Fernando Alonso has come to the defence of the Suzuka circuit following widespread grumbling about the lacklustre Japanese Grand Prix.
While Max Verstappen's standout performance drew admiration, few could ignore the challenge faced by editors assembling an engaging highlight reel. "That's all that happened?" Oscar Piastri remarked in the 'cool down' room as he watched the initial highlights.
Many pointed to the freshly laid asphalt as the culprit—its grip delivering record lap times but negligible tyre wear. "Long, boring," Nico Hulkenberg summed up his race day. "It's not particularly entertaining to look at the rear wing and DRS of the car in front. It's just so difficult with these cars. The effect of the turbulent air gets a little worse every year."
Beat Zehnder, ex-Sauber team manager, suggested the track surface wasn't the sole issue. "We also had the hardest tyre compounds available here," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "I can imagine Pirelli will perhaps bring the softer compounds to Japan next year. And when you then see how close the field is, overtaking becomes almost impossible."
Mercedes' strategists estimated a 1.2-second pace advantage was needed for a clean overtake. "It was very fast, but it was as difficult to overtake as Monaco is," noted Williams driver Carlos Sainz. "It's like the new Monaco but with fast corners."
Veteran Alonso, however, brushed off the criticism. "This is Suzuka," he said.
"I can't remember a race where there were too many overtaking manoeuvres here without the weather changing. It seems as if we always say on Thursday how great Suzuka is, how great Monaco is, the glamour, the spectacular weekend. And then we wake up on Monday and say Monaco is boring. What can we do about the track. Suzuka is boring. That's Formula 1," the two-time champion concluded.
