The fourth stage of the F1 season with the Japanese GP which ended with Max Verstappen's 57th career victory allows us to deduce what the values on the track could be during the World Championship
The Japanese GP, won by the cannibal Max Verstappen, brings with it many confirmations and some question marks on how the season will evolve. Primarily, Red Bull confirms that Melbourne was only an exception. In Suzuka the Austrian team returns to the throne with the third double in four seasonal matcheseliminating the problems encountered in Melbourne but without dominating as happened 6 months ago in Japan.
For the “others” championship, however, we find a very competitive Ferrari even on a track that does not exactly conform to the characteristics of the track SF-24. The extended stint on medium tyre Leclerc highlights a show of strength on the part of the Red team that was impossible to demonstrate just a few months ago. Then we have McLaren who, on the eve of the Japanese weekend, had completely different expectations, at least of being second force on the track. Instead, the Woking team was overtaken and we could even say easily by Ferrari, which demonstrates the enormous step forward made on the tire degradation front.
F1, Japanese GP: where has Mercedes gone?
The big disappointment of this start of the season is certainly the Mercedes. The team led by Toto Wolff still doesn't seem to be able to figure things out well W15. With alone 34 points in the Constructors' World Championship the “silver arrows” will have to work hard to try to get back on top. A somewhat questionable choice was certainly to put both drivers on hard tires at the restart after the red flag, but the W15 didn't seem to have any today.
Added to this is also the competitiveness of other rival teams such as McLaren e Aston Martin. For example, Lando Norris finished the race with a lead of fifteen seconds on the two Mercedes drivers and Fernando Alonso he finished in sixth place, just ahead of George Russell. The team is currently located quinto in the Constructors' World Championship, finishing in this position compared to second place in 2023 would be a huge disappointment. 
The situation of the other teams after the Japanese GP
In the center of the group we then find Aston Martin who today and as Fernando Alonso had already announced, were forced to run in defence. The radio team is also commendable Lance Stroll where he states the lack of speed and efficiency of the AMR24 in the straight. Alonso's qualification, therefore, was only an exception. Then there's the Racing Bulls towed by the home pilot Yuki Tsunodaonce again in the top ten, confirming himself as a driver, at least at the beginning of the season, who is much more mature and reliable than in previous years.
In the rear the usual brawl involving the Williams that after the accident of Albon in turn 1 he will have a lot to worry about in view of the next events given the lack of chassis available. There Haas which this time closes with Hulkenberg in eleventh place and thirteenth with Magnussen, an anonymous race for the American team. They disappoint once again Kick Sauber F1 Team con Bottas only 14th e Zhou forced to retire due to a gearbox problem. Total darkness for the Alpines, overtaken by anyone on the track with incredible ease. The next F1 event will be Chinese GP which returns to the calendar 5 years after the last time.
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