Suzuka snooze fest - Japan Grand Prix F1 2025

Big yawns going on over here after that mess of a weekend. I mean really, the best action was the in track grass fires during practice. Unless you are a Verstappen fan of course.

Courtesy AP Photo/Hiro Komae

And really, the most exciting aspect (other than the fires) was Verstappen's unbelievable qualifying lap for pole on Sunday. If there was ever a time for Red Bull and Max to pull a rabbit out of their hat, that was it, and boy did he deliver. Pole position and the win on Sunday. Pretty straightforward weekend for that side of the Red Bull garage. If Yuki had better luck during qualifying, I'm pretty sure he would have had a better weekend as well, but not a great start being just outside the points for his first race. The good? He finished in front of Lawson. The bad? Isack Hadjar finished four spots in front of him and stands one point ahead in the Driver's championship. I was however happy to see Isack bounce back from both his previous two races, and all his belt issues he was experiencing in the practice sessions.

While Suzuka has proven once again to be a Monaco like little to no passing during the race type of affair, it has stirred up more issues within the paddock only 3 races into the season.

First, Ferrari still needs to get their act together. Leclerc drove a great race, but they need to find some sort of performance going into Bahrain. Word on the street is they have upgrades coming for this weekend, and hopefully they help. Hamilton is still getting used to the car, and despite his sprint win in China, I still think it will be a few races before he feels at one with the car. Hopefully the upgrades help to smooth out that learning curve.

Second, McLaren should now completely back Norris for the Drivers Championship. With their 2nd and 3rd place podium finish behind Verstappen, Max has pulled to 1 point behind Lando. No more Papaya rules. They need to put the effort behind Lando to keep propelling him further and hopefully put some distance in points between himself and Max.

Third, the rookie half of the grid continues to be in upheaval. Unless your name is Kimi, you better get your head on straight and start showing some glimmers of hope. Jack Doohan destroyed his Alpine within the first few laps of FP2 costing them millions, and his 15th place finish on Sunday isn't helping his argument to stay in the seat either. If you are looking at the next team on the coldness scale compared to Red Bull, Alpine is probably it. Franco Colapinto is sitting in the wings and there is a good chance Alpine pulls a Liam Lawson-esque move and swap Colapinto in and Doohan out for Bahrain or possibly Miami. Luckily for Bearman and Bortoletto, Haas and Sauber aren't seemingly as brutal, but they still need to show up and show results. Especially Bortoletto.

Fourth, yes yes, Carlos Sainz needs time to adjust to the new car, new team, just like Hamilton. But where oh where did all that performance in pre-season testing go??? Albon is getting more out of that car this year than last, and showing the performance both seemed to be achieving in pre-season. But why has it fallen off so much for Carlos? Even with Albon's world class whining this weekend during the race, he still managed to wrestle that car to a 9th place finish. I suspect Sainz will still need a few more races to get adjusted, just like Hamilton, but I'm surprised he isn't finding the pace.

So it's off to Bahrain, and hopefully a more entertaining race!