Japanese GP Thoughts & Recap

Written By Katherine Bowe

We are officially 3 races into the new season & hopefully over the last 2 blogs that I am sure you haven’t read; you are starting to pick up a more general understanding of the sport & can relate to things a bit better. This week we are in Japan & I will be blending the old & the new. I will give you the new F1 concept & then I will give my live thoughts & feelings on both qualifying & the race. So, we get a little lesson & then you get to witness my unfiltered thoughts as a little treat

F1 101: Qualifying

For F1 qualifying, it is split into 3 different sessions. At the end of each session a select number of drivers are “out.” This is used to help determine the starting positions for the race on Sunday. This year it looks a bit different because we now have 22 drivers on the grid.

In Q1, we start with all 22 cars. This session lasts 18 minutes & the drivers can run as many times as they would like in an attempt to try & set one of the fastest 16 lap times. Normally, there will be a lull closer to the end of each session to allow any adjustments to be made & then drivers will then go out on track within the last 3 minutes to get a warm up lap & then a flying lap which is them going all out to set their fastest possible lap time. At the end of Q1, 6 drivers are knocked out of the qualifying session. They will start P17-P22.

For Q2, we take the remaining 16 drivers and this time the session is only 15 minutes. Typically, teams may switch to fresher tires or try to get out of the pits at better times to get cleaner air or a less crowded track to help set their lap times. At the end of Q2, we knock out another 6 drivers with these drivers starting P16-P11.

In Q3, our top 10 drivers are given 13 minutes to compete for a position on the front row which is P1 & P2. No drivers are knocked out but the positions will change amongst them. Depending on the session up until this point, some will try to get more out of the car & will go flat out which makes it very nerve wrecking and suspenseful. At the end of the session we will have our top 10 line up set.

Now, between the end of qualifying and the start of the race many things can change whether that is a team needing to make adjustments to the car or penalties need to be handed out, this can alter the starting grid. Due to this, drivers can either drop positions or need to start from the pit lane. But, a vast majority of the time at the of the qualifying session - this is how our drivers will line up on the grid from P1 - P22 on Sunday for lights out.

Qualifying

Live thoughts & Reactions

Q1

  • Fernando out qualifying Lance for 2 straight years is insane & honestly in any other team Lance would have been sacked by now

  • Watching Oscar on track is stressing me out for so many different reasons

  • George not liking the brakes?

  • That Audi is seeming to be very sneaky

  • There nothing better for this sport than having Ferrari be genuinely competitive

  • I could talk tires in the F1 101 but I know nobody is ready for that

  • I am enjoying the on track graphics

  • Last 2 minutes of each session & lights out are when my heart rate is at its peak every weekend

  • My king Yuki - you will return I promise

    17. Alex Albon (Williams)

    18. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

    19. Checo Perez (Cadillac)

    20. Valterri Bottas (Cadillac)

    21. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

    22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

Q2

  • The coverage of Charles visualizing a lap is cinema but its always insane to see a driver do this

  • Kimi is going to be a beautiful brand of insufferable now that he has won his first grand prix

  • “Ringing the neck of the Ferrari”

  • We need to be talking about the showing that Lindblad has had 3 races in a lot more

  • McLarens on a new set of softs (both in elimination zone with 9 min left)

  • Oscar outqualifying Lando so far this season & having not completed a single racing lap is insanity

  • Ferrari matching Mercedes pace on used tires?? We will be eating good tomorrow

  • It is in this moment I remember the race is at 1 am

  • Red Bull having to “sneak in” to Q3? Who would’ve thought.

  • George uncomfy in the car?? No rear grip? uh oh

  • If Max goes out - he will add this to his never ending list of why he needs to retire asap

  • “Hasn’t been in Q3 here since 2016 &&&&&&& won’t be”

  • Lindblad knocking out Max…… Red Bull LOOK AWAY

    11. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

    12. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

    13. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

    14. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

    15. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

    16. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

Q3

  • Charles being able to wrangle the jumpy car & them saying hes happy with it like that while everyone else is struggling so bad - Charles WDC 2026 idc idc idc

  • We also need to be talking about how well Gabi has done so far this season

  • No one can ever get me to like the HP integration for Ferrari merch & the car it actually brings me the rage power by a million dying stars

  • The few minutes of Q3 where no one is on track before flying laps to end the session is best described as the calm before the storm

  • Mercedes first out with about 3:30 to go

  • McLaren sitting at 3 & 4 with both Ferraris behind them…. I doubt it stays this way

  • Charles being last out?? Ferrari I stg if this ends bad I will denounce my Italian citizenship

  • I forgot about the weird Wolf livery for Merc - I do not enjoy this at all

  • No one is moving in position but Charles is driving like a mad man

  • you know what Charles P4 is okay Ill take it

  • Kimi going back to back okay young king

  1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

  2. George Russell (Mercedes)

  3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

  4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

  5. Lando Norris (McLaren)

  6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

  7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

  8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull

  9. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

  10. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

Race Thoughts

Live thoughts & reactions

  • I’ve said it once & I’ll repeat it until my last breath but I am never more stressed on a race weekend than I am from lights out into turn 1

  • OSCAR MAKING HIS FIRST RACE START WORTH IT

  • Absolutely electric start needed to counteract the 1:10 am start

  • What happened to the Mercs thats insane

  • this is going to be a chaotic 53 laps I can tell

  • George is going to destroy his tires

  • We can hate the new regs all we want but if we are getting these close battles we cant complain too much longer

  • Lewis is just patiently waiting for this Lando/ Kimi battle to break in his favor

  • Im sorry but Ferrari better figure out why Charles is losing time so viciously & fast

  • Lets go racing boys!!!

  • George, this man has not completed a race lap & you think you’re going to easily take the race lead from him? Get a grip.

  • the midfield has been awfully quiet & thats scary to me

  • delaying pitstops? oh goodness no

  • them bringing up the split loyalty of Italy because of the battles between Charles & Kimi is actually something we need to discuss more because this will tear the country apart if they are forced to choose

  • “That sounds relaxed” - Saying this in relation to Oscar on a team radio is saying the most obvious thing in the world if this is all it takes, I could be a color commentator

  • Lando? With the undercut?? Guys.

  • Ferrari making a solid decision with the pitstop for Charles? I am shocked by the decent strategy call. please give me time to process

  • OLLIE!

  • this safety car timing is crazy

  • omg hopefully ollie is okay that was such a hard hit

  • I can not emphasize the dislike for safety car restarts

  • Toto trying to pretend that he isn’t secretly happy that Kimi has had things break his way

  • my favorite visual is everyone weaving to warm their tires and Oscar just driving straight

  • Pierre and Max ‘having a scrap’ is the most dangerous sentence you could say

  • Lewis immediately overtaking George after the restart is going to cause George to crash out (mentally not physically crash out of the race)

  • cant find the energy to be shocked about the Stroll DNF

  • no race until Miami? Note to self to make sure I am consistent with my meds for the next few weeks

  • McLaren losing comms to the pitwall is just so on par for the weekend

  • George conceding a place? what is wrong with the car someone tell me right now

  • the nearly 8 second gap between Kimi in 1st & Oscar in 2nd is too much for my brain at 2:21 am

  • Charles & Lewis battling against each other is just beautiful racing

  • low bar has been set at Aston Martin? The bar is in hell for this team.

  • a teenage leading the WDC is actually making me feel very old. didnt need this on birthday week

Final Standings

  1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

  2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

  3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

  4. George Russell (Mercedes)

  5. Lando Norris (McLaren)

  6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

  7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

  8. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

  9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

  10. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

  11. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

  12. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)

  13. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

  14. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

  15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

  16. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

  17. Checo Perez (Cadillac)

  18. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

  19. Valterri Bottas (Cadillac)

  20. Alex Albon (Williams)

DNF. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

DNF. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

_______

& just like that we are 3 races down. We are officially done with the middle of the night races & we move toward the early morning races instead. We have the next few weeks off from F1 due to the cancelled races but not from the blog. You can’t get rid of me that easily.

On that note: Talk soon.

Katherine Bowe
Next

Chinese Grand Prix Recap