2025 Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka, April 04 - 06

[DGP123]

4 winners from the first 4 races (inc the sprint race). Wonder if we’ll get another winner in Bahrain? Leclerc probably most likely if there is one, always a good Ferrari track and they have upgrades.

Bahrain has McLaren v Verstappen written all over it.

I would add one or both Mercs to that fight.

Mercs haven’t looked like winning any race so far.

[Juzh]

Antonelli now holds new lap record at Suzuka with a 1:30.965, beating previous record from 2019 by a few hundredths held by Hamilton. However when Hamilton did his record he had fresh softs and drs from a backmarker, so in comparison Antonellis lap is even more impressive.

[ali623]

4 winners from the first 4 races (inc the sprint race). Wonder if we’ll get another winner in Bahrain? Leclerc probably most likely if there is one, always a good Ferrari track and they have upgrades.

Bahrain has McLaren v Verstappen written all over it.

Not sure, it’s generally very close and Ferrari/Leclerc are always really good in Bahrain - I could see him pulling out a pole there.

[AR3-GP]

Hadjar and that Racing Bull pace...

[Matt2725]

Bahrain has McLaren v Verstappen written all over it.

I would add one or both Mercs to that fight.

Mercs haven’t looked like winning any race so far.

To be fair, neither did Max until his quali performance yesterday. There's no reason to suggest he'll be fighting with the Macca's next week, yet apparently it's a given.

[Seanspeed]

Horrible race, but given the previous two, nobody is that surprised. Might be a tight championship, but it’s incredibly boring.

I think if RB can just bring some more performance at some point, then Max wins this championship, and keeps these two inferior Macca drivers at arms length.

I very much doubt Max can keep this up all season long. When tire life matters more especially, the Mclarens will be able to stretch their race pace advantages more.

[basti313]

Horrible race, but given the previous two, nobody is that surprised. Might be a tight championship, but it’s incredibly boring.

I think if RB can just bring some more performance at some point, then Max wins this championship, and keeps these two inferior Macca drivers at arms length.

I very much doubt Max can keep this up all season long. When tire life matters more especially, the Mclarens will be able to stretch their race pace advantages more.

I also doubt it. For two reasons...there was very low tire wear due to the cold track and very hard to overtake on this track anyways. This is a bit special we will see more wear and, thus, more overtaking and tracks where one can better overtake. The RedBull tire wear issue was simply not visible. The second reason is that McLaren was in a bad position. The right thing to do was split strategy, one early stop, one late. But for whatever reason they stuck to their predefined rule.

[SB15]

Bahrain has McLaren v Verstappen written all over it.

I would add one or both Mercs to that fight.

Mercs haven’t looked like winning any race so far.

Mercedes is the only team that can be in touching distance with the McLarens in a representative session. As for Redbull, I’m not counting Max out at all that he can surprise, but I don’t believe he will be near the pace of the Mercs or McLarens next week, I don’t know about the Ferraris. I think these first 3 races has flattered Redbull a lot thanks to cooler conditions in wet or damp conditions and one stop strategies.

[SB15]

Horrible race, but given the previous two, nobody is that surprised. Might be a tight championship, but it’s incredibly boring.

I think if RB can just bring some more performance at some point, then Max wins this championship, and keeps these two inferior Macca drivers at arms length.

I very much doubt Max can keep this up all season long. When tire life matters more especially, the Mclarens will be able to stretch their race pace advantages more.

I also doubt it. For two reasons...there was very low tire wear due to the cold track and very hard to overtake on this track anyways. This is a bit special we will see more wear and, thus, more overtaking and tracks where one can better overtake. The RedBull tire wear issue was simply not visible. The second reason is that McLaren was in a bad position. The right thing to do was split strategy, one early stop, one late. But for whatever reason they stuck to their predefined rule.

The Tyre issue was non existent because of the cooler track temps and it was way harder of a compound than pirelli suggested, because Antonelli did another 10 - 12 laps on his mediums, meaning Max could push way more on his hard tyres. Also the Ferrari’s didn’t suffer from it either.

The McLarens and Mercedes looks to be better in more reasonable dry conditions that Bahrain will show the “TRUE” pecking order this season.

[Mostlyeels]

I would add one or both Mercs to that fight.

Mercs haven’t looked like winning any race so far.

To be fair, neither did Max until his quali performance yesterday. There's no reason to suggest he'll be fighting with the Macca's next week, yet apparently it's a given.

Yeah, there's always a fair bit of "recency bias" in predictions from one week to the next. The things that make it more possible are the team and Max being able to tune out the bad characteristics of the car (usually, it seems, from FP3 to Quali): it was really a miracle to bring that car from nowhere to just pipping the McLarens in quali.

[AR3-GP]

The McLarens and Mercedes looks to be better in more reasonable dry conditions that Bahrain will show the “TRUE” pecking order this season.

Bahrain is considered an outlier track.

[SB15]

The McLarens and Mercedes looks to be better in more reasonable dry conditions that Bahrain will show the “TRUE” pecking order this season.

Bahrain is considered an outlier track.

Wait how is it considered an outlier?

[CHT]

Hadjar and that Racing Bull pace...

https://preview.redd.it/race-pace-japan ... a2c419325f

Hadja is a potential WDC material. If he continues like this, a drive for RBR in 2026 is highly possible.

[Chuckjr]

Hadjar and that Racing Bull pace...

https://preview.redd.it/race-pace-japan ... a2c419325f

Hadja is a potential WDC material. If he continues like this, a drive for RBR in 2026 is highly possible.

True that. I've been very impressed with him since his debacle race 1. He was able to walk from that with seemingly little mental wake. Quick recovery is always a good sign and yes he's clearly fast and will get faster.

[organic]

Hadjar looks very good