Japanese Grand Prix: Stage Preview

      The legendary Suzuki is one of the best tracks of the old school. Continuing to experiment with the calendar, Liberty Media moved the Japanese stage to spring, everything went well in 2024, and they decided to leave the date, but the fate of the title, as it has been 14 times in history, will not be decided by the Japanese Grand Prix.

      Ayrton Senna won all three of his titles in Suzuka, Michael Schumacher won one in Aida and two in Suzuka, Mika Hakkinen won both titles in Suzuka. In addition to them, James Hunt (1976), Nelson Piquet (1987), Alain Prost (1989), Damon Hill (1996), Sebastian Vettel (2011) and Max Verstappen (2022) became champions in Japan.

      The Japanese Grand Prix will be held so early for the first time – on April 6th. It's already warm in Suzuka, Sakura is blooming, and the probability of precipitation and cloudy days is much lower now than in October, when the stage was held before, which will reduce the risk of postponing sessions due to rain and add color to the television picture.

      The Japanese Grand Prix opens a series of three consecutive Eastern stages in Suzuka, Bahrain and Jeddah. After a bright start in Australia and China, the three upcoming stages will be a continuation of the tests. The alignment of forces and weaknesses of the cars are more or less clear, all stages will be full-fledged, with three hours of training each – it's time to work hard to be in the best shape by Miami and the beginning of the European part of the season.

      The story of debutants being fired after several races, as with Lawson, is like tracing paper from the events of the distant past. The ease with which Helmut Marko juggles the fates of young racers suggests that racers are not the main thing in it.

      Marco kicked out some of the Red Bull Junior Team members earlier, some lasted longer, some even got a chance in Formula 1, but the ending of the story was always the same – the drivers were fired. The only real successes were achieved by Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, who did not train at Red Bull, but Marco offered them something that was not in other programs – a direct path to Formula 1.

      The longest-serving drivers were those who ended up at Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri/RB, where the principled Franz Tost, who led the team, said more than once that it takes two years for a young driver to get comfortable in Formula 1, and only after that can you demand something from him.

      There have been no major victories in Lawson's career. He won his only title in 2019 in his home Toyota Racing Series, then he was fifth in Formula 3, fifth in Formula 2, second in DTM. The New Zealander made his Formula 1 debut in 2023 for AlphaTauri, then ran six races in 2024, and learned about the appointment of Max Verstappen as a team-mate before Christmas, with only 11 Grands Prix under his belt.

      Marco did not take the experienced Tsunoda, who had spent four years in Formula 1, but preferred the smiling New Zealander, who would have looked much more advantageous in Red Bull's marketing campaigns than the fast but gloomy Japanese.

      It's impossible to imagine that Marco didn't know something about Lawson, that he didn't have information about his psychological form, about working under pressure. The program has a psychologist and all the necessary specialists on staff. Why did he invite Lawson to play Max's partner when he had the same Yuki Tsunoda, and the experienced Carlos Sainz had been looking for a team for a long time? Was it because he didn't want Verstappen to have rivals inside the team?

      It is impossible to imagine how a young racer feels, who has been striving for a goal all his life, and has already achieved it, but finds himself in a situation where all the problems of the project and an unsuccessful car are pinned on him, which only Verstappen can handle.  Let's see how Liam develops at Racing Bulls, whether he has the spirit to leave everything behind.

      Someone will object that many people did not have such an opportunity, and they will be right, but they, who are used to fighting their way on their own, had a choice, but Helmut Marko's wards did not.

      Just like last year, the season started with a scandal. Then the crisis almost led to a change of leadership, but Horner and Marco resisted, and those who had a choice – Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Rob Marshall and many other leading experts have left. Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez, who found themselves in almost the same situation as Lawson, were fired.

      This story became another link in the chain of events that took place at Red Bull after the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, who always supported Marco in everything, who actually built this team. Marko doesn't have that kind of support right now, but there is an understanding that it will be impossible to repeat past successes, so it should be continued.

      All winning teams are happy in their own way, all losers are equally unhappy.

      McLaren has only one path this year – to the championship title.  Against the background of the weakening Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, which has taken a long-term pause and Ferrari, which continues to look for itself, McLaren simply has no chance of losing. They have to win this year.

      How Jenson Button should have won the double-diffuser BAR in 2009, realizing that there might not be another chance. The regulations will change soon, and now we can only guess who will be stronger in 2026.

      McLaren is doing everything right, the main thing is not to miss the situation with the drivers, not to use team tactics before it is really necessary. An undercover struggle can ruin both the mood and the result. Right now, the main thing for them is to earn maximum points in each race, leaving nothing for their rivals, as in China, and the upcoming series of three races in a row will answer many questions.