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Max Verstappen, the Samurai is back in business

Constantly on the edge of the sword, the Dutch warrior brought out the best in his art to defeat the McLarens on this monster Suzuka circuit where confidence reigns supreme. In Japan, Verstappen-san reminded everyone who has been the world champion for the past four years.

Published 07/04/2025 à 18:00

Jean-Michel Desnoues

  Comment on this article! 4

Max Verstappen, the Samurai is back in business

© Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Superlatives come thick and fast. Unable to form a sentence, Christian Horner saturates the radio link with hyperbole. It might sound grandiloquent, but it isn't. Max Verstappen had just produced a masterclass. The course was masterful, commanding respect. In the front row for the entire race, the drivers McLaren took a lesson while writing on much better paper. Formula 1, victory depends mainly on the machine, but not this time. This Sunday, on the arbiter that is Suzuka, it was Max Verstappen who made the difference. Him alone!

On this circuit where confidence is king, the Dutchman took advantage of his incredible feeling and his unique car control to use less downforce than his rivals without losing pace or tire longevity. The day before, these same qualities had allowed him to take a stratospheric pole position (0 ahead of Norris) who had already left the competition speechless and his prolific boss speechless. Already, all the credit for the performance, one of the best ever seen at Suzuka, went to him. The demonstration had been revealing of the skillset that makes him one of the greatest drivers of all time, even though he had clearly indicated before Q1 that his RB21 was far from being to his liking.

It is in the first sector, particularly in the fast perimeter which

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Comment on this article! 4

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F1 Japanese Grand Prix Max Verstappen Red Bull
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Comments

4 Comment (s)

N

Navel

08/04/2025 at 04:11 a.m.

Given the qualities of his car, he will have a hard time repeating it, but at least if he is not champion, he will have crushed his teammate more than any of the other current number 1s.

V

vincent moyet

07/04/2025 at 11:52 a.m.

As for Aston Martin, I feel like the project is failing from all sides. Even with Honda and Newey, getting things back on track would be a miracle.

V

vincent moyet

07/04/2025 at 11:49 a.m.

This only reinforces my idea that it was the FIA ​​who helped him so as not to bury the championship too quickly. With less downforce, if softer tires had been brought by Pirelli, he would have destroyed them and would have been eaten by the McLarens (that's the scenario I imagined, by the way). So a choice of tailor-made tires to allow Max to spice up the championship??

Yves-Henri RANDIER

07/04/2025 at 10:20 a.m.

Great art, both in qualifying and in the race, especially when the closest rivals have a more powerful machine! Undeniably the signature of a Very Great. As for the complimentary comment about Honda, should we see it as a regret from Verstappen linked to the end of this victorious collaboration? Unless it is - already? - a possible nod to the future Aston Martin / Honda / Newey trio?

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