How big is the Red Bull gap?
Red Bull is only in sixth place in the World Championship after the first three races of the season. Team Principal Laurent Mekies spoke about the Bulls’ current gap in this context.
“We are probably about a second behind the best and half a second behind the best Ferrari,” explains Mekies. By “the best,” he naturally means Mercedes in this case.
He emphasizes: “We think we took a step back in China. And we don’t just measure that against the leaders, but also against the midfield, which has moved closer to us.”
In Japan it was already a bit better again, but the gap is still large. Because you don’t find a full second in Formula 1 overnight.
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McLaren: We are getting closer
We already heard from Toto Wolff earlier that McLaren is understanding the Mercedes engine better and better. Zak Brown confirms this to Sky and explains: “I don’t want to say that we have closed [the gap], but we are in the process of closing it.”
He emphasizes: “The cooperation with HPP is going well. We are one team. Even though it was naturally frustrating, I think they are working well with us and we are learning together.”
In Japan, they definitely “took a nice step forward,” according to Brown. At the same time, we have already heard from Andrea Stella that McLaren still has a gap with the chassis.
Piastri victory stolen by Safety Car?
In the strategy video after the Japanese Grand Prix, our data expert Kevin Hermann analyzes the numbers behind the race. Did the Safety Car decide the victory – or would Kimi Antonelli have been in front anyway?
Oscar Piastri was strategically on track, but the data tells a different story. How big was the real pace advantage of Mercedes? The answer is in our new video!
Japan Data: Why Antonelli would have won even without a Safety Car!
Sainz: No more real overtaking maneuvers
There was significantly more overtaking in Suzuka over the weekend than in previous years. That is a fact. However, Carlos Sainz emphasizes that these were not “real” overtaking maneuvers.
“What you see there as overtaking is not overtaking at all,” he clarifies and emphasizes that you just drive past another car. “It’s not Formula 1 overtaking, it’s more like on the highway,” says Sainz.
“So I think we need to improve as a racing series, and I am convinced that they will make changes if they listen to us drivers,” he says towards the FIA.
Sainz is one of the drivers who has already expressed criticism of the new regulations several times.
The grades are in!
Of course, our popular grading is back again this weekend. In our photo gallery, you can see how our expert Marc Surer and we as the editorial team rated the drivers in Japan.
Our big final evaluation, in which your grades are also included, will follow as usual during the course of the day.
Photo gallery: Suzuka: The driver grades from Marc Surer and the editorial team
Vasseur: Everything could change in Miami
Frederic Vasseur also spoke to Sky about the current balance of power in Formula 1 and emphasized that the Mercedes lead is by no means set in stone until the end of the season.
“I believe the picture could change [from Miami] because everyone will improve,” he announces and explains that so far no one has brought a major update package for cost reasons.
“From now on, however, everyone will continue to develop,” he prophesies and explains that with the updates, a “new season” is effectively beginning. “The most important thing will be the team’s ability to introduce upgrades and drive development forward,” says Vasseur.
And that is exactly what is to be started from Miami.
Wolff: McLaren is catching up on the engine
Is Oscar Piastri’s good Suzuka weekend also related to the fact that McLaren has now made progress with the engine? Toto Wolff explains to Sky that this is no surprise.
“I think Andrea [Stella] said at the beginning of the season that as a works team you have a small advantage at the start,” says Wolff, who explains that the other teams are now catching up.
“You could see today that we couldn’t get past the McLarens because they understood it,” explains the Mercedes Team Principal with regard to energy management.
“The Ferraris also had the right strategy for energy deployment,” he also emphasizes. And that is ultimately good for the show – but of course, from a sporting perspective, bad for Mercedes.
Haas goes into the break in fourth
Haas defended fourth place in the World Championship yesterday. Team Principal Ayao Komatsu explains proudly: “It’s good that as the smallest team under these brand new rules, we have scored a point in every single race.”
Yesterday, Esteban Ocon finished tenth again. “We are still in P4 in the championship with 18 points, which is fantastic,” says the Team Principal, who emphasizes that they must now “make the most” of April.
They want to “analyze what we have learned so far” and understand “how we can achieve better performance at every race,” explains Komatsu. There are currently only four points between Haas in P4 and the Racing Bulls in P7.
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Mercedes opponents closer?
Oscar Piastri led the race for a long time yesterday. George Russell therefore warns: “This weekend clearly showed that our competitors are now optimizing their cars much better.”
“We had a great start to the season, but our rivals are hot on our heels, as we saw today,” says the Mercedes driver. Although the Silver Arrows have won all the races so far this year.
But for the first time in 2026, both drivers were not on the podium in Japan. Russell reminds: “The upcoming race break will also give everyone the chance to further develop their cars.”
“We know that a tough fight awaits us in Miami as soon as we are back on track,” says the Briton. We are definitely excited to see what the balance of power in Miami will look like after the break.
Hat-trick
Antonelli not only won the race yesterday, he also took pole position on Saturday and set the fastest lap on Sunday. This means he achieved his second consecutive “hat-trick” after China.
His fastest lap is available here again in the video:
Gasly: The best car of my career
Max Verstappen finished eighth yesterday, landing one position behind Pierre Gasly in the Alpine. The Frenchman himself says on Canal+: “I think at the moment it’s the best car I’ve driven in my career, maybe along with the 2021 AlphaTauri.”
An exciting statement, considering that Gasly even drove half a season for Red Bull in the past. “I believe we have a solid foundation to build on,” says the Alpine driver.
“I’m quite happy that the car seems to be working well in the first few weekends. We can find performance almost everywhere,” he reports. The start of the season was therefore “very encouraging overall,” Gasly emphasizes.
Stella: Ferrari is still faster
Yesterday, McLaren finished ahead of Ferrari in the race. According to Andrea Stella, however,
