Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will be absent from this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as he undergoes knee surgery.
The 51-year-old is set to have an operation in his native Austria to restore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg.
Wolff damaged his knee a number of years ago and blamed it for a cycling accident during Formula One’s summer break which left him with a fractured elbow.
Wolff’s role will be divided between a number of the team’s staff – including driver development director Jerome D’Ambrosio, the Belgian who took part in 20 F1 races in 2010 and 2011, and Mercedes’ long-serving British chief communications officer Bradley Lord – often seen shadowing Wolff at the back of the garage. It is understood Wolff will be on the team’s intercom across the weekend.
Mercedes will head to Suzuka perhaps fearing that their best shot at victory this year may have escaped them following Carlos Sainz’s triumph at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Sainz became the first non-Red Bull driver to win this season – ending the world champions’ unbeaten streak and Max Verstappen’s record run of 10 consecutive victories.
Lewis Hamilton finished third, just 1.2 seconds behind Sainz, after George Russell – who at one point looked likely to win following Mercedes’ roll of the strategy dice – crashed out on the final lap.
Verstappen qualified 11th and finished fifth, 21 seconds adrift of Sainz. But Hamilton fears Red Bull’s lack of speed on the streets of Singapore is because they have already turned their attention to next season.
While Verstappen can now not be crowned champion of the world for a third time in Japan, it is possible he could clinch the title in Qatar on October 8 with five rounds still left.
And asked if Red Bull’s blip provided him with hope Verstappen’s dominance could be coming to an end, Hamilton, 38, said: “If you think about it, they probably haven’t been developing their car.
“McLaren brought an upgrade here. Other teams are still bringing upgrades, and they’re working on next year’s car. They would have definitely migrated to 2024 before us.
“So it is just one of those things. They are so far ahead that maybe they’re not developing their car, while we are still pushing to develop our current one.”
Verstappen, who warned in the build-up to Sunday’s city-state race that the high-downforce street track would not suit Red Bull, said he expects to be back on top in Suzuka.
Wolff, who is likely to return for the Qatar GP, added: “They will be strong again. The track in Singapore was an outlier for us when we were dominant and I have no doubt they will be strong on conventional race tracks.”
Max Verstappen returns to form in Japanese Grand Prix practice
A “fired-up” Max Verstappen sent a warning to the rest of the grid that Red Bull are back on form as he set a searing pace to top the first two practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to a shuddering halt last weekend in Singapore, where the team admitted they did not understand their struggles with the car’s set-up around the street circuit.
The 25-year-old was confident of a return to form around the high-speed corner track at Suzuka, where Lewis Hamilton predicted the Red Bull would be “phenomenal”, but all eyes were on the Dutchman who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles.
His response to the struggles of Singapore was immediate and emphatic, finishing 0.626 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz in P1 before beating Charles Leclerc by 0.320sec in P2.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “He dealt with (Singapore) very maturely.
“It was a difficult weekend but he raced very hard. It was what it was. He knew at some point we were going to get beaten and he dealt with the situation well.
“He has certainly come here pretty fired up as you could see from his outlap in P1 today.
“Max knew it was always going to come to an end at some point. That 10th victory meant a lot to him and certainly to the team so I’m glad Singapore wasn’t the 10th in that succession of races. I think he has just shown great leadership and great maturity.”
The second session was red-flagged with a little over two minutes remaining when Pierre Gasly crashed heavily into the barriers at Degner Two, bringing a premature end to the session.
McLaren had been tipped to be the closest challengers to Red Bull and Verstappen this weekend, with Mercedes’ George Russell even suggesting the British team could be favourites.
Lando Norris showed strong pace to finish the day third, albeit 0.464sec off the pace, while Oscar Piastri, who signed a contract extension earlier this week, claimed eighth in the second McLaren.
Red Bull will almost certainly clinch the Constructors’ Championship this weekend at the home race for their engine supplier Honda.
But Sergio Perez was over a second off the pace of his team-mate, finishing 11th in P1 and ninth in P2.
Fernando Alonso claimed sixth for Aston Martin ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon.
Mercedes pair Russell and Hamilton struggled in the opening session, finishing a lowly 13th and 16th respectively, with chief race engineer Andrew Shovlin admitting the team had work to do on the car setup.
Russell claimed fifth in P2 but Hamilton was only 14th, with the seven-time world champion a huge 1.141sec adrift off the pace.
Max Verstappen roars back into top gear at Suzuka
Max Verstappen appears set to return to form at the Japanese Grand Prix after posting a blistering time in the opening practice session.
Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to a shuddering halt last weekend in Singapore, where the team admitted they did not understand their struggles with the car’s set-up around the street circuit.
Lewis Hamilton warned on Thursday the Red Bull car would be “phenomenal” around the high-speed corner circuit at Suzuka and, while practice times must always be treated with caution, it appears the runaway championship leader could dominate again this weekend.
Verstappen, who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles, was the first car out on track and it took the Dutchman just a handful of laps to set the fastest time in every sector.
He finished the opening running 0.626 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who clinched victory in Singapore.
McLaren had been tipped to be the closest challengers to Red Bull this weekend with George Russell even suggesting they could be favourites.
Lando Norris delivered an impressive final lap to clinch third for the British team, ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and home favourite Yuki Tsunoda in the AlphaTauri.
Oscar Piastri, who extended his McLaren contract this week, claimed seventh just behind the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Red Bull will almost certainly clinch the Constructors’ Championship this weekend at the home race for their engine supplier Honda.
But Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez finished only 11th and a massive 1.396sec adrift of the pace-setter.
The second practice session gets under way at 1500 local time (0700 BST).
Lando Norris says drivers should receive ‘harsher penalties’ for blocking
Lando Norris has called for stronger punishments to be dished out for blocking other drivers after Max Verstappen escaped grid sanctions at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Verstappen was under three separate investigations following qualifying – one for stopping at the pit lane exit, one for impeding Logan Sargeant and another for getting in the way of Yuki Tsunoda in Q2 – but only received a 5,000 euros (£4,308) fine.
Norris believes that more responsibility should be placed on the driver to avoid such incidents.
“I think the blocking one on track should have been a penalty,” Norris said ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
“If you block someone, it is not just down to the team – I know the team got a fine – but it should be down to the driver as well.
“You have to look in your mirrors. You have nothing else to do the whole lap but look in your mirrors and it seems like a lot of people struggle to do that.
“There should be harsher penalties for blocking. So many people do it.
“It ruins your lap, ruins your qualifying. It put Yuki out in qualifying, he was P1 in Q1.
“Nobody seems to care enough. It has happened a lot this season, it has happened to me quite a few times – especially with certain teams – but it is down to the driver to look in the mirror.
“I will probably block someone this weekend now and make myself look stupid.”
Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were both among the cars held up by Verstappen’s wait at the pit exit and the seven-time world champion says there has to be more consistency in the decision making.
“I didn’t really see them, I was in the pit lane when everyone stopped and I couldn’t see what was happening ahead,” Hamilton said.
“We always push and work as closely as we can with the FIA to achieve consistency and there are some variations so we have to continue to work on that.”
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who also held up, added: “I was a bit surprised (there was not a stronger penalty), especially with the one in the pit lane as that could open some quite bad situations in the future.
“It is always an open discussion with the FIA, trying to explain what our point of view is. I am sure we will have that discussion at the briefing.”
Verstappen, who arrives in Japan with a 151-point lead in the drivers’ championship, feels that every incident has to be judged individually by the stewards.
He said: “Every single instance is different.
“The only thing I can say about Singapore is that I explained what happened when I was sitting in the car and the information that was given to me.
“That is all I can do and it is up to the stewards to make that call.”
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