2025 Japanese Grand Prix Preview: 5 Big Talking Points Heading into the Weekend

Linus O'Howell
Apr 3
4 min read

Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull Debut!

Yuki Tsunoda has had an up-and-down Formula 1 career to this point, he’s driven 4 full seasons for AlphaTauri/VCARB, and it’s very much looked like he was never quite destined to drive for the main team. After just 2 Rounds of the 2025 Season, though, and that narrative has changed as Yuki has been given the second Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen! Given all the struggles that previous second Red Bull drivers have faced, it’s going to be extremely tough for Tsunoda, especially heading into a weekend where he’s had barely any time to prepare! However, this weekend just so happens to be in Japan, his Home Race, so to say that the limelight is firmly placed on him would be an understatement! It’s also Honda’s last Home Race with Red Bull too, which only adds to the pressure, and the big question is whether Yuki Tsunoda can handle it or not!

A Couple of Special Liveries

Even though the season has only just started, we already have our first special liveries of the new season! Firstly, Red Bull are running a white and red “Japan flag” livery as a tribute to Honda, and whilst the metallic red is very nice, I don’t think it’s as good as their 2021 version! Secondly, Haas are running a special “Sakura” livery which features plenty of pink to fit the cherry blossom season. This gives me Nissan Formula E Team vibes, and you all know by now how much I love a pink livery! Special liveries tend to have pretty up-and-down results, so it’s going to be interesting to see how RBR and Haas get on!

Mr. Consistency is Back!

During his time at Williams, George Russell was nicknamed “Mr. Saturday” due to his incredible one lap pace which would somehow see him get a lacklustre car way higher up the field than it deserved to be. At the start of his Mercedes career, George was nicknamed “Mr. Consistency” because he went on a run of finishing inside the Top 5 every single weekend! Whilst it hasn’t always been his fault, the consistency dried up a little bit for Russell, but I think it’s fair to say that after two Podium finishes to start the season, that mantra is very much back! In George’s last 10 Races (dating back to Azerbaijan last year), he’s managed to finish inside the Top 6 in every Race and Sprint, and he also has the longest active Q3 streak of anyone on the Grid! It is worth mentioning that Suzuka hasn’t been one of Russell’s strongest tracks; his best finish around there is only 7th (in 2023 and 2024), but you cannot count George out from appearing on the Podium again!

Fernando Alonso Needs to Finish a Race!

Fernando Alonso is widely regarded as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time, someone whose talents deserved more than 2 World Championships! Fernando Alonso is also meant to be the team leader at Aston Martin, a role he has held since joining the team in 2023, but so far this year, things haven’t been going to plan for the Spaniard! In Australia, he spun into the wall during the tricky wet conditions, taking him out of the Race completely whilst in China, he had a brake failure which forced him to retire after only 4 laps! Because of this, not only is Fernando last in this year’s Drivers’ Championship, but he’s also not even classified because he’s still yet to complete a Grand Prix! When you then consider that teammate Lance Stroll has scored points in both of the opening 2 weekends, you have to say that things need to start going a lot better for Alonso because he is far better than what the Standings show!

Another New Chapter for Liam Lawson

After getting his big opportunity at Red Bull Racing for 2025, there were expectations that Liam Lawson might struggle, but that he could perform better than Sergio Perez did. However, anything but that happened as Liam had 2 shocking weekends to start the year, Qualifying last in both Quali sessions in China, and that mixed with a bunch of other factors resulted in Lawson getting dropped from the main team entirely and being demoted back to Racing Bulls! No matter how much Liam was struggling, that decision was extremely harsh and rash, but it was most likely just as much about Yuki and Honda as it was the Kiwi himself! However, there are some positives to this, the Racing Bulls car is far easier to drive than the Red Bull, and if Liam can sort his head out, he should perform much stronger in this car that what he has so far this season! Lawson is still yet to finish higher than 9th in a Grand Prix, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he doesn’t beat that result right out of the gate! All that matters to Liam right now is proving the higher-ups at Red Bull wrong!