- April 8, 2025
Max Verstappen Wins Japanese GP But Tips Hat To McLaren’s Speed: ‘You Wouldn’t Have Seen Me’ | Sports News – News18
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Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix but feels title rivals McLaren have a faster car.
Max Verstappen is second in the standings. (AP Photo)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen seems to be pretty impressed with McLaren’s car for the 2025 Formula 1 season. The four-time World Champion securing his first win of the ongoing season at the Japanese Grand Prix in
Despite the triumph, Verstappen believed McLaren still has the faster car.
After securing his first win this year, the Dutch-Belgian claimed he was happy with his performance on the racing weekend. “I’m very happy with what I’m doing,” he told Dutch TV station ViaPlay.
Verstappen later added that fans wouldn’t even be able to see him if he had McLaren’s car. “I don’t even want to think about it if I’d been in that other car [McLaren]. Then you wouldn’t have seen me,” he said.
Verstappen won his fourth consecutive Grand Prix event in Suzuka, fending off both McLaren drivers on Sunday. He had already secured a stunning pole position a day before his Grand Prix win.
The Dutch driver later revealed he didn’t believe he could win this year in Japan.
“When I came here, I didn’t expect to win here at all – and after Friday, not at all,” he said. “Starting on the pole was the most important thing this weekend. McLaren, I think, was faster, but they couldn’t get into the DRS to make a move.”
Red Bull’s struggles with their RB21 car saw them miss out on crucial points in Melbourne and Shanghai. It even led to Liam Lawson being demoted to Racing Bulls, making way for Yuki Tsunoda’s arrival as Verstappen’s new teammate.
While Verstappen was not a fan of the change, he put his feelings aside after the Japanese Grand Prix triumph and acknowledged his team’s collective efforts. He felt Red Bull had unlocked more pace from the RB21 in Suzuka.
“In the end, it’s always a team that works well together, with GP [Gianpiero Lambiase] and this weekend I also had another performance engineer, Hugh Bird. I worked with him until the end of 2020 as well and that went well,” Verstappen concluded.
While Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda still finished outside of championship points in 12th place. It means Red Bull still trails McLaren in the overall Constructors’ standings with 61 points to 111.
Verstappen, however, has narrowed the Drivers’ standings to a mere one-point difference with Lando Norris in the lead.
