SUTTON

Red Bull back on song as Max secures constructors’ crown

As expected, normal Formula 1 service was resumed at the Japanese Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen scoring his 13th win of the season and clinching Red Bull’s sixth constructors’ crown. Nevertheless, there is something to be said for enjoying the performance of a great driver in a brilliant car around a proper track, which Suzuka is.

As Jake Boxall-Legge shows in our race report on page 14, Verstappen wasn’t the only star of the show last weekend. Lando Norris was brilliant for McLaren, while his team-mate Oscar Piastri – surely a race winner and title contender in the making – scored his first GP podium. We’ve also got the ongoing Mercedes-Ferrari fight.

Verstappen’s crushing Suzuka performance was reminiscent of some of the drives Michael Schumacher put in there. This week we look back at the team with which he scored his first two world titles: Benetton. Experienced journalist and former Autosport staffer Damien Smith has just finished a book on the sometimes controversial squad, having spoken to the key players. Turn to p40 for an extract and p44 for his top 10 Benetton F1 drivers.

It’s not too diffi cult to pick out the star performers in the British Touring Car Championship this year. Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram and Jake Hill all had rollercoaster rides at Silverstone last weekend but each showed their class. Marcus Simmons was there to see the drama unfold and the title race boil down to Sutton vs Ingram (p30).

The IndyCar crown emphatically went to Alex Palou in 2023. Charles Bradley charts the on and off-track drama on p50.

Kevin Turner Chief Editor

kevin.turner@autosport.com

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Cover image Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

PIT & PADDOCK 4 Lawson out of AlphaTauri for 2024 6 Andretti Formula 1 plan gets FIA nod 8 Excelr8 intrigue, including customer cars 11 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 13 Opinion: Joey Barnes

RACE CENTRE 14 Japanese GP report and analysis 30 Sutton stars at BTCC Silverstone 36 World of Sport: ELMS; DTM; MotoGP

BENET TON 40 The team’s real first F1 season 44 Top 10 Benetton drivers

FEATURE 50 IndyCar review: Palou rises above

CLUB AUTOSPORT 63 Obituary: Dan Kirby 64 New Cayman for 2024 Sprint Challenge 66 Wallace wins British Drag racing title 68 National reports: Silverstone; Castle Combe; Donington Park; Snetterton; Trackrod Rally; Oulton Park; Loton Park

FINISHING STRAIGHT 78 What’s on this week 80 From the archive: 1981 Le Mans 82 My favourite car: Robert Kubica

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28 SEPTEMBER 2023 AUTOSPORT.COM 3