Verstappen takes revenge, Leclerc rises again, the Alps are ridiculous

I promise you

Max Verstappen: As imagined, after a dramatic and almost historic retirement in Melbourne, the three-time world champion will return to Japan with even more determination and desire to win. Absolute sovereignty. Pole place, race win and further confirmation (not that it was necessary) that a fourth world title was indeed in his hands. With an RB20 like that (third brace in four games), who can stop him? Maybe only Australian disc brakes…

Charles Leclerc: On Saturday he completed one of the worst qualifying sessions of his Ferrari adventure. A miserable eighth place after entering the third section with difficulty. But yesterday's match brought Monaco back to the top. Well, he finished on the podium behind Carlos Sainz (proven his form again) but moved up to fourth with excellent tire management. His first assignment in middle school was academic.

Yuki Tsunoda: Tenth place in front of his fans, which is almost equivalent to a podium for the Japanese. He trades mistakes for excellent things, but this year he is confirming himself as a top-level driver and, more importantly, continuing to besiege his brilliant neighbor Daniel Ricciardo.

Failures

Alps: Another modest jackpot. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon did not finish in the last two places only because Logan Sargeant (also failed) ended up in the gravel at the end of the race and lost a lot of time. Not only is the car wrong, it's really disappointing. He was extremely slow on the straights (the overtakes he suffered at Suzuka were almost countless), and ineffective in corners and with the tyres. In France they did everything wrong this year…

Lewis Hamilton: Is the Black King now Brackley's vassal? It's another unknown race, with him finishing ninth, almost 50 seconds behind Verstappen, beaten once again by George Russell and, above all, the radio team in which he asks if he should step aside to let his teammate pass… 7-time world champion No He can and should not start thinking this way…

Alexander Albon: Returning from Australia, where despite the “fuss” he took Sargeant's car and spent an anonymous weekend, here he does worse. His Japanese race ends in the third round, looking for an unexpected overtake from the outside on Daniel Ricciardo. Anyone who sees him at Red Bull in 2025 might need to revise their estimates…