What Made Overtaking at the 2025 F1 Japanese Grand Prix So Hard

The 2025 F1 Japanese Grand Prix yielded an unexpected outcome, with the underdog Max Verstappen steering the intricate Red Bull RB21 to pole position and clinching the race win, although fans were left disappointed with the on-track action.

The race generated considerable excitement in the lead-up, marking Yuki Tsunoda's debut with the senior Red Bull team after being overlooked for years, and Liam Lawson's return to Racing Bulls following a challenging start at Red Bull.

As the driver switch drama unfolded, Red Bull celebrated the final year of their partnership with Honda, a relationship that brought the team multiple title wins.

Many anticipated an intense battle on the track between McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the victory, with the potential for team orders drama increasing the tension.

Several cars on the grid showcased special liveries, most notably the legendary "White Bull" and a cherry blossom Haas livery.

Despite the pomp and circumstance of race weekend, the race itself produced a predictable outcome, with minimal differences between the qualifying order and the final positions.

Within the top ten, only Lewis Hamilton managed to gain a position, getting passed Isack Hadjar.

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The discourse surrounding the race has left many fans frustrated because of the lack of overtaking and action during the event itself.

Both the track and car designs have been blamed for producing a lackluster race, raising concerns among many about whether the remainder of the F1 season will feature more races like this one.

Looking at the 2025 F1 calendar and listing the circuits where overtaking is difficult…

This is pretty alarming 😳 pic.twitter.com/DoanMu3Qtf
— P1 with Matt & Tommy (@MattP1Tommy) April 6, 2025

Several factors contributed to a lackluster race, the most significant of which is quite simple: the cars are enormous while the track is designed for vehicles smaller than the current F1 car.

Due to limited track space, maintaining a car side-by-side is more challenging at many older circuits, especially considering that these are the largest set of F1 cars ever.

Additionally, the aerodynamics of the cars are not built for close racing due to the dirty air effect.

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An F1 car under the current regulations performs best when unobstructed air flows into the bottom and front. Issues occur when one car follows another, as the air for the trailing car is compromised.

The disrupted airflow causes instability in the car and reduces its performance. As a result, the car becomes increasingly unpredictable and prone to overheating, which speeds up tire wear.

Both of these effects result in drivers not being incentivized to approach the car in front, as doing so would hinder the car's performance.

f1 is in desperate need for new regs allowing to overtake by not ruining your tyres with being in dirty air for one lap, long boring tracks ahead
— Jan🦦 (@pinsaroulette16) April 6, 2025

The cars are also very similar, and the gap in pace is significantly smaller as all the teams have had years to perfect their cars, leaving minimal gains for car development at this point.

The closer pace enhances the dirty air effect, as cars lack a speed advantage to offset the disrupted airflow.

Finally, the tire compounds chosen by Pirelli for the race ended up being less conducive to racing, as the hard tire was able to hold similar speeds compared to the medium, which meant the difference with fresher tires was smaller.

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This limited the potential for overcuts and undercuts in the race, as the tires did not differ significantly in performance to support multiple viable strategies.

Most of the field did a one-stop, with the others just trying things and hoping to get lucky.

One of #F1's main problems: the Hard tyre was FASTER than the Medium — and lasted longer too 💡

The Medium just can't handle the stress, so drivers can't push as much, making it slower 🚨

Just one viable strategy ➡️Boring races

What's your opinion? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/tGDaMEMjzL
— Formula Data Analysis (@FDataAnalysis) April 6, 2025

Fans hope that moving forward, there will be larger tire differentials to help address the size and aerodynamic needs of the current F1 cars.

As fans follow the calendar, several races may present similar situations that restrict on-track activity. This means that safety cars or weather conditions could serve as the key factors to energize the races.

It’s time @fia told Suzuka to extend a straight
We all know Monaco is the dullest racing where quali is pretty much race result but that Suzuka race managed to make Monaco look interesting - with boring F1 trending
DTS had the power to choose a WDC 2021 so maybe they could ask?
— Nick Knowles (@MrNickKnowles) April 6, 2025

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