After a brief blip on the radar, it’s situation normal at the top of the power rankings in the world of F1. But what about the other positions?
Before we get to those, the usual disclaimer. You know the drill, these are all subjective and based mainly on my (incredibly smart) opinion mixed with form and on-track results, meaning it is a generally subjective list that holds no real weight except for the large basis of fact I like to think I can generate.
So with that all in mind, let's get to it!
10. Alpine (-)
Another Q2 appearance! Yay! But other than that there seemingly once again was nothing to sing home about for the French team, especially when both the drivers had a brief collision at the start of the race. The good news for them is that they are still one of three teams yet to score, so at least they aren’t the only team to have that distinction.
(Photo by Pitpass)
9. Kick Sauber (-)
A great performance by Valtteri Bottas nearly vaulted them up a spot on the rankings this week, but the performance on the other side of the garage by Zhou Guanyu was enough to weigh them into ninth spot still. Positive news though, they didn’t stuff up a pit stop! Hooray!
8. Williams (-)
With Alex Albon out at the first corner, it all fell on to the shoulders of Logan Sargeant for Williams and for the most part he didn’t disappoint. There were some great overtaking manoeuvres by the American as he pushed higher up the field towards the points. However, a mistake late in the race forced him off the track and landed him in last place, putting an end to his strong performance. Still, at least he didn’t crash again. So that was a slight positive.
7. RB (-)
Another team that nearly got the vault up a spot given the performance by Yuki Tsunoda but just hard to do so when the team ahead of them had two drivers putting in a strong performance compared to one. Admittedly it was hard for one driver to do that given he was out at the first corner, but hey, you can only rate what you can rate.
6. Haas (-)
No points for the team this round but still a solid performance by both drivers. Both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg are working together beautifully, and they’re always just on the fringes of the top ten which is positive signs for the American team.
5. Mercedes (-)
Honestly if Haas had scored points again, Mercedes would be out of the top five. That was a woeful race by the team, and the team right now is in the worst position it has been after four rounds in more than a decade. Given they are also being beaten by customer teams, it’s not good signs for the team right now.
4. Aston Martin (-)
Should’ve been double points for the team had the strategy for Lance Stroll not failed to deliver, but they can still leave the race off the back of Fernando Alonso scoring points a happy team. They’re not spectacular like they were a year ago, but solid. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
(Photo by Pitpass)
3. McLaren (-)
Lando Norris drove a great race to bring home fifth, while Oscar Piastri did what he could to get another four points for the team. With Mercedes seemingly getting worse, they are in a great position to aim for third in the championship this year with this current form.
2. Ferrari (-1)
I hate to put them down a spot but it’s hard not to given they went from 1-2 in Australia to 3-4 in Japan. It was still a fairly solid race for the team, especially from Charles Leclerc who made the one stop strategy work to go from eighth on the grid to fourth, while Carlos Sainz kept his perfect podium rate up for 2024. More great points for the team who would gladly take being only 21 points behind Red Bull in the Constructor’s Championship.
1. Red Bull (+1)
They were always going to return to the top spot, and it only took them one race to do so.
Pure dominance by the team all weekend. Let’s see how that continues in China in a fortnight, a race they have only ever won twice in their history.
What do you think of this list? Which order would you currently rank the teams in? Let me know your thoughts below!
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