Japanese GP: Max Verstappen ‘won’t make it easy’ for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as rain threatens Suzuka | F1 News

Max Verstappen says he “won’t make it easy” for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix as rain threatens Suzuka.

Verstappen took his first pole in over nine months to the surprise of everyone after McLaren had dominated the practice sessions.

Norris and Piastri have a win each from the opening two races but Verstappen is only eight points behind the British driver, who leads the championship.

“Even if you have a good start or not, it will be tough for us,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.

“So far, the race pace has not been the best for us. We know that. Also me putting it on pole today is not a guarantee we win tomorrow.

“At the same time, I won’t make it easy. I want to try and win. We have to wait and see what the weather will do and I just hope it will be an interesting race.”

McLaren are expected to have stronger race pace but will need to overtake Verstappen on the track, or through strategy if they do not jump him at the start.

The challenging Suzuka Circuit is traditionally difficult to overtake at with just one DRS zone on the main straight and it is hard to follow through the fast corners in the first half of the lap, so track position is important.

Although Verstappen pushed Norris hard in the latter stages of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, McLaren pulled a big gap of 20 seconds until Safety Cars brought the field together.

In China, Verstappen was 16 seconds adrift of race-winner Piastri but lost all of that time on the medium tyres in the first stint, before holding the gap on the hard tyres.

“It will be very hard [to win], but that’s fine. I’ll try to do my best,” added Verstappen.

“So far this season we have not been able to fight them. But it’s not like we just sit there and accept it. We try to do the very best and we’ll give it a good fight tomorrow if we can.

“But at the end of the day, it’s a very long championship and you need to keep on scoring points whenever you can in the best way possible. At least we’re starting from the front – then we’ll see where we go.”

Norris ‘excited’ for Verstappen battle

Verstappen has not been extremely aggressive when fighting drivers in the opening two races, unlike the duels he had with Norris when the title race heated up in 2024.

It seems like Verstappen is not willing to risk it all by battling cars he thinks are faster, as shown in the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint when he almost stepped out of the way for Piastri, to maximise his points.

The tactic has worked because victory on Sunday could put Verstappen in the championship lead, even though Red Bull’s car is clearly inferior to McLaren.

Norris showed his credentials in Australia by keeping his head in wet conditions to hold off Verstappen and may need to demonstrate that again to beat the Dutchman.

“I’m excited with a battle with Max. We had plenty of them last year, looking forward to some more tomorrow,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“I don’t know what the weather will do, which is the big question honestly. It could be a bit like Melbourne which was an exciting race for you guys, tough and nerve-wracking for us.”

Piastri, who celebrates his 24th birthday on Sunday, added: “I think we’ve got good pace. I think the others have not been as far away as people think. You never quite know with engine modes and stuff like that.

“Obviously the game plan is to try and finish two spots ahead of where I’m starting. But apart from that, we’ll see what we get.”

Will rain cause mayhem in Suzuka?

If the season-opening Australian Grand Prix is anything to go by, rain with the current generation of cars on a challenging circuit will cause plenty of mistakes.

Every rookie, apart from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, crashed out and even the experienced Fernando Alonso spun his Aston Martin.

The latest weather forecast says it will rain heavily throughout the morning in Suzuka before stopping in the early afternoon ahead of the race start at 3pm local time (6am in the UK).

A wet track at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix is likely, which will make for a thrilling start with the 20 drivers barrelling into Turn 1.

F1’s officials are hoping the rain also gets rid of any chance for more grass fires after a fifth fire broke out during qualifying on Saturday.

Lewis Hamilton, who will start eighth, is hoping for wet weather to move up through the field.

“I genuinely love the rain so I hope it comes tomorrow after a qualifying like that,” he said.

His team-mate Charles Leclerc starts fourth but is unlikely to challenge for the win in dry conditions, while George Russell and Kimi Antonelli target the podium from fifth and sixth.

Further back, home hero Yuki Tsunoda will look to charge through the field from 14th in his first Grand Prix for Red Bull.

Sky Sports F1’s live Japanese GP schedule

Sunday April 6

• 4.30am: Japanese GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
• 6am: THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX*
• 8am: Japanese GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
• 9am: Ted’s Notebook*

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula is at the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime