The third Formula One (F1) race of the 2025 season took place early Sunday morning. This round took place in Japan at the Suzuka International Racing Course.
There were many exciting expectations that people had coming into this race. The main one has to do with Yuki Tsunoda, new driver for Oracle Red Bull Racing. This was a big deal since it was his first race with the team and it was happening at his home race.
Red Bull is one of the best teams in F1. They have had historic drivers such as Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, and more. Over the past three years, they have upped their game in the sport, making them become one of the most dominating teams F1 fans have ever seen. In the 2023 season, Verstappen won 19 races out of 23 in total with Red Bull. This accomplishment made him beat his own record from the years prior of having the most race wins in one season.
The team has had much success with help from Verstappen’s racing abilities. However, their second racing seat has typically struggled more in comparison to Verstappen. Sergio Perez, Oracle Red Bull racing driver, has been a part of Red Bull since 2021.
Over the years since 2021, Perez’s racing achievements have started to decline each year. Typically finishing a race towards the back of the grid. This ongoing issue needed to end. This is why Red Bull didn’t renew their contract with Perez for the 2025 season and instead signed rookie driver Liam Lawson.
Lawson was a reserve driver for Red Bull’s junior F1 team in 2024. Within the few races he was a part of, he showed a lot of dominance and upcoming talent. This is why he was presented with an offer to take over Perez’s seat for the next season.
When this news was announced, many fans were disappointed since they all believed that Yuki Tsunoda was the more deserving driver out of the two. He has been a part of Red Bull’s junior team since 2021.
He consistently delivered results that were impressive for a mid-field team. Fans were interested in seeing whether Lawson could live up to the pressure, since driving a Red Bull car with barely any prior experience is an intense challenge.
In the first two races, Australia and China, Lawson seemed to crumble under the pressure. He didn’t improve in any of the races. Red Bull believed that they needed to get a better driver for the car as soon as possible which is why Red Bull made the decision to swap Lawson and Tsunoda.
In Tsunoda’s first qualifying session with Red Bull in Japan, he placed 14th. Although it isn’t as good as his prior qualifying’s with the Racing Bulls. It was an improvement from Lawson’s placements, which were in the very back of the grid.
After much effort from Tsunoda during the race, he was only able to move up two places, finishing in 12th place. Other than seeing the results from Tsunoda’s performance, not much else happened during the Japanese Grand Prix.
The top ten who started the race stayed in the top ten at the end of the race, making this race not as interesting as the past two GPs. However, history was made during this race. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver, set the fastest lap ever recorded in Japan. This accomplishment has made him the youngest F1 driver to ever set a fastest lap at just 18 years old.
The top three were Max Verstappen with the Red Bulls and Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for 2nd and 3rd for the McLarens. These drivers’ consistency will make for a tough battle for the World and Driver Championships.