The 2024 Japanese Grand Prix will be Formula One’s 34th visit to Suzuka since 1987. Fans and racers revere it as a famous course.
After a two-year break, the Japanese Grand Prix returned in 2022. Even after the coronavirus outbreak stopped in 2022, Japan remained still inaccessible to international visitors. Many overseas fans saw Formula One in Suzuka for the first time in four years during the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix.
Suzuka will be hosted in early April 2024, earlier in Formula 1. While track temperatures should be more incredible, the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix should not experience the heavy downpours that have plagued Suzuka races in recent years.
F1 teams will unveil their vehicles and test them in pre-season testing shortly, ending winter break with enthusiasm. Check out these five things to pique your interest in the new campaign.
Closer frontal fighting
Red Bull has dominated the past two seasons, winning 38 of 44 races, including all but one in 2023, to win back-to-back constructors’ titles and three world titles. Max Verstappen won 34 of them.
Since Red Bull had a significant edge over the competition and stable rules, Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff compared catching up to conquering Mount Everest.
The halfway upgrade package McLaren deployed last season to shift from battling for points in the first half to fighting for victory in the second half shows that their competitors are trying to climb it.
Verstappen believes the Woking operation could be “robust” from the start in 2024 and a severe contender for domination after seven podium finishes in the last eight races, including five P2 positions.
However, McLaren is not the only one trying to compete at the top. After failing in 2022 and 2023, Mercedes has revised “almost every component” of its current competitor, with Technical Director James Allison recently stating that certain “spiteful” traits would be eliminated.
What about Ferrari? In Fred Vasseur’s first season as team boss, they made great strides in improving the car’s handling; they won the only race of the year that wasn’t Red Bull and finished in pole position three times out of five. Aston Martin, after a spectacular start to 2023, showed signs of recovery.
If these teams meet their winter goals, we might see an exciting battle at the top and even the first multi-team championship contest since 2021, when Verstappen and Red Bull faced Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.
A record-breaking calendar
2024 promises more twists and turns than ever before with 24 Grands Prix and six Sprints, meaning the five red lights will go out 30 times.
The campaign will begin in Bahrain on March 2 after three days of pre-season testing, then travel to five continents before ending in Abu Dhabi on December 8.
China returns after four years due to the COVID-19 epidemic, with the famous Shanghai International Circuit hosting Round 5 following the Japanese Grand Prix as F1 regionalizes the roster for sustainability.
They will host the first of six Sprint weekends this year, along with Miami, Brazil, Austria, Austin, and Qatar.
China and Shanghai International Circuit return to F1 this year.
The longest F1 seasons were 2021, 2022, and 2023, which included 22 Grands Prix, more than three times the sport’s 1950 seven-round schedule.
The 2025 driving market
It may seem odd to write about 2025 before the 2024 season, but drivers up and down the order might make significant moves this year.
Since the grid has kept the same between seasons for the first time in F1, several drivers, including Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, are approaching their final year of contracts.
With team manager Christian Horner saying Perez must improve in qualifying to maintain his Red Bull position with Max Verstappen until 2028, the competition is fascinating.
Three drivers without contracts beyond 2024 are Perez, Leclerc, and Sainz. The Mexican’s 2023 troubles may open the way for recent returnee Daniel Ricciardo, who has said it’s his “dream” to return to Red Bull, and Yuki Tsunoda, who may show the Australian up at AlphaTauri.
Ferrari’s Vasseur told Sky Italy at the conclusion of last season that the team was “not in a rush” to extend Leclerc and Sainz’s contracts beyond 2024 but had “started discussions” while waiting for Maranello’s decision.
Mercedes and McLaren will avoid the ‘silly season’ unless unexpected circumstances arise. Lando Norris will remain papaya-coloured until 2025, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will continue at Brackley, and Oscar Piastri has re-signed till 2026 after a strong debut season.
In 2023, Logan Sargeant was rumoured to leave Williams, but he was kept for a second year to build on his promising performances.
The need to impress all over the grid grows when Ferrari-backed Oliver Bearman wins races in F2 and stands out during F1 practice runs in late 2023, declaring that he “has what it takes” to make the step up in 2025 if the opportunity arises.
Hamilton Will Become F1’s Oldest Winner in 3 Decades
Hamilton, who has won seven championships, will be donning the scarlet red of Ferrari when he turns 40 in January. The thought is hard to fathom.
His lack of success in the last two years at the Grand Prix level is more attributable to the constraints imposed by Mercedes than to a deterioration in his abilities. Hamilton has grabbed pole position seven times, finished second seven times, and earned seventh place over that time.
While an eighth championship is still out of reach, Hamilton is expected to become the oldest Formula One race winner since 1994 this season.
One Formula 1 Team Gets Sold
The increasing partial buy-ins and rejection of Michael Andretti’s proposal indicate the trend toward a closed-shop franchise model, which explains the rising value of Formula 1 teams.
However, there are a number of clubs that would be open to a partial or whole ownership shift if the right offer came in.
