2025 Japanese GP: Post Race Analysis

Suzuka has provided some incredible races over the years. The 2025 race was an absolute snooze fest. I suppose the byproduct of a grid separated by less than 1 second is nobody can pass in the races.

Red Bull Racing is damn fortunate to have Max Verstappen. His pole lap is among the all time great laps in F1 history and he again drove head and shoulders above everyone to pretty much single handedly scored the victory for themselves. Christian Horner rightfully plays it off as a team sport and a win together - lose together situation. Sure, but he damn well knows that without Max he likely doesn't even scores points with either car, let alone win the race. One of the critical aspects of the team is the pitstops and they had a slow stop that nearly cost Max the position, and probably the race. Yuki Tsunoda had an okay debut with the big team. Looked good in practice in front of his Japanese and Honda fans. Qualifying was back to reality. Half a second off Max in the same conditions, over 1 second slower peak to peak. Wasn't even close to getting points in the race.

McLaren perhaps another example of a missed opportunity. Everyone struggled to pass, we get it, it was a story very clear for everyone early on. We can understand the decision to pit one of the McLaren's first as this was almost surely going to force Red Bull to react. Once Max pitted the next lap, why not keep Lando out and let him go long? Tire wear wasn't an issue. Clean air has been vital this season. I also would have given Piastri a shot at Max, which likely wouldn't have resulted in anything. But if he didn't get the pass done, swap back on the last lap. No harm in trying.

Ferrari get a solid 4th from Leclerc. He was one of the best drivers of the day for sure. That car is still not as good as the Mercedes, at least in the cooler conditions. Hamilton looked good up until Q3, where it all seemed to fall apart. That's unusual for him. Qualifying meant everything to this race, so starting 8th meant no chance of a good result.

Mercedes still racking up solid points. Another good result for George. He's had a very strong start to the season. Kimi had his best race. Yes he set a record for youngest driver to lead and set a fastest lap, but who cares. It's far more impressive that he managed the tires very well and kept pace with George.

RB was in all the headlights with the Yuki-Lawson swap, yet it was Hadjar that stole the show. What a great drive from him, both in quali and the race. Well deserved of some good points. Liam Lawson took another beating. Outpaced by his rookie teammate by a couple tenths and a poor result through and through. He needs a good showing at Bahrain to get some confidence back and keep Helmut from looking for a replacement.

Williams still having a bit of an up and down season. Albon was firey on the radio but had another great performance. 9th place is about as good of a position as one can expect from that car. Carlos continues to struggle. It suggests his testing pace was a bit of false advertising, but we will see if he turns things around in Bahrain where he has already tested the car.

Haas should be over the moon with Ollie Bearman. Ocon has proved himself to be no slouch and Bearman again thumped him. 10th place in a car that could easily be in the bottom 3? That's outstanding. Phenomenal drive. This has to be a wake up call for Ocon, who finished 18th.

Aston Martin. The pain continues. In this short season it is starting to look like Alonso's best years are definitely behind him. A few more mistakes and a general disheartened take. Maybe he's just suffering through until 2026. Japan was a good showing from him to some degree. Like always, he gave it his all for just a sniff at a point. Unfortunately that car is so bad it was a futile effort. Lance Stroll had one of his worst performances in recent years. By far the worst driver of the weekend. Dead last in quali, dead last in the race.

Alpine might be starting another roller coaster season. One race they seem to be 5th best, another they seem to be 9th best. Gasly is going to have to carry the team just as he did with Alpha Tauri in 2021. Doohan is struggling worse than expected. He needs to start improving quick.

Sauber. Nobody even knew they attended the Japanese GP. Maybe we saw them get passed once or twice in the race and that's it. Hulkenberg actually had a pretty decent day, but for 16th? I'm sure he won't be proud of it. Bortoleto was just okay.

Driver of the Day: Max Verstappen. Doing things that no other driver in the world can accomplish, that deserves recognition. Honorable mentions to Bearman and Leclerc.

 

I had a fun weekend that kept me away from F1 and had to watch everything recorded many hours later. I'm glad I chose fun for myself than wasting hours watching that F1 live deep in the early hours of Sunday morning. Plus it forced me to stay off social media all day. Win win.