Japanese GP: five quick takeaways

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed an impressive pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix and went on take his first Formula 1 victory of the season.

The McLaren duo completed the podium as the majority of the top 10 finished in grid order.

Here’s what our team of writers thought straight after the finish in Suzuka.

Verstappen won’t give up on fifth title

If the weekend in Suzuka showed one thing, it’s that Verstappen is not going to give up his fifth title without a fight. If 2025 ends up being McLaren’s year, at least the Dutchman will give the Woking duo a very good run for their money.

Verstappen’s pole lap – as the data shows, especially the final chicane – was one of the most impressive performances of the season so far.

His response in the press conference to a question suggesting that the Red Bull car is now “where he wants it to be” was telling. “Where I want it to be?” repeated Verstappen with a look of astonishment on his face. It underlines that he’s still not happy with the RB21, but that didn’t stop him from beating McLaren and taking his first win of the season. It just goes to show that, even with a difficult car, you should never write off the reigning world champion…

– Ronald Vording

McLaren can’t just run away

Can we still say that McLaren has the fastest car after a race won by a driver from another team? Probably not, but there is still enough evidence to suggest that the papaya team remains the season’s favourite. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were breathing down Verstappen’s neck throughout the race – and potentially could’ve easily driven away from him had they started in front.

But the Suzuka race was a reminder that you can never count out Verstappen. Even if McLaren does have the advantage, it’s not big enough to just ignore the Dutchman – and, while he’s within striking distance, he’ll always be a constant threat.

– Oleg Karpov

Tsunoda needs more time in the car – but does he have it?

Well, it hasn’t been a dream start for Yuki Tsunoda with Red Bull. He showed early signs of promise – and at least kept the car on track. But his entire weekend was basically wasted in Q2, where he just couldn’t put a lap together – and didn’t even beat his Q1 time. And, while that suggests there’s more potential, it’s also important to stress that Tsunoda needs to start delivering soon. You’d have to grant him a discount for the first weekend – after all, he had to familiarise himself with the car. But now that he has done the full race, he needs to start applying the lessons.

He clearly needs more time to get used to the RB21’s quirks. But does he really have much?

– Oleg Karpov

Hadjar isn’t embarrassing at all!

Being the second best Red Bull driver in the championship doesn’t look like an embarrassing performance these days, and that’s exactly what Isack Hadjar has managed so far in the 2025 F1 season.

After showing great speed in qualifying in Australia and China, but failing to repeat the feat in the race – with a notorious formation lap crash in Melbourne leading to Helmut Marko’s infamous quote – the Frenchman had a very solid weekend from start to finish at the always demanding Suzuka circuit.

Hadjar was in the top 10 in every session and capped it off with a strong race on Sunday to finish eighth and score his first F1 points. Voilà, Helmut!

– Federico Faturos

Doohan is walking on thin ice

Jack Doohan came to Suzuka needing a solid weekend after a very early crash in Australia and a couple of messy races in China, and he failed miserably. His spectacular – and undoubtedly avoidable – shunt on Friday will surely be costly for Alpine, and also for Doohan, whose crash bill between Melbourne and Suzuka is easily in the seven-figure range.

It is true that he has shown good one-lap pace in the early rounds, but that will not be enough for Flavio Briatore and Doohan may be feeling the pressure even more now. A trip to Bahrain next weekend, where he has already driven the A525 in pre-season testing, could be the best possible way for Doohan to try and recover. He needs it.

– Federico Faturos