My Unqualified Opinion

So… the Japanese Grand Prix has come and gone and with it, I suspect, any hope that there is going to be a genuine challenge for the championship this year following the complete dominance with which the Red Bull took out the race following a somewhat closer than expected qualifying.

Granted Sergio Perez was a little closer to Verstappen than he was in the previous races where RB had there 1-2 finishes, but I can’t imagine Max was doing much more than cruising around the track and ensuring that nothing else caught fire after the debacle that was the Australian Grand Prix.

It’s funny looking back at the first (and only) post on this site, where I shared my views on “that” incident at Silverstone, there’s been a lot that has happened since then, including far more dramatic happennings in the world of F1 which ultimately had an influence on the outcome of that season.

But now it’s a few years down the track, Verstappen is a multiple world champion and we’re into the third year of new regulations that were designed to make racing more interesting and where do we find ourselves, pretty much in the completely opposite position.

Red Bull are dominant, the first two races of the 2024 season have been a snore fest if you’re interested in who’s likely to win the race, although if you ignore that team then other parts of the races could be called interesting, if not for the racing itself but for the drama off the track.