'Sensational' Verstappen praised for Suzuka victory after dealing with 'unbelievable pressure'

Max Verstappen’s performance in Japan left a strong impression on many, including respected F1 analyst Peter Windsor. He described Verstappen’s pole position on Saturday as “sensational” and commended the Red Bull driver for his “excellent work” during Sunday’s race. Despite facing fierce competition from the seemingly stronger McLarens, Verstappen held them off to take a fourth consecutive win at Suzuka.

Heading into the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, McLaren was widely tipped as the team to beat, with many expecting them to lock out the front row and challenge for the win. However, Max Verstappen had other ideas. In a surprising turn during qualifying, the Red Bull driver delivered a stunning lap to snatch pole position from under the noses of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Windsor: 'It's Verstappen's best dry weather win since 2021'

Although there were very few overtaking manoeuvres at Suzuka, Windsor believes that it was still an intense race. He also highlighted his belief that it was also one of Verstappen's best wins in the dry. "We don't need lots of overtaking. It could be a dramatically intense Grand Prix from start to finish. Beyond that, it resulted in, in what is my opinion, Max's finest dry weather win since, I don't know, the US Grand Prix of 2021, when he beat Lewis on inferior tyres. But this was sensational. Obviously, it was a factor of Max winning the pole, that amazing pole, where he had those incredible entry speeds into turn one, compared with the two McLaren drivers. And from the pole, Max controlled the race."

Windsor, like many others, believes that McLaren had a better car overall. "The McLaren, without a doubt, was the better car. And yet Max made no mistakes, looked after his tyres perfectly, and won the Grand Prix by what, a second. Unbelievable pressure the whole way.

The Brit continued: "But for Max Verstappen, this was an amazing recovery from a poor Friday when he did have understeer." Despite the lack of rain, "He still beat the two McLarens, outstanding work."

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This article was written in collaboration with Kim Hoefnagel