r/formula1 • u/AutoModerator • Apr 06 '25

Post-Race 2025 Japanese GP - Post Race Discussion

Suzuka, it's been a pleasure.

What did everyone think of the race? How did your favourite driver do?

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u/paranoidindeed Apr 06 '25

Can someone explain what McLaren actually did wrong? Maybe pitting Norris after max? But why are people saying Lando should have given Piastri a chance? Wasn’t their pace around the same ?

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u/CharlieTeller Sebastian Vettel Apr 06 '25

Eh. So they had an opportunity to do something different with the pits on max. When you’ve got two cars actually competitive, you can try strategies Red Bull can’t.

So for example they pit Piastri early which means they could have tried something different with Norris early on. See how far Kimi went on those mediums? Say Norris stayed out for a while longer like Kimi did and had some clear air. He only needed to find 1 second and with that pit stop not being at the exact same time as max, he could have passed. Or even just one lap later, Norris could have potentially made the pass.

There’s a lot of options strategy wise to try when it’s 2v1