The Japanese GP is the 3rd race of the F1 season as Mclaren continue to look the best of the rest. In the first 2 races, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have claimed dominant victories. They will hope to continue this dominance in Suzuka.
The chasing pack have brought in several upgrades to their cars, while Red Bull has already switched Liam Lawson to Yuki Tsunoda. Let us see how things fare during this weekend in Japan.
Key Storylines of the 2025 Japanese GP
1.Yuki Tsunoda Replaces Liam Lawson
Yuki Tsunoda replacing Liam Lawson has been the biggest talking point coming into this weekend. The Japanese driver will have added pressure of his home crowd. But there are high expectations to perform well at Red Bull after dominating all his teammates in the junior team.
2. Angry Max
Max Verstappen hasn’t been happy how things are being run at Red Bull. The reigning champ wasn’t happy with Red Bull changing Liam Lawson and has previously told the team to improve their car. Currently, the team doesn’t have the best car and as things stand, he could be moving out if things don’t improve soon.
3.The Frontrunners for the Japanese GP
The Suzuka track will suit the McLarens based on early signs and they’ll look to continue their dominance. Mercedes, especially George Russell is somebody who can put up a strong fight. Ferrari and Red Bull will also try to chip and win the race.
Predictions for the 2025 Japanese GP
Now let me get to my predictions for this weekend:
1. Pole Position for the Race
Everybody out there is going to think that I’m crazy, but I think Charles Leclerc will claim pole in qualifying. Ferrari have a knack of grinding out results after a bad weekend. It transpired with the sprint victory in China, but later it faded. I have a feeling that Ferrari will bring in updates to make their car compatible to take pole for the race.
2. Race Winner
The McLarens will eventually win the race. The track will suit them better than the previous 2 races and you can expect the gap between the chasing pack to be big. However, rain can spoil their party and end up causing another Australia type situation. Amongst the drivers I think Oscar Piastri will win for the second weekend in a row.
3. Biggest Surprise
Fernando Alonso will have a good weekend and he’ll finish the race for the first time this season. After a poor start, the 2-time world champion will have a splendid weekend and will get some much-needed points for his team.
4. Flop of the Weekend
Liam Lawson is going to have a horror show in Japan as he tries to combat his demotion. He’ll be quite ambitious to prove Red Bull wrong for replacing him with Tsunoda. However, this will be his doing and he’ll not have a good weekend in F1s Japanese GP.
2025 Japanese GP Timings IST
The 2025 Japanese GP weekend starts on 4th of April and ends with the race on 6th April. The schedule for the weekend is
Friday
- Practice 1: 8 am
- Practice 2: 11:30 am
Saturday
- Practice 3: 8 am
- Qualifying: 11:30 am
Sunday
- Main Race: 10:30 am
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