Hiroki Tsunoda ranks 3rd in F1 official power rankings for Japanese GP[F1-Gate.com]

Formula1.com has announced the F1 power rankings after the 2024 F1 Round 4 Japanese GP. Hiroki Tsunoda (RB), who achieved his first place in his home country, ranked 3rd in the Japanese GP, tied with Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), and moved up to 8th place in the overall ranking. Max Verstappen showed a remarkable bounce back at the Suzuka circuit as Red Bull achieved their third 1-2 finish of the 2024 season. Red Bull achieved their third 1-2 finish of the 2024 season.

For the F1 Power Rankings, five judges from Formula1.com evaluate each driver after the Grand Prix and score them out of 10 based on their performance over the weekend. The experts' scores are averaged to create a race score, which is aggregated throughout the season on an overall power rankings leaderboard. After retiring from the Australian Grand Prix due to a rear brake problem, Verstappen picked up where he left off by taking pole position and winning the race. His success in Japan was the 30th win from pole position in his career and his third consecutive victory at Suzuka. This was previously achieved only by Michael Schumacher. The performance of Carlos Sainz, who is seeking a new seat for 2025, is a hot topic. By achieving 3rd place on the podium at the Japanese GP, he achieved a 100% podium finish rate in the races he participated in in 2024. He did a great job here as well. Sergio Perez had to work hard to get second place at the Japanese Grand Prix, but he put up a very good fight. He performed admirably in qualifying and secured a front row spot, but in the final he was undercut by Lando Norris, and then used a battle on the track to overtake the McLaren and widen the gap between him and the rest. His efforts earned him the highest score of the season from the judges. Fernando Alonso demonstrated his legendary racing skills at the Japanese GP. He continued to give DRS to chasing Oscar Piastri, protecting him from George Russell's Mercedes. As a result, Alonso took the checkered flag in 6th place, giving Aston Martin valuable points. Yuki Tsunoda finished 10th, becoming the first Japanese driver to score points in his home race since Kamui Kobayashi in 2012. It's another example of how much the RB racer has grown this year, and his performance is starting to get noticed. The judges certainly thought he deserved a shoutout here, which earned him a tie with Perez and Alonso. Charles Leclerc won Driver's of the Day at the Japanese Grand Prix, but failed to reach the podium. That said, it cannot be ignored that he extended his first stint on medium tires during the race and got the most benefit from that strategy. He received a high score from the judges with a 4th place finish. Norris had been able to maintain his position in the early stages of the race after qualifying from 3rd place, but in the end he was unable to maintain his position and fell back to 5th place. McLaren seemed unable to hide the fact that Ferrari was currently outpacing them. With Mercedes opting for a one-stop strategy and then being forced to switch to two, George Russell caught up with Piastri and Alonso on fresh tires in the closing stages of the race. He passed a McLaren late in the race to take an important seventh place. Nico Hulkenberg is making the most of his potential with the Haas machine, finishing 11th at the Japanese Grand Prix and coming very close to scoring points. Despite a bad restart, including wheelspin that sent him to the back of the field, he was able to recover his position admirably. Oscar Piastri was overtaken by Russell in the closing stages for eighth place, but he wasn't competing for the position he would have liked. The young Australian, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on qualifying day, will continue to compete for the top spots, but he still had a lot to gain. Kick Sauber's pitstop problems appear to be improving, but Valtteri Bottas maximized the team's ability at the Japanese Grand Prix and at one point could have cracked the top ten. His 14th place finish was his best this season and he would like to improve on this, but he should also be recognized for qualifying in 13th place. Esteban Ocon, who shared the same score as Bottas and Piastri, also received notable praise for his efforts to get Alpine into Q2. He only finished 15th in the race, also affected by early contact with his teammate, but his clear determination at the weekend at Suzuka can only help steer Alpine in a better direction. is. Just behind the 10th place trio of Ocon, Bottas and Pearce, who were unfortunately out of the range, were Alexander Albon and Lance Stroll. Albon ended the race early after a crash with Ricciardo, and Stroll complained on the radio about the Aston Martin's pace.