Verstappen's Suzuka victory shows why McLaren still have an uphill battle

credit: F1

Max Verstappen’s calm and collected drive at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix was more than enough to keep both McLaren cars behind his RB21, as he sailed to victory in a statement drive, delivering the message that the Dutchman is not going to give up his Drivers’ Championship trophy as easily as we may think.

Verstappen converted yet another pole position into a victory at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, fending off McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in a statement tour around Suzuka, to prove that the Drivers' Championship is still very much his to lose. Norris was held off rather comfortably by Verstappen, the only real 'challenge' being an incident at the pit lane exit, with Norris trying desperately to get past the race leader, only to end up on the grass, and further away from Verstappen in the end.

Let it not be understated: the Suzuka Circuit is Verstappens' track. It has been since 2022, when the new aerodynamic regulations first came into play, and Verstappens' dominance truly started. Verstappen took pole position with a blistering lap, and then proceeded to claim a dominant victory on Sunday. He then repeated that in 2023, 2024 and of course 2025. This is no detriment to the number one drivers' pole-to-victory conversion, which is one of the best the sport has ever seen in its' entire history.

This time around, the Dutchmans' masterclass began on Saturday once again during the qualifying session, which saw him post a remarkable lap time of 1m.26.983s, and smashing the previous all time lap record. This record was broken during the race by Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who posted the official fastest lap in race trim, a 1m.30.965s. This didn't take away from Verstappens' excellence however, as that qualifying lap proved that he is very much still in this title fight, and will extract performance from a car that is arguably the fourth fastest on the grid.

credit: F1

What makes this performance so magical in the eyes of many, is the sheer will by Verstappen to simply make the RB21 perform, despite the data and results suggesting that the car itself isn't very good. An example of this was the season opener in Australia, where Verstappen was able to bring his car up to a second place finish despite how the car was behaving. Even with the Dutchman finishing outside of the podium positions in China, no one could truly count him out for a strong finish in Japan - not when history shows his dominance there.

McLaren, and the rest of the grid for that matter, were quite shocked by Verstappens' pole and subsequent victory in Suzuka, simply because the Papaya team seemed to have too much class and performance for anyone else to mount a true challenge. McLaren are still deemed favorites to win both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships by seasons' end, with the Woking team winning two races from two up until Japan, with Norris taking victory in Melbourne, and Piastri in China. However, it seems Verstappen is still keen on pipping either of these drivers to the trophy and claim his fifth World Championship in a row.

credit: F1

McLaren has a 'Papaya rules' system in effect at the team, which essentially avoids favoring a given driver, and instead focus on the result that is best for the team as a whole. This works, until it doesn't. McLaren will need to decide who will challenge Verstappen if it is to come to that, which is challenging considering how close Piastri now is to Norris in qualifying and race trim. Verstappen will be looking to capitalize on any possible friction between the two Papaya drivers, however his raw pace and performance suggests the Dutchman may not even need those set of circumstances to unfold - he will simply go for it regardless.

It is a strict winning mentality that we have seen before in the sport as a whole, Schumacher, Vettel and Senna being notable names. This attitude is what molds a champion, those who are not afraid to take risks, go for an overtake when it doesn't seem possible, and assert themselves as the absolute best of the best. Verstappen believes he must win at all costs, he plays aggressive and competitive, doesn't like losing, and will do whatever he can in his power to avoid it. That is the type of attitude converted into performance that separates him from the rest of the field, and proves that he is among the very best, and he remains the man to beat yet.