IT'S RACE WEEK: 5 storylines we're excited about ahead of the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix

Two races into the season and we’ve already had plenty of storylines and controversy, along with multiple winners. So as the first triple header of the season gets underway, there’s a lot to talk about as we head to Suzuka.

Yuki-mania

Red Bull confirmed a driver change after just two rounds of the season last week, with Yuki Tsunoda promoted to partner Max Verstappen, and Liam Lawson returning to Racing Bulls.

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To just focus on the Tsunoda aspect of the decision, it creates an enormous amount of excitement and interest ahead of his home race, the Japanese driver finally gets his chance to race for Red Bull early in what is his fifth season in F1, and it comes off the back of some consistently strong performances.

But Tsunoda certainly doesn’t face an easy task. As Lawson found in the opening races, and Sergio Perez before him, the Red Bull is currently a really tricky car to drive. Team Principal Christian Horner highlighted the importance of Tsunoda’s experience in trying to develop the car, but the fact that Verstappen has struggled for pace at different times shows just how difficult the situation currently is.

Liam Lawson replaced by Yuki Tsunoda

There were reasons for hope at the end of the last race in China, though, with Verstappen extremely competitive in his final stint and taking the positives from that improvement, so Tsunoda will be hoping to get up to speed as quickly as possible. He’ll certainly do so with an enormous amount of support at Suzuka this weekend.

How will Lawson respond?

On the other side of the coin, Tsunoda’s promotion sees Lawson having to deal with the disappointment of leaving Red Bull after such a tough start to the year. The New Zealander struggled in each of the first two races, and the team acted quickly to make a change.

Lawson initially got the nod over Tsunoda because he performed extremely impressively during his 11 races for the Racing Bulls team, and now will return to that set-up to try and regain his confidence.

Verstappen himself was supportive of Lawson in China, pointing out that he felt the Racing Bulls car was an easier car to drive and that his team mate would be quicker in that than the Red Bull RB21, and Lawson now has the chance to prove that theory correct.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 21: Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the — Lawson will be looking to regain his confidence as he returns to Racing Bulls from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards

He’s certainly returning to a familiar environment, and not only has he scored good results there before, but the team have also helped a number of drivers continue their development after returning from partnering Verstappen, particularly Pierre Gasly who rebuilt his reputation after a 12-race stint at Red Bull in 2019.

Lawson will be keen to get off to a strong start, but will face a similar challenge to Tsunoda as he has to adapt to a new car as quickly as possible, on a track that can really punish mistakes.

The McLaren driver fight

No such driver changes required at McLaren in recent years, but there has been management of both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri required as they have fought for wins more often.

The pair now have one win each to their names after Piastri’s impressive performance in China, but it is Norris who holds the early advantage in the Drivers’ Championship as he sits 10 points clear of his team mate.

2025 Chinese Grand Prix: Piastri storms to victory in McLaren 1-2

In Japan last year, Norris qualified a strong third and went on to finish fifth, while Piastri was unable to match the Briton and came home eighth. But Piastri’s development curve has been extremely steep over the past two years and it will be another test of his improvement to see how he fares this weekend.

So far the two drivers have been close at certain points of a race weekend but are yet to have a full-on battle on track this year. Could this be the first time we see the two title contenders going wheel to wheel in 2025?

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If we do get that, it will be in a spectacular setting, with Suzuka a firm drivers’ favourite thanks to its flow, high-speed corners and changes of direction. Add in the incredible atmosphere created by the fans, and we could be treated to a heck of a show.

Ferrari needing more points on the board

While the battle between the two McLaren drivers was expected this season, something that wasn’t predicted was such a low return for Ferrari after the opening two rounds.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 23: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 leads — Ferrari are down in fifth place of the Teams' standings following their double disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix

Fred Vasseur’s team were touted as one of the favourites to challenge for both Championships, with huge excitement and interest surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s arrival to partner Charles Leclerc. But while there have been some flashes of potential – most notably the Sprint pole and victory for Hamilton in Shanghai – there have also been missed opportunities.

After a tough Melbourne, Ferrari did enjoy a more competitive weekend in China, but could not replicate the Saturday form in Sunday’s race, with Leclerc finishing fifth ahead of Hamilton in sixth. Then came the dramatic double-disqualification a few hours after the race, and for the first time in history Ferrari had both cars disqualified from a Grand Prix.

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That leaves them fifth in the Teams’ Championship at this early stage, level on points with fourth-placed Williams and some 61 points adrift of McLaren already.

Although Vasseur will want the team to unlock more of their obvious performance on a more consistent basis, getting some solid points under their belt will be important to avoid giving themselves a big gap to close later in the season.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 21: Carlos Sainz of Spain and Williams looks on in the garage during — Sainz faced a tough weekend during his second outing for Williams in Shanghai

Sainz seeking answers at Williams

I mention Williams in fourth in the Teams’ Championship alongside Ferrari, but the encouraging start to the new season has not extended to Carlos Sainz’s side of the garage so far.

Sainz looked extremely competitive during pre-season testing and was happy with how he had seamlessly slotted in at Williams, also showing strong pace during the first part of the Australian Grand Prix weekend. But after crashing early in that opening race, he has struggled since.

The Spaniard was particularly puzzled by his lack of pace during the second weekend in Shanghai, as he couldn’t understand why he was finding the car so challenging, having been in a much better place with it earlier in the year. He opted for a set-up close to team mate Alex Albon’s for the race, but still faced different difficulties.

The start to the season was a tough one for many drivers as they tried to get used to new teams and environments during a back-to-back set of races that included a Sprint, but they will at least have now had some time to analyse the data over the past 10 days, and Sainz will be looking to regain that early optimism.