Race 3 - 2025 Japanese GP [ Suzuka]

[Nitrodaze]

https://e0.365dm.com/25/03/2048x1152/skysports-yuki-tsunoda-red-bull_6872159.jpg?20250331131805

After Redbull chose a driver with half a season of F1 experience over one with four years of experience, most of us thought that was daft and unfair. Liam Lawson who impressed greatly in 2024 as we said farewell to Ricciardo, struggled to reproduce that form we came to admire in the cursed second seat at Redbull. Brutally, he was kicked back to the junior team after only two races. Once again we think it is unfair to not give him a chance to bed into the team.

The Suzuka race weekend provides us with several interesting developing stories as we look forward to seeing how Yuki would fare in the cursed seat relative to Liam. One thing is certain he dodged a bullet because of his rejection by Redbull. If he had got the seat, it would have been him driving through the awful weather of Melbourne and having a bad start to the season. And would have turned up at China under a lot of pressure to do a better job. Of course, we never really know how things may have turned out for him. But we can guess that he has more experience in dealing with that kind of situation better than Lawson.

This lucky Japanese driver always seems to land on his feet, whatever the circumstances. With no real pressure on him as a consequence, he has now become the litmus test of this infamous second seat at Redbull. Redbull needs Yuki to do very well to dispel the negative karma that has befallen their second garage. On home turf and a much-desired seat achieved, the wind seems to be in Yuki's sail at this race.

The McLarens would be duking it out for supremacy as Piastri has recovered to 10 points behind Norris at China. A race where Norris showed his maturity with a drive that was deserving of the Driver of the Day award. A drive worthy of a champion as he battled with brake problems, yet managed to achieve the optimum damage limitation relative to his fiesty teammate. Suzuka is very crucial for both McLaren pilots. For Piastri, it gives him the opportunity to level up to Norris and reset the season. For Norris, it is an opportunity to reestablish the gap with Piastri and emphasize his candidacy for the lead driver of the team. This is one to watch closely as we are likely to see two McLarens knock paintwork off each other for the first time this season.

Ferrari continued to disappoint, but the Sprint win brought something different to the unfolding season. Ferrari has inherent pace but seems not able to unleash it properly and consistently. But we have seen enough to know that Hamilton may be mighty this season if they are able to tame that scarlet beast.

This is a driver's track, a proper old-school race track. It is going to be a cracker of a race.

[Matthew]

Super excited for the Japanese GP (https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2025/japan) this weekend! Yuki's first race with Red Bull at his home Grand Prix is going to be something special, and I hope he delivers a strong performance. Also curious to see how Sainz does in the Williams. If he can put up a good show, it will be a great storyline for the season.

For anyone heading to Japan for the race, the Tokyo Fan Fest (https://www.fanamp.com/tr/tokyo-fan-fest) is a must-attend event. It runs from April 2 to 6 at Tokyo Bay and is packed with F1 simulators, a pit stop challenge, live music, and amazing international food. Definitely worth checking out if you are in town.

Cannot wait for the Suzuka action to begin!

[Nitrodaze]

Burning grass once again at Suzuka. Yuki managed to put out a surprising one-tenth distance from Verstappen in FP1. The qualifier would be the true indication of where he is at. But a damn good start for Yuki. Surpassed Lawson by a country mile and it pained Horner to admit it.

[airshifter]

Hopefully no grass fires during the race. Red flags shake things up too much.

It seems Yuki did well until the pressure ramped up a little bit, but he's far from the only driver that couldn't get a great lap on a single run. Hopefully he will keep his wits, stay calm, and fight up to the points paying spots through the race. Though his footing isn't as solid as early runs looked, now he has a chance to absorb and move past the mistake.


As for Max.... yeah it's all the car. TBH I don't think any other driver on the current grid could have pulled that off. And a new track record on top of it. On car pace it should have been up to Lando and Oscar to deliver, but they didn't. They will likely get past Max during the race, but it might slow them down enough to bring Charles or George into the fray as well. Though as a team McLaren are strong, they have at least three other teams that can harass them and potentially steal points from them.

Fantastic to see the two rookies as well as Albon up in the top 10 as well. I suspect Yuki might be able to work past them, but they did very well to get up to such high starting positions.

[F1nKS]

LOL, Yuki is out-qualified by the Racing Bulls while Max takes pole. There should be some hard racing between Lawson and Yuki against each other.

There is a 40% chance of rain. The timing of the rain is also going to be important—before the race, all the grip is washed away, and during the race, it could shake things up. Right now the prediction is rain before the race, then with the track drying out.

Historically - 33% of Red Flag, 67% of Safety Car.

[airshifter]

LOL, Yuki is out-qualified by the Racing Bulls while Max takes pole. There should be some hard racing between Lawson and Yuki against each other.

There is a 40% chance of rain. The timing of the rain is also going to be important—before the race, all the grip is washed away, and during the race, it could shake things up. Right now the prediction is rain before the race, then with the track drying out.

Historically - 33% of Red Flag, 67% of Safety Car.

In all fairness, I think after the red flag they held Yuki and he only got a single run, even though they had time for 2 runs. As much as team mistake as his own, and probably due to confidence he had shown through practice sessions. But either way, yeah, it should be interesting when he comes up to Lawson. There has always been some bad blood with the team demoting and promoting from within.

As for rain, I actually hope we get some. It livens up the races and gives those with slower cars a better chance at making up some spots. Though the wrong strategy calls can ruin some races, at least the on track action is there.

[F1nKS]

Max had full control of the "Snoozuka" Grand Prix and won with no drama.

[airshifter]

And right there is why Max always has a chance, even in a slower car.


Shame the rain came before the race, and not enough to really shake things up. Though Suzuka seems a challenging track, lack of passing opportunities can make it kind of boring to watch.

Great starts by all up near the front, and things settled in to kind of boring for most of the race. I do think McLaren could have at least split up their strategy better and put some pressure on Max, but they seemed to be playing things rather safe. Towards the end it seemed Oscar was quicker, and I think they should have swapped cars to give him a shot at Max.

Kimi ends up with several records in the books, and it looks like he is coming to grips with the car quickly. George might have a run for his money over time, but overall the team looks strong for drivers.

Fantastic to see the rookies perform so well and score points early in their careers. As they grow and some of the current drivers fade they should make for some really tight racing.



Though I do like that the current formula has really tightened things up, it does seem that clean air is once again king on many tracks. This weekend fell to RB since there is little if any deg in low temps, but the McLaren should easily beat them in the tire deg war on warmer tracks. But that clean air really makes it hard for those behind to challenge most of the time, so if Max can push qually at more tracks he might have a shot here and there.

[N. Jones]

Tactics and Strategy = Bo-ring.

No much overtaking on a usually good place to do so. Shame the McLarens couldn't find a way past Max. If this keeps up its going to be a two horse season again.

[Used to be Starter]

A snooze fest for sure. And I stayed up til 2:30 AM to watch. Duh!

[airshifter]

A snooze fest for sure. And I stayed up til 2:30 AM to watch. Duh!

It could be worse. I stayed up, watched about half the race, and we lost power!

It didn't restore until today about 1 PM, so I had to avoid any spoilers on the phone until power came back on.

[N. Jones]

We all know that the situation is fixed, but, it is a travesty that Lance Stroll is on the grid.

[Nitrodaze]

Tactics and Strategy = Bo-ring.

No much overtaking on a usually good place to do so. Shame the McLarens couldn't find a way past Max. If this keeps up its going to be a two horse season again.

Yep, the much-hyped season is going pear-shaped. To be fair, Verstappen was magnificent. But McLaren is beginning to show cracks. They may not be as bulletproof as we thought they were. Suzuka is a track that brings out the car's true characteristics. This is a track where any inherent flaw in the car cannot be masked.

Mercedes seemed to lose their mojo as the race went on. Ferrari seems to have swapped positions with Mercedes as the fourth-fastest team. The Redbull may be hard to drive, but it clearly has the pace to challenge for both championships.

Interestingly, Leclerc said he had to change his driving style to adapt to the Ferrari. Even so, he was only able to finish fourth. Hammy had a very dejected race, rear end snapping out of shape in corners. The Ferraris do not look anything like championship contenders at this point and the gap is only getting bigger with each race. Mercedes are not either but are better placed to recover into contention in future races.

That said, it was truly a boring race.