By Joe Man
Max Verstappen continued his dominance in Japan, claiming his fourth consecutive victory at the circuit, finishing just ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Cooler temperatures allowed the drivers to push their tyres hard without much graining, but unfortunately, this resulted in a slow-paced race that never truly ignited.
As expected, Verstappen executed a measured race, maintaining his lead from pole position. McLaren had no answers, but many believed they missed a potential opportunity. The obvious strategy would have been to split their tactics and try to secure a win with one of the drivers. This highlights the challenge of having two number-one drivers.
The potential opportunity arose when Verstappen pitted. The medium tyres were still performing well, so why not leave Norris out in clear air? It’s likely this was discussed, but if the strategy had failed and Piastri ended up ahead of Norris, it would have raised serious questions. In the end, McLaren opted for the safer route.
There is merit to this decision, especially if they felt they hadn’t fully maximized their setup. McLaren knows they have the pace to compete with Red Bull, but they must seize their chances, as Verstappen isn’t going to fade away anytime soon.
The only real talking point came when Verstappen and Norris pitted, emerging side-by-side, with Norris nearly losing control as he ran off onto the grass. Although Norris initially complained about being pushed off, he later admitted that it was a simple racing incident. In hindsight, Norris might have been better off staying behind Verstappen to get closer for a potential overtake on the out-lap.
There was also a standout performance from Kimi Antonelli, who finished just behind his teammate in sixth. The young Italian clearly has blistering pace, and Mercedes must be thrilled with how he has started his F1 career. For a time, Antonelli led the race, becoming the youngest driver ever to do so. If a safety car had appeared at the right moment, he could have even claimed the youngest-ever race win.
Ferrari once again disappointed, with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth and Lewis Hamilton in seventh. They were forced to raise the ride height of their car after the disqualification in China, which cost them some pace. With just three races into 2025, it already looks like a challenging season for them.
Red Bull’s second-driver situation remains problematic. Verstappen took another brilliant win, while Yuki Tsunoda made little progress from his starting position. He will no doubt be disappointed but will take the positives from the weekend and aim to come back stronger in Bahrain.
Another impressive performance came from rising star Isaac Hadjar of Racing Bulls. He is quickly making a name for himself, as is Oliver Bearman of Haas. These two, along with Antonelli, have proven they’re here to stay after the opening few races of the season.
For the second year in a row, the Japanese Grand Prix failed to deliver an exciting race. There’s little opportunity for overtaking, with most of the top 10 finishing exactly where they started. Suzuka needs another DRS zone, but with the DRS system being phased out next year, alternative options will need to be considered to make this classic track more competitive. While the drivers love Suzuka, ranking it among their favorite circuits, races like this remain a problem for the FIA to address. F1 is increasingly positioned as an entertainment spectacle, but races like this lack the excitement needed to captivate audiences.
Oscar Piastri summed it up perfectly in the cool-down room, watching the highlights and remarking, “That’s all the highlights? That’s all that happened in that race?”
Now, we move on to race two of this triple-header in Bahrain in just a few days.
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