F1 Today | Tsunoda won't find RB21 'tricky' and Japanese GP livery teased

The final day of the first non-race week of the 2025 season is coming to an end. From tomorrow, F1 fans can start looking forward to the third round of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix at the iconic Suzuka Circuit. Yuki Tsunoda isn't feeling too nervous heading into his Red Bull debut, GPblog analyses Mercedes front wing flexing, and Red Bull's supposed special livery for engine supplier Honda's home race has been teased once again with a team kit sneak peek. See all the news from the calm before the storm of race week below.

This week, it was confirmed that Max Verstappen is set to have a new teammate just after two weekends have been completed in the 2025 Formula 1 season. After Liam Lawson failed to score a single point and got eliminated already in Q1 on three occasions (including Sprint Qualifying), it was announced that he would return to Racing Bulls, while Yuki Tsunoda got promoted from the junior team after spending his full F1 career there so far, since 2021.

"I don’t want to raise expectations too much, but for this Japanese Grand Prix, I want to finish on the podium. That said, I know it won’t be easy right from the start," Tsunoda said at a Honda event at their Aoyama headquarters. Still, he does not want to get carried away either. "My priority is to first understand the car, how it behaves compared to the VCARB. If I can naturally enjoy driving it as I get familiar with it in FP1, then the results will follow. And if that leads to a podium finish, that would be incredible."

"I spent about two days in the simulator. From that experience, I didn’t find the car to be that challenging to drive." See Tsunoda's full statement on how he's not expecting a 'tricky' start here.

The start of the season for Mercedes has been quite encouraging, as they showed off to be the second fastest team behind McLaren, on level terms with Max Verstappen and in front of Ferrari. The W16 is definitely a step forward compared to last year’s car but still shows some weaknesses that can affect performance in specific conditions. GPblog's in-depth technical analysis is available now. Read the deep dive here.

The Japanese Grand Prix will be a special event for Red Bull Racing. After years of having a Honda engine, this will be the final time they will run with those power units at Suzuka. The team have already hinted at a special livery, and the first picture of their team kit has also surfaced.

It's not the first time Red Bull would have a special white outlook for Honda. At the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, honouring their collaboration with the Japanese manufacturer, they had a livery inspired by the 1965 Honda F1 car. Moreover, for this season, the Racing Bulls team also has a white livery.

This year's Japanese Grand Prix will be a special weekend, as this is Red Bull's final season together. After the regulation change, Honda will be Aston Martin's supplier while Red Bull will create their own power units in collaboration with Ford. Click this link to see the supposed kits.