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Japan GP - If You Were Looking For Action On A Sunday, The Japan GP Wasn't It

Japan GP - If You Were Looking For Action On A Sunday, The Japan GP Wasn't It

A very uneventful race however a good opportunity for rookies to show their speed.

F1 DA
April 08, 2025

TLDR: McLaren lack the will to win. Rookies show speed. Williams get more points.

Start of the Race

They was some rain in the morning prior to the race start however it was no where near enough to start with inters. I would’ve improved the race that is for sure.

Qualifying Top 5 - JustFormulaCar

Verstappen had a great lap in qualifying and took pole position with a really fast Sector 2 and 3.

At the race start, Norris and Verstappen pointed their cars at each other. The Hunter and the Hunted, but Verstappen had a much better start and kept 1st place.

Grid lineup

Hamilton managed to overtake Hadjar on lap 7. Hamilton was one of the few that opted to start on the Hard compound. Making positions on this tyre early on is great for the race. Tsunoda managed to overtake Lawson at the start. I was expecting that battle to be a lot feistier that it actually was, but it was pretty easy for Tsunoda.

Hamilton Overtake

Lap 20 came and pit stops started. Piastri pitted for Hards, but they were cold and difficult to warm up. McLaren could have been smart: pit Piastri early and let Norris stay out longer than Verstappen going for the over cut. McLaren’s strategy team needed to take the risk.

But... McLaren messed up. They pitted Norris at the same time as Verstappen, even though the overtake on track was clearly proving to be more difficult than it needed to be. Norris was faster on the track but he couldn’t execute.

Norris Faster than Verstappen on the majority of the circuit

This was a big mistake! It shows McLaren cares more about team points than letting their drivers fight for wins.

Ultimately this led to Norris and Verstappen leaving the pit at the same time and Norris going onto the grass as he wouldn’t yield when it was Max’ line. Him complaining on the radio was more likely to lead to an unsafe release rather than a penalty for Max.

After that, Norris fell behind even more. This is why I don’t think Norris will be World Champion yet. He needs to be braver, the team need to be braver. Piastri, on the other hand, looks super hungry to win, but right now McLaren favours Norris.

Lawnmower Lando

Oscar was faster than Norris for the whole second stint. Piastri was essentially given team order not to overtake. Piastri came on the radio and said , rightly may I add than “I have the pace to get Max” proposing a swap and was flat out declined. They could’ve made the swap and if Piastri was not able to get Verstappen then swap back as there was a 10 second + gap to 4th.

Oscar Piastri was faster than Norris in the whole second stint. Piastri was essentially given team order not to overtake. Piastri even asked on the radio, “I can catch Max, can we switch?” McLaren said no. They could have swapped and let Piastri try. If it didn’t work, they could have switched back, there was a 10+ second gap to 4th place!

Norris proceeded to give an average performance in the best car and couldn’t get close enough to Verstappen to overtake.

That helped Max so much! He stayed in 1st and got his first win of the season.

Max Takes The Win

Summary

This was a very underwhelming Grand Prix there were opportunities from the McLaren’s push and take over Verstappen with strategy however they were unwilling to. They also had a better chance with Piastri lapping quicker than Norris. Their focus is obviously more constructors and the WDC comes second. They allowed there drivers to sit in dirty air the whole race with no attempt to change try something different. This is

Race standings over the Grand Prix - F1 Telemetry Data

The tyre overall was pretty conservative with a medium starting and the hard for roughly 30-35 laps. There was supposed to be rain during the race, however we never saw it. This would’ve definitely shaken up the order and made for some interesting racing strategy.

Tyre Strategy - F1 Telemetry Data

I can’t help but think Norris is scared to go to wheel to wheel with Verstappen. It’s like he won’t put himself in that position. The only time he did was Austria 2024 . McLaren also seem to be very risk averse and unless it’s guaranteed won’t go for the win. Maybe they foresee the front wing aero changes mid season as a very detrimental to the rest of their season. Only reason I can think of why you would be happy with 2nd and 3rd if you’re capable of 1st and 2nd.