McLaren are still celebrating Oscar Piastri’s win at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, yet F1 moves on fast as attention already moves towards the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
After back-to-back races to begin the season in Australia and China, Formula 1 is enjoying a brief gap before the first triple-header of 2025 in Japan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. McLaren will go to Suzuka as the favourite as Piastri and Lando Norris eye their second wins this year.
But while McLaren have begun their F1 constructors’ championship defence in the best way possible, not all of their rivals have enjoyed consistent results during the opening races. One team’s hopes for the Japanese GP on April 6 will also hinge on a change to the Suzuka track.
Haas crossing their fingers Suzuka’s resurfaced Japanese GP track is as smooth as Shanghai
Haas very much endured a race to forget to start the 2025 F1 season at the Australian Grand Prix as Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were last among the classified finishers in P13 and P14. Ocon also only set the 19th-fastest lap in qualifying and Bearman did not set a lap time.
Yet after their woes in the wind and rain at Albert Park, Haas scored a double-points finish at the Chinese Grand Prix via Ocon’s P5 and Bearman’s P8. Both were even in the points before Ferrari’s double DSQ at the Chinese GP after Charles Leclerc’s P5 and Lewis Hamilton’s P6.
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Haas did not overhaul their set-up between the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix but took advantage of the Shanghai International Circuit’s resurfaced track. Now, The Race says Haas are ‘crossing their fingers’ that Suzuka’s resurfaced track provides a similarly smooth circuit.
Shanghai’s smooth circuit helped Haas to unlock a better platform for Ocon and Bearman to push the Chinese GP track’s high-speed turns after stumbling with aerodynamic oscillations at the Australian GP. So, Haas hope Suzuka’s resurfaced track leads to a solid Japanese GP.
Haas must prove the Chinese GP was not a red herring after their torrid Australian GP
The £807m-valued Haas F1 team, the least-valuable current crew, will hope their Chinese GP turnaround was not a red herring after a disastrous Australian GP so that Ocon and Bearman fight at the front of the midfield at the Japanese GP regardless of Suzuka’s resurfaced track.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver Oliver Bearman? Everything to know
Ocon was comfortable holding off Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Alex Albon during his second stint, while Bearman climbed through the order to score points in Shanghai from P17 on the grid. Yet they were only 16th and 15th in the F1 Sprint at the Chinese GP, as well.
Clearly, Haas learned a lot from their struggles in the Sprint to respond in the feature race. It remains to be seen if they can now transfer those learnings to a new circuit and prove Haas’ 2025 F1 car is not as bad as Guenther Steiner feels after slamming their VF-25 in Melbourne.
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