Japanese GP takeaways: Verstappen shows off greatness

We'll offer our takeaways following each race weekend this year. Here are our thoughts after the Japanese Grand Prix.

Moments that decided the race 👀

The best driver proves his worth

It's clear by now that McLaren has constructed the fastest and most driver-friendly car. But it was the driver that ultimately made the difference in Suzuka, as Max Verstappen got his first victory of 2025 in front of both papaya drivers.

It can't be understated how important track position is in modern F1. Clean air is still king. While Verstappen took the chequered flag Sunday, he ultimately won the race Saturday, putting together a pole lap that his own race engineer considered "insane." The numbers suggest the reigning four-time champion had no business being on pole. A McLaren driver had the fastest time in sectors one, two, and three.

Combining each driver's theoretical best lap by using their best sector times puts Verstappen in third, behind Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. However, when it comes to execution, the numbers mean little. Both McLaren drivers made mistakes on their final Q3 run while Verstappen left no inch of the track unexplored as he nabbed his first pole since June 2024.

Without that pole, there's little to suggest Verstappen would have won if he needed to overtake a McLaren. With the Dutch driver trading identical lap times with Norris all race, it's likely whoever started ahead would finish first barring an unforeseen mistake.

And as Verstappen has proved time and time again in his continuing battle against McLaren, he's not going to be the one to slip up.

The world champion had an answer for every variable as he mastered his way to a record-breaking fourth consecutive victory in Suzuka. It was a fitting thank you to Honda, who celebrated its final home grand prix as Red Bull's engine supplier. More importantly, it was an important statement and confidence boost to Red Bull. While the RB21 may not have the advantage of being the best car, no other team has the advantage of having Verstappen – who is now only one point behind Norris.

McLaren resists opportunity to go for race win

McLaren had the car to win. It also had the drivers to win. The team unfortunately didn't have the guts to win.

The Japanese GP is a race where McLaren should have walked away with a victory. The team's pit wall had opportunities to provide both drivers with tools to overcome Verstappen's brilliance. However, instead of arming them for battle, McLaren opted for a conservative approach.

The decision to pit Piastri, in third, prior to Norris, in second, was the first self-inflicted wound. To avoid undercutting its own driver, McLaren was forced to pit its championship-leading driver on the next lap, when Verstappen, the race leader, also ducked for a tire swap. The potential for undercutting Verstappen, who was within striking distance, was gone, and it was erased entirely by friendly fire.

The fact Norris then lost time by ending up on the grass by trying to get ahead of Verstappen on their exit from the pits only made it worse.

Piastri would get his own taste of the sour papaya medicine that has often left him compromised in the past. Obviously faster than Norris in the late stages of the race but stuck behind him, the Australian believed he had the pace to catch Verstappen, who was only a second up the road from his teammate. But to the disappointment of many, there would be no driver swap or late battle for the win.

The second decision was perhaps worse than the first. McLaren had nothing to lose by giving Piastri a chance to catch Verstappen. If Piastri failed, swapping positions again with Norris would likely still be on the table.

McLaren threw away a heap of points and possible wins last season due to poor execution. It seems nothing has changed in 2025. Even in a low-risk situation, McLaren seemingly opted for the hardest path forward, putting additional obstacles in a path that was initially only obstructed by one, lone Dutch driver.

What a day for the rookie class

Sunday's race won't fool anyone into thinking it was an all-time classic, but it did serve as a very impressive display for F1's 2025 rookie class.

Mercedes got a first glimpse at how Kimi Antonelli builds up throughout a weekend as the 18-year-old overcame his initial struggles in free practice to enjoy a record-breaking day. The Italian became the youngest driver in the sport's history to lead a grand prix and record the fastest lap in a race. While the former accolade occurred due to the front-runners pitting, it must be mentioned that Antonelli extended his medium tire opening stint even longer than the likes of tire whisperer Lewis Hamilton, who began on the more durable hard compounds.

Behind him was Isack Hadjar, who for the second consecutive race weekend, was the fastest driver in qualifying outside of McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, or Ferrari. That turned into points Sunday, and Racing Bulls may have found an unlikely but promising lead driver.

Haas' Ollie Bearman also secured his first Q3 appearance of the season and his second straight points finish. Bearman is now 2-1 in qualifying against Esteban Ocon, his veteran teammate.

Driver of the Day 🙌

Isack Hadjar: Verstappen was in a different galaxy, but when it comes to drivers who competed in this stratosphere, Hadjar deserves top props. In a weekend that began as Liam Lawson's reintroduction to Racing Bulls, Hadjar stole the show and the headlines. Despite dealing with a painful seatbelt error in qualifying, Hadjar qualified seventh, ahead of Hamilton. He then went on to collect his first points finish of his F1 career. Suzuka was his best performance to date, but the rookie has been lights out since a formation lap crash in the opener.

They said what? 🗣️

Christian Horner on Red Bull's focus for the season: "For us, all priorities are on the drivers' championship. The constructors, for sure, is going to be harder. But it's a long year, and you never give up. There's no better tonic or motivator than winning, and we've done that today. Max, without any debate, is the best driver in the world currently."

Piastri on asking to swap with Norris: "I just said what I felt. I thought that if I had the opportunity to get in front of Lando then maybe I could go and get Max because my pace felt very strong, and I was able to get into DRS relatively comfortably. ... I thought I would at least ask the question, and that's completely fine with me."

Andrea Stella on not letting Piastri pass Norris to race Verstappen: "It takes about eight-tenths of a second to even be in contention to attack the car ahead because you are in the slipstream, and as soon as you get within one second you get a lot of dirty air and your performance drops, so I think it's fair that Oscar makes the comment and gives his input to the (team) but I think today was simply not possible to overtake."

Lando Norris on what went wrong: "We lost the race yesterday in qualifying. That's where Max won it and he did a very good job and deserved to win the race today."

Charles Leclerc on where Ferrari's at: "I would say it's even more disappointing when you do everything perfect and then you finish P4 and are like two-to-three-tenths off minimum compared to the guys in front every lap."

Yuki Tsunoda on P12 in Red Bull debut: "I'm happy with the race in terms of my performance, but in terms of results, it's quite tough, especially for a home grand prix. I was definitely expecting more. I at least wanted to finish in the points, so mixed feelings."

What's next?

The F1 calendar finally arrives in Sakhir. After featuring as the opening race the previous four seasons, the Bahrain GP was pushed back in 2025 due to the new travel-friendly schedule.

Verstappen is the two-time defending winner, while Leclerc (2022) and Hamilton (2019, 2020, 2021) claimed the three wins prior.