Coming into Suzuka, the chatter in the F1 paddock was all about Yuki Tsunoda replacing Liam Lawson at Red Bull. Being promoted to a top team that too at his home Grand Prix, the Japanese driver was followed by fans and hounded by the media as he stepped into the car that has won the last four drivers’ world titles.
In the three practice sessions too, the cameras followed Tsunoda, and the commentators discussed the switch apart from the obvious talk on McLaren, the fastest team of 2025. In qualifying, while Tsunoda disappointed by not even making Q3, the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri expectedly locked out the front row.
Until a certain Max Verstappen delivered a blistering lap out of the blue in the dying seconds to seize a sensational and unexpected pole — his first since Austria in June 2024. Watching in the media pen, the 1:26.983-lap drew a big smile from two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. “Only he can do it,” he said.
Even Verstappen’s own team couldn’t believe what he had delivered. “Unbelievable. We did not expect that. Getting that pole was completely against the run of form that we’ve been seeing,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told Sky Sports.
But the job was far from done. The only thing that matters in F1 is what happens on a Sunday afternoon which is why Verstappen’s response was subdued despite being elated at pulling off one of his greatest laps ever.
On Sunday, Verstappen showed why he is a four-time world champion, delivering a masterful drive to not just keep both the McLarens at bay, but also claiming a brilliant pole-to-flag win, his fourth successive at Suzuka, breaking Michael Schumacher’s record (2000-02).
Verstappen’s drive was reminiscent of some of the great drives of the past when the driver won in spite of not having the fastest car, mastering conditions in which a normal driver would easily make errors, soak up pressure to deliver an immaculate drive.
It rekindled memories of the 2008 Japanese GP when Alonso won in an underperforming Renault or the 2009 Hungarian GP when Lewis Hamilton clinched an unlikely victory when new regulations had upended the existing order.
Michael Schumacher was famous for delivering such drives. Take the 1996 Spanish GP for example, when Schumacher delivered quite probably the greatest drive of his career which earned him the title of ‘rain master’.
The German won with a huge gap of 45 seconds, fighting back from the middle of the field, in spite of a clutch problem he had to deal with for the entirety of the race against cars that were much faster.
Every now and then these greats have delivered such drives that clearly separate them from the rest.
Japan surely ranks among one of Verstappen’s greatest drives. Throughout the weekend, the Red Bull didn’t look quick with the 27-year-old himself having gearshift issues.
Verstappen’s ability to drive the car beyond its designed capabilities is what sets him apart, squeezing out every ounce of performance from the car. He needed to be error free and inch perfect to pull-off an unlikely win at a circuit which challenges even the best.
“The car is clearly not at the level to fight for pole or even the top five. But he manages to do those magical laps and magical weekends. At the moment, he’s the best, he’s the reference for all of us, and we need to keep improving to reach that level,” said Alonso, regarded as one of the greatest ever.
The Dutchman didn’t really fly on Sunday — he couldn’t as he didn’t have the fastest car — but did enough to stay ahead of two extremely fast and feisty McLarens who challenged for the win throughout the race.
Verstappen continues to prove that no matter how fast the car is, the driver is the biggest differentiator, something that places him second, just a point behind championship leader Norris in the standings, in a car that is far from the best on the grid.
