While it wasn’t the best way to start a F1 triple header with a fairly uneventful race in Japan, there were still plenty of takeaways to come from the third round of the 2025 F1 season.
Verstappen is doing Verstappen things
Hands up how many of you had Max Verstappen winning the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend?
In an extraordinary performance, Verstappen put in one of the best qualifying laps in modern history to storm to the front of the grid on Saturday, before doing everything he could on the Sunday to take his first win of 2025 and make it three different winners from the races this season.
There simply aren’t enough superlatives to describe the Dutchman when it comes to a weekend like this. It might not have been flashy or exciting like his Brazil win last year, but it was just as impressive when it comes to how his car has been performing recently and how dominant the McLaren pair have been so far this season.
If you thought Verstappen didn’t have a chance of winning his fifth title this year, you thought wrong.
Death, taxes and questionable McLaren strategy
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and McLaren somehow shooting themselves in the foot with strategy.
In Japan it wasn’t as bad as some in the past, and the team itself have defended their calls during the race, but it has to be noted just what could’ve been for the Papaya team.
Oscar Piastri during F1 testing. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
With both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri much faster than Max Verstappen, surely the right call would’ve been to at least give Piastri a shot at chasing Verstappen for a few laps, given he felt he had the pace to catch him.
Five laps later if it didn’t work, you simply swap the driver back. If it does work, then you’ve found yourself a race win.
It’s early days in 2025, but already those cracks continue to show and could come back to haunt them.
The second Red Bull seat continues to cause trouble
With all the controversy surrounding Red Bull and their sudden switch of Yuki Tsunoda from Racing Bulls to the senior team at the expense of Liam Lawson, the same old story seems to happen in Suzuka.
Tsunoda actually started off well, lapping very closely to Verstappen in the practice sessions as well as Q1.
But Q2 it all came undone, with Tsunoda not being able to put it all together when it mattered, ending up last in the session and behind the man he swapped seats with.
The race itself was better for the Japanese driver, making up positions to finish in 12th, the highest the second Red Bull has finished all season (on track before disqualification). And most importantly, he finished ahead of Lawson on the track.
But it still goes to show that simply putting in a driver with more experience or knowledge can’t make that car work overnight. The fact that Verstappen won the race only adds more pressure, but when you have someone of the calibre of Verstappen in the car it’s always an impossible task to fully compare yourself to him.
Red Bull advisor and power broker Helmut Marko didn’t seem too worried though about Tsunoda not living up to the high expectations from the second seat in Suzuka, saying that he was “unlucky” in Q2 and that overall his weekend was “fine”.
From someone like Marko, that is pretty much good news, meaning that while it didn’t deliver what they would’ve hoped, it still is proving progress for that second seat at the team.
Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
The underperforming driver nobody is talking about
All the talk around the second Red Bull seat seems to be masking one driver who has had a pretty poor start to the season by his standards.
That driver is Carlos Sainz, who for the third race in a row has struggled to match the pace of his teammate Alex Albon, and finished way down the order.
In the three rounds so far in 2025, Sainz has yet to beat Albon in either qualifying or the race. While Albon has scored in all three races, Sainz only scored one point in China due to cars in front of him being disqualified.
In Japan he was nowhere near Albon, being eliminated in Q2 while Albon made it to Q3 for the third consecutive race, and then finishing five spots and 34 seconds behind his teammate in the race.
Again, it’s early in the season and Sainz is still finding his feet in his new team. But considering the hype around his arrival at Williams, a lot more was expected of him from the start.
Shades of Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren? Watch this space.
Doohan survives scare to show his worth
A quick final note on Jack Doohan.
He suffered a scary crash on Friday, finding himself in a crumbled mess at the first turn and leaving his mechanics with a lot of work to do ahead of the rest of the weekend.
And while that crash did no favours to him and the pressure surrounding him to keep that seat this season, he bounced back strongly, working his way up from 19th on the grid to 15th, just behind Carlos Sainz and only two sports behind his teammate who started eight spots ahead of him on the grid.
The Alpine is proving to be a difficult car early on in the season, with the team being the only one so far yet to score points.
However, Doohan has proven to be much more closely matched to his teammate than many expected, silencing several critics who said that he could be out of the seat as early as this point in the season.
Round 3 F1 team power rankings: McLaren fail to capitalise as chasing teams continue to squabble
The dream of a perfect season by McLaren ended in Suzuka, and perhaps they only have themselves to blame for it. Behind them though, things are certainly tight and interesting when it comes to the power rankings.
Before we go through them, the usual disclaimer. You know the drill, these are all subjective and based mainly on my (incredibly smart) opinion mixed with form and on-track results, meaning it is a generally subjective list that holds no real weight except for the large basis of fact I like to think I can generate.
So with that in mind, let’s get to the rankings!
5. Racing Bulls (-)
Take a bow Isack Hadjar. You were the one driver of the four Red Bull drivers just doing your thing and staying out of the news, and you were the one who got points besides your Dutch superstar.
4. Red Bull (-)
Another team where it’s all down to one man. Max Verstappen shone and dominated, while new signing Yuki Tsunoda fell into the second seat trap.
3. Ferrari (-1)
At least Charles Leclerc is doing what he can, and Lewis Hamilton is also finding his feet and bringing points. Hopefully there can be more to come soon.
2. Mercedes (+1)
A first race without a podium in 2025 for the team but still a solid race by both drivers to net important points in the Championship.
1. McLaren (-)
A win that perhaps was thrown away, but when you get the best possible result after losing a victory, you still can be somewhat satisfied with your weekend.
Round 3 F1 driver power rankings: Verstappen proves why he is the best
Love him or hate him, you simply can’t deny just how great Max Verstappen is. From nowhere he dominates the weekend, and makes the 2025 Championship, and power rankings, extra spicy.
5. George Russell (-1)
Mr Dependable does it again. Stays out of trouble, gets some points, leaves with a smile on his face.
4. Charles Leclerc (+1)
Still no podium and still no realistic shot at a win, but he is doing everything he can in the meantime to deliver whatever he can extract out of the car.
3. Oscar Piastri (-1)
So closely matched to his teammate all weekend, it wasn’t a perfect birthday present sadly for him on the Sunday.
2. Lando Norris (-1)
A win that possibly got away, there isn’t much you can really do at the end of it when your biggest rival is Max Verstappen.
1. Max Verstappen (+3)
If you ever want to know how good Max Verstappen is, then watch a race like this one. Pure perfection.
What do you think of this list? Which order would you currently rank the teams and drivers in? Let me know your thoughts below!
