McLaren can be beaten, but Verstappen must be perfect: 5 takeaways from F1’s Japanese Grand Prix

By James Ellingworth

McLaren remains the team to beat in Formula 1, but Max Verstappen’s victorious drive for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix showed only excellence is good enough.

Ahead of this week’s Bahrain Grand Prix, here are five takeaways from Suzuka,

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri still have the fastest all-round car on the F1 grid, but McLaren can no longer achieve the sort of win streak that Red Bull had to start its all-conquering 2023 season.

Verstappen’s win showed just how hard it is to beat McLaren. The four-time champion had to do almost everything perfectly in both qualifying and the race. Even then, McLaren came painfully close to taking the lead when Norris drove over the grass at the pitlane exit while trying to get past Verstappen.

“We really maximized the weekend,” Verstappen said, adding he got an assist from cool weather reducing his tire wear, a key aspect where