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Palmer bows out early

The news on Saturday night that the Briton would be standing down at Renault following the race took many people by surprise. Accepted paddock wisdom suggested that a deal for financial compensation was probably finally realised, triggering the change.

On a horrible day for the French team which saw it drop from seventh to eighth place overall as Haas moved up, and Nico Hulkenberg retired from points contention with a DRS problem, Palmer hauled himself from 18th on the grid to 12th, only 1.4s off Massa and sixth-tenths down on Fernando Alonso.

“We had a solid last race, we started from the back and with one more lap, I think we could have had 10th,” he said. “It’s been a tough season but the team and I have been through a lot, I’ve been here since the start of this new era. We’ve come a long way and I’ve enjoyed it. I wish the team all the best in the future.”

With so few 2018 seats remaining – and with the market for them so crowded – as things stand, it looks like his F1 career could well be over.

The Red Bull run continues…

If you look at how Red Bull started the year, their recent results are indication of huge progress. They were in the hunt all afternoon in Suzuka, and second and third brought another big haul of points and their first 'double' double since 2013.

“The start for me was very crucial,” runner-up Max Verstappen said. “From there on I could basically do my own race. Once I got past Seb (Vettel) in the Hairpin, the first stint was all right. I think Lewis was just a little bit faster and then after the pit stop we had great balance on the soft tyres and I just managed to keep the gap around 2.5-3s. I didn’t want to close-up more because then you destroy the front tyres.

In the end, he and Hamilton were separated by only 1.2s, but at one stage the gap had been a lot smaller than that.

“I think the car lately in the race has been really competitive. We have a bit more wing, so we are quite competitive through the corners. Of course, then on the straight we have an even bigger deficit than normal but it seems to work for us in the races so far. Of course I’m happy to be here on the podium again. It seems like Suzuka is pretty good to me.”