The top six in the Japanese Grand Prix finished where they started, which is only the fourth time in history that has ever happened in Formula 1.
Only Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar exchanged positions in the top ten, with the Ferrari driver overtaking him for P7 six laps into the race.
McLaren was looking briefly threatening when the first round of pit stops happened 20 laps into the race, but Red Bull and Max Verstappen managed to utilise the clean air to their advantage and stay ahead.
Oscar Piastri was pressuring McLaren to swap him and Norris towards the end of the race, but the team elected to hold station despite the Australian posting quicker lap times.
Discussing the race in the podium cool-down room, Piastri made one comment that F1 fans picked up on after watching the Grand Prix highlights.
Oscar Piastri sums up ‘utterly boring’ Japanese Grand Prix
The post-race cool-down room is usually a place where the top three drivers air comments in the immediate aftermath of the race, with Piastri noting the lack of ‘highlights’ displayed on the screen: “That’s it? That’s all the highlights of that race?”
With such a small amount of positions changing, a lot of fans felt the race was lacking action as it became a case of managing tyres for the drivers at the front.
One fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Sums up the race. Utterly boring.” They also added why they thought the race featured nearly no overtakes between the top ten.
“Effects of clean and dirty air are too strong, which is funny as that’s what the design change was supposed to remedy. Worse still as it was coming off the most exciting season filled with overtakes in 2021.”
Another fan agreed that the increased aero development has made it harder for drivers to overtake: “Yep. Exactly what I thought at the time. Suzuka magic has gone thanks to stupid aero.”
One fan felt it was like another race on the calendar: “Literally Monaco-esq this race,” with one fan saying: “Should have stayed in bed” after waking up in the early hours in the UK to watch the race.
Other fans agreed that it wasn’t the most action-packed race, after China also featured minimal action: “Had to be one of the most boring races I’ve ever watched.”
Another fan expressed how they were impressed there was any highlights to even show: “I’m quite impressed, they found that much to show,” with another agreing with Piastri’s comments: “Correct. Abysmal.”
- READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
McLaren was not bold enough with their strategy to win the Japanese Grand Prix
Jacques Villeneuve accused McLaren of not being bold enough with their strategy, having elected to pit Norris at the same time as Verstappen.
This effectively consigned them to P2 as Norris could not match the superior straight-line speed of Verstappen, having struggled to get within DRS range throughout the race.
Had McLaren pitted him earlier and used the undercut, it was thought that they could have put pressure on Red Bull with Oscar Piastri staying out.
Verstappen leaves the third round of the season just a point off in the Drivers’ Championship, having finished on the podium at the season opener in Melbourne.
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