Max Verstappen bounced back from his retirement in Australia with a commanding drive to victory during the 2024 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, taking the chequered flag ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. For a start, there was a pretty even split between the 20 drivers in terms of those who opted for the Medium (all in the top ten except Alonso, plus Ricciardo, Tsunoda and Zhou) and those who went with the Soft. However, the red flag on the opening lap meant that seven drivers – the Mercedes and Alpine pairs, Sargeant, Tsunoda and Zhou – all took the opportunity to switch compounds. The Mercedes duo went from Medium to Hard, both Alpines and Sargeant in the Williams went from Soft to Medium, and Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) and Zhou (Sauber) went from Medium to Soft.

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