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Split Strategy Secures Solid Suzuka Sunday

Suzuka was never going to play out the same as Singapore. We knew that going into the Japanese Grand Prix weekend. We were right; Sunday proved more of a damage limitation exercise.

Some strong racing and a bold split strategy helped us do just that. Our pace limitations left us fighting the Ferraris. As the chequered flag fell, we'd at least managed to split them. An important, if not spectacular, outcome that could prove critical as the fight for P2 in the Constructors' looks set to go right down to the wire.

Friday was challenging, but that was not a new sensation for us in 2023. What is more, there was little to choose between the entire grid at the end of the day's running. In FP2, just one second covered P2 and P14, with seven different teams in the mix and aiming for Q3 come Saturday afternoon.

"We made some changes ahead of FP2 and gathered some useful learnings," said Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin.

"But we're clearly not strong enough in the faster corners," he added.

The positives of not being where you want to be on a Friday are that you have the opportunity to set things in a better direction overnight. Important simulator work from Frederick Vesti and the team back in Brackley set about trying to make the gap to the front smaller. By the time Saturday morning arrived in Japan, that effort looked to have paid some dividends.

"The car felt generally nice to drive today and I felt more confident," said Lewis after qualifying for P7.

Today was a fair representation of how we perform on circuits that have similar characteristics to Suzuka. Our car is not the strongest across a full range of corners.

George Russell

George would start one place further back in eighth. The all-W14 fourth row at Suzuka did mean there was work to do with Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren all ahead, but we had kept Aston Martin behind with Alonso back in ninth.

"Today was a fair representation of how we perform on circuits that have similar characteristics to Suzuka. Our car is not the strongest across a full range of corners," reflected George post-session.

There was still cause for optimism ahead of race day. "I expect it to be challenging cars ahead," added George. "We have the option to try some different strategies with two hard tyres in our allocation."

High tyre degradation had been seen all weekend at Suzuka. So much so, that George was forthright pre-race about how things may pan out. "It's closer to a three-stop than a one-stop," he declared. "I think we can rule the one-stop out as an option."

We knew starting in the midfield coupled with the tight nature of Suzuka's first corner could leave us vulnerable to the squeeze. Unfortunately, that proved the case when the lights went out on Sunday. Lewis' initial launch from the line was good, but he was edged out onto the grass by Perez, allowing Alonso - who had already jumped George - to sneak through on the inside. That put us on the back foot. That left us looking at creative ways to regain positions and added to an intriguing race.

After the initial Safety Car period ended, our cars found themselves running together in P7 and P8. That led to an entertaining battle between our two W14s. George slipped by going into the last chicane, only for Lewis to take the position back at the end of the pit straight moments later. Hard racing from our duo but they kept it clean. Meanwhile, interesting strategy options were developing.

The initial forecasts around tyre degradation did not seem to be coming true. Instead, tyre life was looking better than expected. That gave teams a dilemma. Stop early to undercut and commit to the two-stop? Try to run the same strategy but have fresher tyres at the end? Or hold out and see if a bold one-stop is possible? The first round of pit stops approached. We knew we didn't have the outright pace to beat the Ferraris. If we were to get ahead, we'd have to think outside the box. After some discussion, we rolled the dice.

Lewis headed in for new Hards as George stayed out, aiming to extend his stint and make the one-stop strategy work. Lewis immediately used his fresh rubber to good effect, pulling off a super move up the inside of Alonso at 130R, one of the fastest and most famous corners on the entire F1 calendar.

George, who briefly assumed the lead as a result of his longer opening stint, also made progress once he'd switched to new Hards, dispatching Alonso and Ocon to move into P7.

Up ahead, Lewis was approaching Sainz in P5 at a rate of knots. It was now time to cash in on that extra set of Hard tyres. The team opted for the undercut and it worked as Sainz stayed out. From being behind Ferrari all weekend up to that point, Lewis was now in front. George cycled through ahead of those stopping. On older tyres, but causing a headache as Ferrari looked to chase him down.

"We did get ahead of one of the Ferraris, which is great teamwork," said Lewis post-race. "It was great work from the guys in the pit stop and the strategy."

George's one-stop plan left him running in the podium positions with 10 laps to go. Those behind were on fresher tyres, however, and there was nothing he could do to stop Piastri and Leclerc coming past. It meant George now had two-stoppers in Lewis and Sainz for company.

Given the tyre degradation, we had to protect Lewis from losing the position as he was more likely to finish ahead. Therefore, instructions were given to invert the cars.

Andrew Shovlin

Whilst degradation was lower than expected, it was still high compared to other races. That left us with a quandary. Did George have the pace to stay ahead? Could Lewis act as rear gunner? Or could we take a page out of the Sainz playbook and use the DRS to invert our cars and keep George ahead of the Ferrari? With limited data, these are always incredibly tough calls to make. The team opted for the third option. George allowed Lewis past into Turn One and defended the Ferrari driver for another lap before dropping back into P7. It ultimately proved unsuccessful. With George's tyre life and his relative pace, ultimately neither of the three options would have kept both cars ahead. That's just where our speed was in Suzuka.

"It was a difficult strategy to pull off but George did a great job," said Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin.

"Given the tyre degradation, we had to protect Lewis from losing the position as he was more likely to finish ahead. Therefore, instructions were given to invert the cars."

This allowed Lewis to build a gap and keep his P5 at the flag, ensuring we limited our loss to the Scuderia in the Constructors' to just four points.

Minimising our loss to Ferrari today was critical. I know how hard everyone at Brackley and Brixworth is working to get that P2.

Lewis Hamilton

"Minimising our loss to Ferrari today was critical. I know how hard everyone at Brackley and Brixworth is working to get that P2," said Lewis, who also strengthened his grip on P3 in the Drivers' standings. A DNF for Sergio Perez in Suzuka also meant Lewis was able to cut the gap from P2 to 33 points.

"We made the one stop strategy work better than expected, but we just didn't have the pace to challenge those ahead," explained George after the race.

"The end result was a fair representation of where our speed was. We achieved the maximum we could."

The team is now returning to the factory, and we will spend the next week getting stuck in our Qatar preparations. We have great memories of the Losail circuit from F1's only previous visit in 2021, and with the added excitement of a Sprint race weekend thrown into the mix this time around, we will be ready to hit the ground running on Friday afternoon in 11 days' time.

Japanese GP Race Report