A moment of genius, we all called it on Saturday, after Max Verstappen plucked one of the great qualifying laps from thin air. But surely just a moment.
Especially when you have two snarling McLarens, those papaya-coloured rocketships, tattooed in your mirrors for 53 laps of a race.
But the greatest driver of his generation doesn’t do flukes. Not even when his car is far from the strongest on the grid. Not even when he doesn’t have a team-mate who drives in the same stratosphere for added protection. No need anyway.
This was a Max masterclass. Nerveless after starting from the front. Tunnel-vision until the chequered flag.
He did not put a foot wrong in claiming victory at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. His first win of the 2025 season sandwiches him between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings.
But more importantly, this felt like the day a warning shot was fired. All the talk has been around McLaren’s dominance. The debate has been which of their two drivers are best positioned to push for the title. Little chance has been given to those rivals down the paddock.
Yet Verstappen did what Verstappen does. Laugh in the face of his doubters. Leave them trailing in his wake.
Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix with a masterclass performance at Suzuka
Lando Norris finished second and was unable to get ahead of Verstappen at any point
His race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase summarised it best. ‘Perfection. Just perfection, Max,’ he told his man.
Verstappen said: ‘The two McLarens were pushing me very hard; it was a lot of fun out there. I’m incredibly happy, it started off quite tough this weekend but we didn’t give up, we improved the car.’
The closest Norris really ever got was a brush in the pitlane. It almost ended in disaster for the Brit, who pointed the finger of blame at Verstappen. It felt like an act of desperation. Norris simply ran out of road.
He reflected: ‘It’s racing. He was still ahead, it squeezes into one and Max is the last guy to give me any space in a good way, in a racing way, nothing more than that.’
It was a day Norris opted to play the waiting game. Biding his time during a processional opening 20 laps.
McLaren’s attempts to play it cool almost unravelled at the end of lap 18 when Norris was told by his team to pit in order to overtake Verstappen. A late change of heart ordered the early championship leader to stay out.
But, at the end of lap 21, it was Verstappen who jumped first by coming in for a new set of medium tyres. Norris went blow-for-blow and headed in too.
The pit exit lane was only going to be wide enough for one of them, though. And after being released almost alongside Verstappen, whose nose was just in front, Norris had to take evasive action and bumped up onto the grass.
Norris protested. ‘He forced me off,’ said the Brit. Verstappen defended. ‘He drove himself into the grass,’ said the Red Bull man.
The Dutchman is never shy in getting his elbows out but, on this occasion, had every right to stand his ground. It left Norris forced to do his overtaking on the track instead.
But that isn’t easy around this famous old track. A drivers’ favourite, it may be, but it is not one for those looking to claw their way up the grid. The high-speed corners make it particularly tricky to make a jump on a rival. Norris is only too aware of that.
Instead, as Verstappen was told to push again, it was Piastri who was the quicker of the two McLarens. He asked why Norris wasn’t pushing on closer to Verstappen.
His team explained that’s all the Brit had to offer. ‘I think I have the pace to get Max,’ replied the Australian.
But Piastri didn’t have enough to get past Norris, ending third. It was all too little, too late as a flawless Verstappen strolled to victory.
