The most recent race that occurred last weekend was the Japanese Grand Prix on the  Suzuka circuit. This race and area are largely known for their large fan base and entertainment. The circuit itself has a lot of unique features but tends to be less challenging. Along with the Grand Prix, there are also lots of new updates that are beginning to emerge as the sport gets closer to silly season and contracts begin to either fall apart or get resigned.

The race before this had many setbacks for the Red Bull vehicles, mainly with their engineering. But the Suzuka weekend started strong for the two cars, and it was obvious they fixed any mistakes that had been made previously. For all practice sessions, the Red Bull cars were out of the league of any other vehicle. Both Max and Checo’s had fantastic practice sessions, and outstanding qualifying times earning them both seats at the front of the grid for Sunday’s race. Behind them in third was the McLaren of Lando Norris and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

The race itself had a very bumpy start. Alex Albon and Daniel Riccardo both crashed into each other on the first lap, causing a red flag. The crash was so difficult to clear that the red flag lasted 30 minutes. After the cars were able to make their way back on the track, things started to pan out as they usually do. Max had a very large lead ahead of the rest of the cars and his teammate Checo followed behind. Lando Norris was in third but soon was passed by the Ferrari which was holding a much quicker pace. The race was easy to determine after that as there are not usually big changes made in the Suzuka circuit. The end of the Japanese Grand Prix was a P1 finish for Verstappen, P2 for Perez and P3 for Sainz.

This race, like the others, is just a testament to how strong the Red Bull vehicle is. It is tiring to hear of the same driver winning, but their car is so far advanced that it continues to happen. I don’t see a future in the coming season where anyone catches up. The engineers of Red Bull have simply mastered areas that no one has dared to try and cover. So, until there is either a switch up in the grid or a change of engineers, nothing will be changing.

With teams beginning to reevaluate contracts, some driver’s careers have come into question. The big question now is who is going to fill the open Mercedes seat. Eyes were on experienced driver Fernando Alonso, but he just announced his re-signing with Aston Martin. The team has also not blocked off the idea of talking with retired driver Sebastion Vettel. They also discussed possibly even bringing in a rookie like Ollie Bearman to sit aside Russell. The Red Bull second seat also remains open. This is likely to be filled by Carlos Sainz in my opinion, who has already driven with the team before. Recently he has been seen talking with the engineers and team principal, so it is in no way a far-fetched guess.  The Ferrari and McLaren seats are both locked down for the next season and don’t look to be switching anytime soon. Alpine’s parent company Renault has stated that they are looking to sell the team in the future season. This is likely due to their current bad run. We will likely see more switching around from the drivers in the summer break, if not before. The most anticipated probably being the second seat at Red Bull. As much as no one wants to sit next to Max Verstappen, it is a position that could get a driver a lot of exposure. And there are many contenders for the position.

The next race is on April 21 in Shanghai, China!