Verstappen refutes Japanese Grand Prix criticism: "You move on to the next one"
Max Verstappen has refuted the criticism that the Japanese Grand Prix has received in recent days as he says to "move onto the next" Grand Prix.
There was lots of praise directed towards the Dutchman after his victory in Japan with a stunning weekend performance. However, there was also criticism surrounding the Suzuka circuit.
During Sunday's race in Japan, Verstappen held on from P1 for all 53 laps, positioning his Red Bull Racing car very cleverly so that Lando Norris could not even consider an overtaking attempt, with the tight layout of the iconic Suzuka circuit making overtaking very difficult to complete for all the drivers on the grid.
Afterwards, some people said that racing at this circuit in Japan is very dull, with artificial interventions maybe needing to be made to make the races more appealing there, with Monaco having two mandatory pit stops for the 2025 race.
Verstappen shrugs off criticism
However, Verstappen believes that sometimes a Grand Prix may not be a spectacular spectacle for the neutral viewer, addressing the issue of it being increasingly difficult to follow and overtake: "The dirty air does get a bit worse, yes," says Verstappen, but he continued on to GPblog, saying: "But you know, sometimes you have more exciting races than others. In every sport you see it — sometimes you have amazing games, sometimes it’s a boring one. And you move on to the next one."
The Bahrain Grand Prix is next up for teams and drivers for the 2025 Formula 1 season, with Verstappen expecting it to be more exciting in the oil-rich state. "Normally, that's the case because of the tyre wear."
This article was written in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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