race · japanese

Sainz was 0.91s faster through Sector 1 than Norris—the single biggest performance gap in the top eight—and it wasn't tyre strategy or track position that made the difference.

Norris was faster than Verstappen in every sector. He finished 30 seconds behind him because McLaren stopped him twice when they should have stopped him once.

Stroll was over a second slower per lap but finished only six places back. The four-stop wasn't desperation — it was damage control that actually worked.