Ferrari’s gains see it emerge as Red Bull’s nearest rival

SUZUKA, Japan — Although still 20 seconds shy of Max Verstappen‘s Red Bull at the chequered flag, Ferrari’s performance at the Japanese Grand Prix showed just how much progress the team has made with its winter of car development. Just six months ago, the Italian team finished the same race 40 seconds adrift of race winner Verstappen, ranking fourth and sixth in the final classification compared to Sunday’s third and fourth.

Beating Red Bull in a straight fight (i.e., without the help of a Verstappen retirement, as happened in Australia this year) still seems like a stretch, but on the right circuit in the right circumstances, Ferrari is starting to look more like a serious competitor.

Suzuka, with its tyre-torturing long duration and high-speed corners, was always going to provide a challenge for Ferrari and play to the strengths of Red Bull. McLaren, too, was expected to hold an edge over Ferrari — as it did on the same track last year and as it still did over a single lap in qualifying on Saturday — but over a race distance, Ferrari came out on top.

“We exactly improved the car in the places that we wanted to improve it, and Suzuka proves it,” Carlos Sainz, who finished third in Japan on Sunday, said of his team’s progress. “Still, places like Suzuka, we are not as quick as the Red Bull, which is the target, but as soon as we bring a good upgrade to the car that goes in the right direction, hopefully it can get us closer.

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“We’ve improved everywhere, and especially in the race pace. It also allows us to have more strategic flexibility that last year we didn’t have. It allows me to go forward in the races and instead of looking in my mirrors all the time to offset myself with strategy, I can then overtake people, which is something that last year wasn’t on the cards at any point last year.

“So, I’m happy and it makes me enjoy the racing more.”

Ferrari’s superior tyre strategy at Suzuka was key to both Sainz and teammate Charles Leclerc beating fifth-placed Lando Norris on Sunday. For several seasons, the team has received regular and often justified criticism for the tyre strategy decisions made by its pit wall. But so far this year, it’s hard to find fault in the team’s race operations.

The team made changes within its strategy department soon after the arrival of team…