Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB quotes after the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
April 7, 2024
Defending world champion Max Verstappen dominated the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka ahead of team-mate Sergio Pérez as Oracle Red Bull Racing scored their third 1–2 finish in four races to start the 2024 Formula One season.
After dominating qualifying as Suzuka swapped it’s traditional autumn date for a spring race, Verstappen and Pérez continued this form into the race to circulate untroubled out front. The Dutch racer crossed the finish line 12.535s clear of Pérez, while the Mexican was a comfortable 8.3s clear of third placed finisher Carlos Sainz of Ferrari.
Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda produced a thrilling race for his home Japanese fans, making two brave passes in Suzuka’s famed esses on his way to a points-scoring 10th place finish that backed up his top 10 qualifying pace. His team-mate Daniel Ricciardo suffered an early end to his race however after clashing with Williams driver Alex Albon on the opening lap.
Despite his DNF at the Australian Grand Prix the previous weekend, Verstappen continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship and now heads Pérez 77 points to 64, while Oracle Red Bull Racing are racing ahead in the Constructors’ Standings, leading Ferrari 141 points to 120.
QUOTES
Oracle Red Bull Racing
MAX VERSTAPPEN – 1st
“Today was simply lovely and I really enjoyed the race. We stayed out of trouble in the first lap and from there we tried to look after the tyres as much as possible. We made the right calls before we went into qualifying, which definitely helped today, and it’s very nice to come back and win after Australia. The car just got better throughout the race and although it took a few laps before I got a nice rhythm, on the second stint the car really came alive. I could push where I needed to and I could look after my tyres well, so the race went really nicely. It was a great team result the whole weekend and brilliant to score a one-two here: our third of the season. Suzuka is always a great track to go racing at and overall I’m really happy about the performance today.”
SERGIO PÉREZ – 2nd
“It was a good day for the team. We had good pace today, we just struggled with the degradation initially and didn’t get enough out of the medium due to the balance and track temperature. We suffered a little on the first stint, it compromised our race a little too much and with Lando pitting early. The second stint was better, but we had to get through a lot of traffic and that made our life a lot harder. On the hard we were back to our best, but things were a little out of sync by then. What is positive and an improvement is that when we have issues like on the first stint, we are able to solve them during the race, which is something we lacked last year. We’re in a good place and performing at a very nice level, we just need to keep progressing. My confidence is coming back and the momentum should be with me for the coming races, if I’m able to have such a consistent weekend in Suzuka it can only be positive moving forward.”
Visa Cash App RB
YUKI TSUNODA – 10th
“I’m feeling relieved. After I lost some positions on the first start, I felt a little disappointment for sure, but at the same time, I just focused on the second start. I had a good one and was able to make up a few positions. One of the big highlights was the pitstop. Our mechanics did a fantastic job, it was such a fast pitstop that allowed us to overtake two cars and that’s insane! Without that, it would’ve been a lot more difficult to score points today, so the team deserves big credit. So do the Japanese fans, they are great! Obviously, finally being able to score points in front of my home fans makes me a very happy guy. I felt confident today. I knew our straight-line speed isn’t that competitive compared to other cars, but at the same time, we know we had a lot of downforce and the only chance we had was through the esses, normally affected by downforce. It allowed me a couple good overtakes and I definitely enjoyed that. In terms of tyre management, I feel like my driving in today’s race was probably my best. I started my career here and to be able to score points here is extremely special. A big thank you to everyone at Honda, Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB who have been involved and supported me throughout my journey. I don’t feel like I scored P10 today but P1 – it’s a great feeling.”
Daniel Ricciardo – DNF
“After yesterday, where we made some steps in the right direction, I was really excited to come racing today to have a good day. In these cases, a Lap 1 incident is one of the worst things that could happen to a driver, especially as you don’t really have the chance to do anything after the massive buildup and energy used to be prepared for the race. It was a shame and an unfortunate one for all of us involved. It was a racing incident and, luckily, after some checks, both Alex and I are okay. The start of the race was really poor as Yuki and I were on medium tyres and we were struggling so much compared to the other cars on the soft compound. In Turn 2, it settled a little bit, but I still felt like I was sliding and then saw an Aston Martin on the outside of me. I was watching him, but when I was preparing to enter Turn 3, without using all the track as it was the first lap, Albon got alongside me and had a better exit from Turn 2. I didn’t see him and we touched. This is racing sometimes and is part of it; not really anyone to blame, there was just a huge difference in terms of grip out of there. I’m sorry for the team, but China is soon, so we’ll focus on that.”
JODY EGGINTON – Technical Director
“Today’s race has been a very close battle from start to finish for the final point, but we came out of it at the front of the group, thanks to what can only be described as a real team effort. Yuki drove superbly, managing his tyres well in the phases of the race when he needed to, but also showing good pace when required to maintain the gap. The pitwall adapted the strategy very well following the restart and the pit crew produced a fantastic second pit stop under pressure to give Yuki track position back in what was a very intense battle with Stroll, Bottas, Hulkenburg and Magnussen. Unfortunately, Daniel’s race never got going with his first lap incident putting him out of the race. However, even with no dry running on Friday, he has put together a solid Saturday qualifying and we’re confident that we can continue to build on this in the coming events. Everybody trackside and back in Faenza and Bicester has, and continues to, work very hard and today’s result provides further energy to keep pushing and developing the package and the team. As such, we are all looking forward to the next races.”
