastri completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
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There were a total of 43 pit stops during the race, but only 42 which can be considered "normal", since clearly had to resolve some serious issues during his pit stop on lap Array which took the team 41 minutes, 25.913 seconds.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 1-2: 6 stops
- Laps 8-14: 11 stops
- Laps 16-18: 6 stops
- Laps 28-31: 4 stops
- Laps 34-38: 8 stops
The fastest pit stop was Charles Leclerc's, stopping the clock at 22.926 seconds during his pit stop on lap 34, while the slowest one was was Valtteri Bottas's, who stopped the clock at 55.802 seconds, 32.876 seconds slower than Leclerc, during his pit stop on lap 1.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 2 stops. Only 2 drivers tried a 1 stop, 3 drivers tried a 3 stops, and 1 driver tried a 4 stops.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
-
1Lance Stroll
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1George Russell
2 stops
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4Valtteri Bottas
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5Esteban Ocon
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3Alexander Albon
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3Yuki Tsunoda
-
-Liam Lawson
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2Fernando Alonso
-
-Kevin Magnussen
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1Oscar Piastri
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2Lewis Hamilton
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-Max Verstappen
-
-Charles Leclerc
-
1Lando Norris
-
-Carlos Sainz
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2Pierre Gasly
3 stops
-
6Guanyu Zhou
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17Logan Sargeant
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4Nico Hülkenberg
4 stops
-
14Sergio Pérez
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy lost an average of 1 positions, the ones on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.67 positions, while those on a 3 stops strategy gained 5 positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 3 stops strategy was the best option, even if Max Verstappen managed to win the race making 2 stops.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Suzuka Circuit, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There were some incidents during the race, with 5 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Alexander Albon, Logan Sargeant, Sergio Pérez, and Valtteri Bottas, all of whom retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars, and Lance Stroll, who took damage to the rear wing of the car on lap 20.
Collision damage
-
Alexander AlbonLap 26
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Logan SargeantLap 22
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Sergio PérezLap 15
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Valtteri BottasLap 7
Rear wing
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Lance StrollLap 20
Qualifying
Max Verstappen managed to get the pole position by 0.581 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:28.877. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Oscar Piastri.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 12 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 8 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.