RACE REACTIONS FROM THE FORMULA 1 LENOVO JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2025
Japan
WHAT THE TEAMS SAID
Red Bull Racing
Max
VERSTAPPEN
"We couldn’t have wished for a better result in our final race with Honda here together. It’s been amazing and I’m really proud of what we have done. We made all of the right calls during the race, were constantly pushing and our tyres weren’t overheating so much due to the colder tyre temperature which helped us. [Qualifying] was a beautiful day for us and the key to the win was to start from pole. We maximised everything we could and to follow this up with the win is fantastic. We know our limitations and still have work to do. We are just finding where we can push the car to the limit and need to maximise everything that we can to get the best out of the car and make it more balanced.
"Finally, this is a perfect send off for Honda and our relationship is something I will never forget. I’ve enjoyed my time with them and how they work: they are so professional and dedicated and they have given me so much. Together to win four Drivers' Championships and two Constructors’ Championships is unbelievable. It did cross my mind whilst driving that it would be insane to win here at a home track for Honda, so that gave me a bit of motivation as well. It’s a proper send off and we couldn’t have wished for a better weekend."
Yuki
TSUNODA
"It’s tough because I wanted to at least finish in the points. I am happy with the race in terms of what I have learnt but not in terms of result, so it’s mixed feelings. I was feeling a lot of support from the crowd, every lap it felt more and I wanted to give something more back to them. At least I know I did the maximum I could in the race. I now know what kind of things I need to work on. I was stuck behind cars all day in traffic so it’s hard to know the full race pace of this car but, every lap, I was building up my confidence in the car. That confidence level is now completely different from the beginning of the weekend, I feel positive about that, but I am still disappointed because it is a home Grand Prix and it’s only once a year.
"I need to reset before Bahrain and compared to what I was feeling, in terms of car and in terms of confidence, it will naturally be better there.
"A big congrats to Max, it is good to see one of the Honda engines win at our home Grand Prix, in their final year of collaborating with Red Bull. And finally, a special thanks to the Japanese fans, I feel like there were more than ever and I feel very honoured to represent them. I am very happy to be able to drive in front of them as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, with a Honda engine."
McLaren
Lando
NORRIS
"A tough race, it was flat-out from start to finish but the pace was too similar to do anything. Max drove a good race with no mistakes, and it ultimately came down to Qualifying positions.
"It’s still been a very good weekend for the team securing more points together, but we will continue to work hard as we head to the next one in Bahrain."
Oscar
PIASTRI
"A good haul of points and a nice result for the team. I think the pace was really good and I was very happy with that. We got close for the overtake a few times, but track position around here is just so important. I think [Qualifying] was the day where you effectively won the race, and we just didn’t put it all together, so I'll absolutely take the podium. We go to Bahrain with a lot of positives, and ready to challenge again."
Ferrari
Charles
LECLERC
"It was a bit of a lonely race for me. P4 is not a result we are ever satisfied with, but looking at the positives of the weekend, the work we did on Friday in terms of set-up adjustment and the learnings we take into the next races have paid off. We made good progress, but we have to keep our heads down and keep working before we come to any conclusions. The front runners still have quite an advantage in terms of pace. For now, we have to focus on maximizing the points we bring home, which we did, and hopefully later in the season we can fight for the top positions."
Lewis
HAMILTON
"That was a tough race for us. We didn’t have the pace to challenge the top three, and that’s something we’ll be working hard to address ahead of the next rounds. I went with a setup that felt good overall, but it just didn’t give me everything I needed out there.
"The team’s been doing an incredible job, and we’ll keep pushing together to find those gains. The fans have been amazing all weekend – their energy and support means a lot."
Mercedes
George
RUSSELL
"[The] race was a frustrating one. With the top six cars all finishing where they started, it was a Grand Prix dictated by qualifying performance. It was a relatively easy one-stop strategy and, on a circuit that is very difficult to overtake at, there were few opportunities to make forward progress. We tried our best to make the undercut work on Leclerc at the end of our first stint. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite have the pace to pull it off with the traffic that we had to clear in those two laps. Whatever strategy we had attempted though, I think we would have ultimately finished P5.
"Our frustration mainly comes from the fact that we didn’t optimise Qualifying. With the pace we showed over practice, we had a car that could have been competing for the front two rows of the grid. It is the first qualifying session of the year where we haven’t maximised our full potential. That was a shame, but we can bounce back straight away in Bahrain. It is a very different track to Suzuka, much hotter and a more abrasive circuit. It will be fascinating to see where everyone’s relative performance is and is going to be another test for everyone."
Kimi
ANTONELLI
"[It] was a good race from my side. I am happy with how it went and the speed we were able to show. Once I got in free air, the pace really improved, and I was able to extend my stint on the Medium tyre. That was a good feeling. Once we switched to the Hard tyre, the car still felt positive. I was able to put in some consistent lap times. I was catching the cars ahead but ran out of time in the end to get on the back of them. It was also a nice feeling to lead the race for a few laps and become the youngest driver in F1 history to have done so. The next goal is to do that on the only lap that matters: the final one!
"It [was] a good weekend overall. It’s a great track and one that I felt that I was getting on top of by the end of the weekend. Every time I get in the car, I am building my learning and feeling more comfortable with the W16. I am looking forward to heading to Bahrain. Hopefully we can keep improving and begin to fight for some of the positions further forward."
Racing Bulls
Isack
HADJAR
"That was a long and exhausting race, but we did the maximum we could have done, and honestly, I feel like we executed a perfect race, so a very well done to the team. Achieving P8 was our target today as Lewis was out of reach. We put it all together maximizing our performance, and therefore we’ve been able to achieve this result on merit, without benefitting from any issues of the others. I couldn’t be happier to be rewarded with my first points in F1 here in Suzuka after a weekend like that. I felt comfortable in the car and I think it suited me very well. There was almost no degradation on track, so I was flat out all the time and I didn’t really leave anything on the table. Now we look at racing in Bahrain, and it gives us confidence as I think we can be up there too."
Liam
LAWSON
"Firstly, a massive well done to Isack for getting his first points in F1, he did a great job. On our side, it was a tough start, lap one was pretty tricky; I went a little bit wide in Turn 13, and then it was just a train from there. It was hard to overtake, but I don’t think from where we were it would have been possible to move from there. There’s been positives to take from the weekend, in general, the car has been pretty good, obviously it takes some time to adjust and get used to it. It’s been a pretty crazy few weeks and months, I just want to get into a groove and get racing. We get to go again [in Bahrain] with a new style of track, so we’ll keep chipping away."
