Spring is in the air as cherry blossoms bloom in Japan, but Formula One racers were revving their engines at the Suzuka circuit. It wasn’t easy for many, but Red Bull Racing had a near-perfect weekend, finishing 1-2. We look at who won and lost after the fourth round of the Formula One season.
Hit: Maximum points for Verstappen
Following a heartbreaking retirement at the Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen returned to winning ways. The defending champion started from pole position and won the race ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. The Dutchman continues to lead the driver standings by 13 points over Perez.
Good news for Red Bull Racing and Perez, who not only scored crucial points for himself and the team but also managed to bury the ghost of Japan GP 2023. Last year, the Mexican crashed twice and retired from the race twice. According to Christian Horner, “It was a shocker of a race for him (Perez).” All is good in the end since he qualified and finished second.
Hit: Yuki Tsunoda continues his good form
Yuki Tsunoda of RB qualified for the third consecutive time in Q3. The local racer has reached peak form in his F1 career. Tsunoda had a difficult race with a bad start, but he stuck to his guns and finished tenth, gaining one vital point for RB. The local hero picked up pace in the second half of the race and made some crucial overtakes to become the first Japanese driver to win points in Suzuka in 12 years. Tsunoda remains the best driver outside of the top five teams, currently ranking 11th in the driver rankings with seven points.
Hit: Carlos Sainz, man on a mission
Carlos Sainz continues to outperform his teammate Charles Leclerc, except for the Saudi Arabia GP, where he was forced to withdraw. After winning the Australian Grand Prix, the Spaniard finished third in Japan, ahead of Leclerc. It’s hard to believe he still doesn’t have a seat for next season, but if he keeps up his current form, teams will be lining up to sign him. Sainz is fourth in the driver standings, four points behind his teammate, but he has competed in one fewer grand prix.
Miss: Crash Boom Bang for Honeybadger
Daniel Ricciardo had another dismal outing, colliding with Williams’ Alexander Albon on lap one turn three. The race stewards declared it a race incident, although the replay video showed that Ricciardo was so focused on the left side of the car that he clipped Albon’s front wing. The good news for the Australian is that he avoided the penalty.
Ricciardo has not fared well in the 2025 season, with his team Yuki Tsunoda out-qualifying him in all races thus far. After the race, Ricciardo stated, “After the race, Ricciardo said, “It obviously sucks…, but I don’t look at it any more than today being a kind of singular incident. Of course, it would have been nice to get a race under our belt and try to show a little bit of something I felt we were starting to show yesterday. But yes, we’ll do that in China.”
Miss: Disappointing day for McLaren
McLaren sounded confident in their ability to capitalise on face-paced turns and become the best team on the grid after Red Bull. Lando Norris kept optimism alive by qualifying third, but race day was a different story. Norris placed fifth, while teammate Oscar Piastri finished eighth. The squad that finished second and third in Suzuka last year simply lacked the pace to fight, as Norris crossed the finish line 29 seconds behind Verstappen. The only silver lining is that both drivers continue to score points in every race.