Japanese GP practice/qualifying recap

Day 1 

FP1

The highlight of FP1 was Logan Sargeant, Driving the repaired chassis from Albons wrecked car in Australia; Logan had a hard crash during FP1, resulting in a red flag for the session.

Top 5: Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton

FP2

The spring rain of Suzuka started right before FP2, limiting the teams from track time. The entire session was mostly rained out. Only thirteen of the twenty cars attempted to get laps in, and only seven clocked a time.

Top 5: LeClerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Stroll, Alonso 

Day 2

Practice (FP3)

Top5: Verstappen, Perez, Russell, Hamilton, Alonso finished out the top 5

Qualifying

This was an exciting qualifying session; many teams showed potential for reaching Q2.

Q1

Esteban Ocon put together a great lap in the Alpine, punching his ticket to Q2. Nico Hulkenberg put together a great lap, continuing the multi-race streak of a Haas breaking out of Q1.

Zhou, Sageant, Magnussen, Gasly, and Stroll were eliminated in the first session.

Q2 

Tsunoda bumped his teammate by five-hundredths of a second for a Q3 appearance at this home race.

Ocon, Albon, Bottas, Hulkenberg, and Daniel Ricciardo Were eliminated in Q2.

Verstappen, Perez, Hamilton, Alonso, and Sainz topped the charts in Q2.

Q3

Max setting pole and a Red Bull front-row lockout. The McLarens challenged behind, with Norris following the Red Bulls. Sainz just beat out Alonso for 4th and 5th on the grid. Piastri followed the Aston Martin, Hamilton, LeClerc, Russell, and Tsunoda, finished out the top 10.

Starting Grid:

(1) Verstappen (2)Perez

(3) Norris (4)Sainz

(5)Alonso (6)Piastri

(7)Hamilton (8)LeClerc

(9)Russell (10)Tsunoda

(11)Ricciardo (12)Hulkenberg

(13)Bottas (14)Albon

(15)Ocon (16)Stroll

(17)Gasly (18)Magnussen

(19)Sargeant (20)Guanyu

Race Predictions:  Unless we see some first-lap extracurriculars or if there is a mechanical problem, Max will more than likely run away from the rest of the pack. Red Bull should finish with a 1-2 finish and the battle for third between Norris and Alosno should be a great race.

Third through ninth will be a toss-up between the McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes.

Many cars have been struggling for downforce all weekend, which should result in a few yellow-flag situations. Under different circumstances, we could see an exciting race, and the podium and points could go in any direction. 

Predicted Podium: (1st) Verstappen (2nd) Perez (3) Norris