F1 Dilemma: McLaren the team to beat, Verstappen the man to beat

Before heading to Round 4 in Bahrain, looking back on a riveting Suzuka, the consensus in the Formula 1 paddock is that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri still have the fastest all-round car on the grid. But McLaren can not dominate with the kind of win streak Red Bull enjoyed at the start of its all-conquering 2023 season.

Verstappen’s win underlined just how difficult it is to beat McLaren. The four-time F1 world champion had to be almost flawless in both qualifying and the race. Even then, McLaren came painfully close to snatching the lead when Norris ran over the grass at the pit lane exit while attempting to pass Verstappen.

“We really maximised the weekend,” Verstappen said, adding that he got an assist from the cool weather, which reduced tyre wear – a key area where McLaren has held an edge.

Notably, the last time anyone other than Verstappen scored a point for Red Bull was five races, four months, and three teammates ago.

Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson, and now Yuki Tsunoda have all been nowhere near Verstappen – a sign of how difficult it is for anyone but him to tame a Red Bull car considered unusually tricky to drive. Taking pole position and victory in Japan was a clear showcase of Verstappen’s skill and adaptability.

Tsunoda was “disappointed” to finish 12th at his home race, though it was still the best result for Red Bull’s second car since Perez finished 10th in Las Vegas last November.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli had a day to remember as the 18-year-old Italian became the youngest driver in F1 history to lead a Grand Prix and to set the fastest lap. The Mercedes driver, who finished sixth, said it was a “nice feeling” to lead and added: “The next goal is to do that on the only lap that matters – the final one.”

Antonelli can’t break Verstappen’s record as the youngest race winner. The Dutchman was 18 years and 228 days old when he won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Antonelli will be three days older than that when the lights go out in Bahrain on Sunday.

Antonelli remains the standout in F1’s biggest rookie class in years, though Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar is steadily improving. He finished eighth in Japan after a tough start to the year.

Ferrari at least scored some points after a double disqualification in China, but it wasn’t a race to get fans’ hearts racing. Charles Leclerc described his run to fourth place as “very boring”, while Lewis Hamilton admitted it was a “lonely race” after finishing seventh.

Beyond missing the podium, Ferrari missed out on the excitement it had hoped to create by signing seven-time world champion Hamilton. After the drama of his Sprint race win in China and the disqualification that followed, Hamilton was in damage-limitation mode at Suzuka.

Moving the Japanese Grand Prix to the spring last year, away from its traditional autumn slot, brought some benefits – notably the cherry blossoms on TV and a more compact travel schedule. But it also caused headaches.

With Japan’s rainy season coming in the summer, the grass around the track was dormant and dry. That led to grass fires, which caused a red flag in qualifying on Saturday and two more stoppages in Friday practice. Rain on Sunday helped prevent further disruption during the race.