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Max Verstappen won the 2025 Japanese GP and took a sharp jibe at McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. He implied that if he were racing one of the McLaren cars, he would have finished the race with a much better time gap.
The 2025 Japanese Grand Prix witnessed a pure masterclass driver from Verstappen. On Saturday, he won the pole position by putting together a solid flying lap at the checkered flag in Q3 to not only get pole but also set up the record for the fastest lap recorded in the history of the Suzuka circuit.
Moreover, the Dutchman extended his dominance on Sunday as he kept McLaren's Lando Norris at bay to win the race. The four-time world champion claimed victory with a time gap of +1.423s to Norris, who in fact was racing the fastest car on the grid.
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Meanwhile, after the race victory, Verstappen took a subtle jibe at Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who finished the race P2 and P3, respectively. A reporter asked him if it takes only his class and talent to win a race in a problematic car like the RB21.
To this, Max Verstappen replied:
"I don't even want to think what would happen if I was in that other car (McLaren).. Then you wouldn't even have seen me."
Verstappen perhaps implied that if he was racing in a McLaren, he would have finished the race much earlier with a wide time gap since the Papaya team has a faster car compared to Red Bull.
As a matter of fact, Norris and Piastri both tried to chase down Verstappen in the final few laps of the race. However, the British driver didn't have any more pace to offer, and despite Oscar being a little faster, McLaren decided against swapping their position and settled for a double podium finish.
Max Verstappen opens up on fighting McLarens before Japanese GP win
Max Verstappen started the Japanese GP from pole position and had a clean start. He maintained the lead over Lando Norris throughout the race and clinched his first victory of the year. However, his drive wasn't easy as McLarens constantly hovered over his neck. Sharing his experience, Verstappen told Motorsportweek:
“The whole race, I saw two orange cars in my mirror. And yeah, especially those last 20 laps, we were pushing quite hard out there, and you could just feel the tires were degrading more and more. But you had to keep on fighting it. Basically, being on the limit."
He also added that Red Bull is still not ready to aim for wins consistently, as the RB21 needs tons of improvements. While the Suzuka circuit offered limited chances of overtakes, conditions will be completely different in Bahrain, said Max Verstappen.
