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My only beef with this race is that the DRS zone kills any temptation for Hail Mary moves at the chicane. That used to the be the main hot spot for all sorts of desperation, now it's just a place to be very safe and disciplined to line up a DRS-assisted tow on S/F. I'm glad Russell at least tried something of the sort.

Yeah pretty much this. He was placing his car in a gap that was always going to close, and if anything was opening himself up to be taken on the inside anyway regardless of contact. Was he hoping to dive bomb Ricciardo into the next corner?

Good race.

Too easy for Max, but at least Ferrari was decent and stays in the hunt if by some miracle they might catch up this season.

perhaps if they forbid drivers to practice starts and make them go on cold tires this could bring more excitement to the start

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Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now

Ricciardo had a compromised exit out of T2 and Albon was likely hoping to use his momentum to hang it around the outside of T3 and have the inside line to complete the pass in T4. After looking at the replay a few times, it was a bit of an optimistic move by Albon and he should've known the risk he was putting himself into. Having said that, Ricciardo (as do all other drivers) ought to have known better than to meander across the track on the opening corners of a race when everyone's bunched up.

Overall, the racing wasn't too bad, it was far from a snoozefest but no one's going to remember this race beyond this season.
Most of the overtakes seemed to be by drivers on fresh tires against drivers who were at the end of their stint? Coupled with the DRS assist, most passes felt like a foregone conclusion. Seemed like there were only a handful of legitimate passes/battles for position.

I must admit I was distracted by my son who wanted to play instead of watching a race, so I couldn´t pay attention to the details. I saw lots of passing happened, yet the race seemed dull and long. I can´t explain why.

after this less than ideal race is time for our stats

.57th win by Max Verstappen
-3rd in a row in Suzuka (equals Michael Schumacher record)
-30th win from pole for Verstappen (rank 4th overall)

.Max Verstappen is the 4th driver to reach 3000 laps on the lead

.1st time in history that season kicks off with 4 consecutive one-two finishes with different teams (2019 had 5 consecutive one-twos with Mercedes, Ferrari holds the record from 1952 with 6, not counting Indy 500)

.6th place finish for Alonso is his best finish at Suzuka since 2013
.9th place finish for Hamilton is the first time since 2014 he finishes at Suzuka outside top 5

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Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now