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Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner termed the Japanese Grand Prix "not worthwhile" to watch, saying that he was far from impressed with Max Verstappen's charge. Steiner said on The Red Flags Podcast that qualifying was the major factor in the race and that it wasn't "worthwhile" to watch it late at night.
Steiner, after his Haas stint, moved back to Mooresville, California, United States, to stay with his family. He often travels to Europe, Miami, Las Vegas or Texas as a pundit and analyst for F1 broadcasters. However, on most days, he stays back at home and enjoys Grand Prix races.
Since Steiner resides in the US, the East Asia races, like the Japanese GP, Chinese GP, Singapore GP or even the Australian GP, often take place around midnight due to the time differences. The 2025 Japanese GP was no different. Speaking about the race, he expressed disappointment with its outcome:
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"It's the tracks. I mean there are two tracks outstanding: Japan and Monte Carlo. It's like when we saw it because you know I got up to watch at night you know to watch the Grand Prix. I got to bed twenty to three (2:40 AM).
"I didn't know why the f**k I did get up you know because it wasn't worthwhile to get up for. So you know, in the end, sometimes you have to do what you're doing, but I think qualifying will decide a lot of things," he further added.
Max Verstappen claimed victory at the Japanese GP after starting from pole. He was followed by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who started from P2 and P3, respectively. They were followed by Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, in that order.
Interestingly, none of the top six drivers moved up or down from where they had started their races. Only Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar swapped places, but it was all the same again for Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman.
Ferrari boss hinted at a potential qualifying Championship after Max Verstappen's win
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has said that the 2025 F1 Championship could be a qualifying championship because of the way the first few races have unfolded. All three drivers who won races this year have started from pole, including Max Verstappen at the Japanese GP.
Notably, none of the races have shown ample overtaking, strategy (except the rain-soaked race in Melbourne) and much tire wear. Furthermore, the driver in P1 also suffered less tire degradation due to relatively negligible dirty air, which proved advantageous over their rivals.
“For sure, qualifying is always crucial to the performance and the more you are close, the more the gap is small between cars. It’s even more true because then you are in the group of cars, it’s not that you are just fighting with the guy in front of you. Yes, it, it will probably be a ‘quali’ championship,” Vasseur said, as per Motorsportweek.
Lando Norris of McLaren started the Australian Grand Prix on pole and won the race. He was followed by Oscar Piastri in China, who claimed the pole in Shanghai and won the race. Max Verstappen did the same in Suzuka and ultimately won the race from pole.
