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Motorsport

Why the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix wasn’t boring

Max Verstappen F1 Lando Norris Japanese Grand Prix McLaren Oscar Piastri Red Bull Racing Suzuka (Facility) Motorsport Images United States

The 2025 Japanese Grand Prix wasn’t a thriller. But to say it was boring would do an injustice not only to the race itself, but to one of the greatest performances by one of the greatest drivers in F1 history.

It wasn’t a race F1 would win new fans with. Surely, for someone who happened to turn on the TV (is that still a thing?) early Sunday morning in Europe, or very late on Saturday night in the US, and saw an F1 race for the first time, it wouldn’t have been one to get them hooked.

But for those who have followed F1 for years, this race had something to offer. Not an overtaking fest, but a masterclass drive from one of the sport’s greats.

Perfection is sometimes boring, but knowing the context, it surely wasn’t a walk in the park for Max Verstappen. Holding off two faster cars for 53 laps is something perhaps only he could do – and doing it with seeming ease made it all the more impressive.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images)

No, Suzuka isn’t the best track for overtaking – but is it impossible to pass? No. One lock-up might have been all Lando Norris needed to get close and launch an attack. Yet Verstappen was flawless.

Of course, it wasn’t Imola 2005 all over again. Norris wasn’t glued to the rear wing of Verstappen’s Red Bull, nor was he constantly switching lines trying to provoke a mistake. McLaren was never close enough to truly get excited about a wheel-to-wheel battle. But it still was a chase from start to finish – with an added bonus in the form of the pit exit fight.

Sometimes we have to choose what to moan about.

Isn’t it common to long for the old days when drivers could push flat out from start to finish? Isn’t keeping old-school tracks on the F1 calendar a frequent point of nostalgia among true fans? Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix – with cooler temperatures that effectively eliminated tyre degradation and allowed drivers not to worry about rubber management – was exactly that. In some ways, it was a race for “true” F1 fans.

And what about the cars being the dominant factor in the result? It’s absolutely true that you can’t win in F1 without a good car – but Suzuka was a reminder that driver talent still counts. Sometimes it’s even enough to beat faster cars.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images)

Would such a win be possible at other tracks? Probably not. If the same scenario plays out this weekend in Bahrain, Max may not be able to hang on. Surely, Norris – and probably Oscar Piastri too – would have had a better chance to pass Verstappen somewhere like Austin with its long back straight.

But ultimately, would two DRS passes have made the Japanese GP any more spectacular? That depends, of course, on how fiercely Max would’ve defended – and he’s not someone who gives up easily – but if Suzuka’s layout had allowed more overtaking, we might’ve seen a McLaren one-two. And that would've been boring, for sure!

Much has been said about the race being decided on Saturday – and the finishing order, which largely mirrored qualifying, confirms that. But even if that’s true, it only makes Verstappen’s win more spectacular. Because if the race was won thanks to a 0.012s margin – with the Dutchman delivering a truly stunning lap – that’s peak F1. The top three on Saturday were split by just 0.044s. How is that not spectacular?

What it shows is that ultimate speed still matters in F1. Had Verstappen been a fraction slower on his final lap in qualifying, he wouldn’t have left Suzuka with just a one-point gap to Norris in the standings. And arguably, there’s more to celebrate about this race than complain about: the better driver won on what is widely hailed as a ‘drivers’ track’.

The truth is, F1 won’t always deliver a spectacle in terms of overtakes. There will be dull races, no matter what rules are introduced. But that’s true of any sport. Still, is every 0–0 between top soccer teams automatically more boring than a goal-fest in the lower leagues? The beauty of elite sport lies in tension too – and there was plenty of that in Suzuka on Sunday.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Peter Fox - Getty Images)

After all, if it was only about spectacle, Moto3 would have already overtaken every other motorsport in ratings.

Sure, the 2025 Japanese GP wasn’t the best race ever. But it was one to remember, thanks to Verstappen. He’s contributed to his fair share of processional races, pulling away from the pack and cruising to the finish. But his drive in Suzuka was something else. If anything, it was one of the greatest individual athletic performances. And if you add the team effort – delivering a car capable of fighting the McLarens on Saturday and executing the perfect strategy on Sunday – it becomes even more special.

And Suzuka… Well, maybe it’s not modern enough to allow proper wheel-to-wheel racing in the massive F1 cars of today. But that’s no reason to call Hermann Tilke for some corners to be redesigned. The F1 world championship has 24 races on 24 different tracks, and if a few of them still reward a great lap in qualifying, that’s not a bad thing.

In any case, there’s no doubt that many of those who turned on their TVs specifically to watch this Grand Prix didn’t walk away disappointed.