F1. Japan 2025 Review

By Gavin Huet, Aiden McLaughlin, Graeme Woolf , Chelsea Wintle and Scott MacLean

Driver of the Weekend

Chelsea: The phrase “outdrove the car” is both overdone and exasperating to purists, but I’ll use it anyway. Max Verstappen gave us a real treat at the weekend, with a flawless qualifying lap and a masterful race to match. This is Verstappen’s fourth Suzuka victory on the trot, and he really showed his feel for the track. Even Lando Norris getting cheeky up against him on the pit exit couldn’t phase him, and he breathed in that clean air for almost the entire race before sealing his victory.

Graeme: The easy option here is Max Verstappen. Yes, he was outstanding, but you almost come to expect that from the World Champion now.  But I’m going for Isaac Hadjar.  Among the 4 Red Bull drivers, he’s the forgotten one given recent events.  But he comfortably outshone both his new teammate Liam Lawson and his former teammate Yuki Tsunoda.  Given the mental anguish he must have suffered after crashing out in Melbourne on the warm up lap, to this performance 2 races later, his drive was outstanding.

Gavin: Max Verstappen. After setting one of the best qualifying laps ever to secure pole position, the Dutchman led the race in and kept the two McLaren’s at bay without ever really being under pressure. Super Max is back and the team in papaya had nothing to counter him with.

Scott: The default would be “Max Verstappen”, but it’s easily Oliver Bearman. The Haas seems like a truck, but the rookie Brit dragged it into the last stage of qualifying and in the race kept his nose clean, had a sound strategy, and brought it home in 10th for a point to add to his four from China

Aiden: After that quality pole position lap, it’s hard to look past Magic Max. The bloke is even becoming more likeable now that Red Bull aren’t dominating race after race…we talk about qualifying at Monaco being the most crucial part of that race weekend, but it was also the case at Suzuka – Max drove an excellent race too, but maximum points were pretty much secured on Saturday. An honourable mention for the fourth most talked about driver of the Red Bull stable, Isack Hadjar, who finished P8 and has been the most impressive of the rookies in the last two races.

 

Talking Point

Chelsea:  I didn’t expect Papaya Rules to emerge as a talking point this early in the season, but as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri trailed Verstappen, Piastri was practically begging to be let through. Piastri had the pace to gain on Verstappen where Norris pointedly didn’t. I’m not sure it would have affected the outcome of the race, but the McLarens would have had a better shot. It’s going to be an extremely painful season if the team continues to dither in the heat of the moment.

Graeme: It seems like there’s no limit to Max Verstappen’s greatness.  Supposedly he’s driving a car with a lot of issues, but he drove that car like he stole it on Sunday and completely dominated the weekend from Q3 onwards.  With all of the chaos surrounding his team, he put his head down to control the race all day and never looked troubled.

Gavin: Did McLaren get their strategy wrong? Usually Suzuka is a two stop race but due to resurfacing it quickly became apparent over the weekend that this year would be a one stop race meaning there would be less chance of trying the undercut or overcut in order to get position on the track. Oscar Piastri looked faster in third place than Lando Norris did in second. After the race the team went out of their way to say Lando had to hold back to keep out of the turbulent air from the Red Bull and to ensure his tyres would not go off if he followed too closely – I don’t buy this as Oscar was right up behind Lando and he was not experiencing these issues. They should have swapped drivers to see what could be done and if necessary swap them back later. Oh, and the call to tell Lando to pit and then stay out… the 1980s called and want their tricky strategy back guys, you fooled no one. If this was Ferrari everyone would be saying how they messed it up.

Scott: How would the two drivers at the centre of the seat-swap go? At least Liam looked more at home in the Racing Bull and out-qualified Yuki (and got me some money from the TAB), but the Japanese driver “won” the race battle coming home 12th to Lawson’s 17th. Perhaps a questionable strategy cost our boy a couple of spots, but Tsunoda’s performance continues to underscore the difficulties of the Red Bull.

Aiden: Hadjar’s uncomfortable seatbelt? Jacques Villeneuve’s hairstyle? Yuki winning the official vote for Driver of the Day? Let’s be fair, the race was pretty boring wasn’t it…when the drivers highlight the LACK of tyre degradation it’s desperate times indeed. Shut the door, move on, let’s hope for more excitement in Bahrain this weekend.

 

Gossip Time

Chelsea: One upside of the events of the past fortnight is that Liam Lawson is now back in the team that has the best social media game in the field. Two rookies lip-syncing ancient Kardashian audio has no right to be as entertaining as it is. Go well Liam.

Graeme: How good is Kimi Antonelli?  He’s been a consistent performer so far in his F1 career with three points scoring finishes thus far.  And he’s only 18!  He’ll win a race this year I think.  And he’s going to be challenging for a Drivers Championship before we know it.

Gavin: So many people were upset at comments made by Sky guest commentator Jacques Villeneuve. Not sure why as he was just saying what he was seeing and they are his opinion. The only thing really controversial was his hairstyle. The thing to remember is Jacques is from an era, not that long ago, where there were real rivalries and hostilities between drivers and teams, this current age where people mostly get on is a bit weird if I am honest. Look, I like the Carlando style social media stuff as much as everyone else but at the end of the day this is sport and not just entertainment.

Scott: With the dramas at Red/Racing Bull(s) sorted, the next line is the future of Aussie rookie Jack Doohan. A heavy shunt in practice – apparently the result of the Alpine team’s simulator telling him he could defy reality – did little to quell the rumours that Franco Colapinto will be in his seat soon. Salvaging 15th was about as good as he could do and he needs a good result in Bahrain.

Aiden: How about a return to the grid in 2026 for Sergio Perez? The Mexican seems to be enjoying his break, and no doubt his sizeable payoff from Red Bull, but he’s quoted as saying ‘There are a few very interesting projects out there. I’ve been approached by a few teams since Abu Dhabi.’ If 2025 is the year of the rookie, could 2026 be the year of the comeback for Perez and the likes of Valtteri Bottas who is saying he’s not done in F1 either?

 

Looking Ahead

Chelsea: All eyes will continue to be on Yuki Tsunoda over the next two races. While Dr Marko has apparently assured Tsunoda he will be the Red Bull for the remainder of 2025, we all know what promises are worth in F1. After declaring the Red Bull “not that hard to drive”, Tsunoda qualified below both Racing Bulls, and finished out of the points, while Isack Hadjar came in 8th. Obvious joke is obvious. Surely at some point Red Bull will reason that it’s easier to fix the car than the driver? Surely.

Graeme: A lack of highlights at Suzuka made for a pretty boring race in all honesty.  With some decent overtaking tracks coming up at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, I hope that the next 2 weekends of this triple header produce some good exciting racing and therefore great viewing.  This has been a hard review to write, so let’s hope that the next few races produce some good content for this amateur reviewer.

Gavin: Ferrari need to come out fighting. They have been nowhere this season even though they won a sprint race. For a team that everyone was expecting to be fighting for podiums they are currently fighting tedium. Every race weekend brings a lot of talk and expectation, and by the end of Sunday they are having to go back and look at the data to work out what went wrong, again.

Scott: Bahrain up this weekend. It’ll be warm and whoever can solve the grip conundrum the fastest would seem likely to have a significant

Aiden: We all hoped/expected 2025 to be a competitive season, but after McLaren won the first two (main) races, perhaps some doubts crept in. Max has just reminded us that even without the best car, you can’t write him off, and the title race is all the better for it.

Bonus Picture

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