2025 Japanese Grand Prix – Preview

2025 Japanese Grand Prix – Preview

The third race of the 2025 F1 season takes place at Suzuka in Japan, the first leg of the triple-header.

  • Toto talks Japan
  • Fact File: Japanese Grand Prix
  • Stat Sheet: Japanese Grand Prix

Toto Talks Japan: 

We will be aiming to build on our solid start to the season in the upcoming triple-header. The W16 has proved a stable and consistent platform so far, and a car that the drivers feel confident in. That led to good performances in Australia and China, and our best start to a season since 2021.

We know we have more performance to find if we are to challenge at the very front race though. Development isn’t the work of a moment either. The races in Japan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia will therefore be about maximising what we have right now. Our competitors will undoubtedly bounce back from the recent double-header, too. Therefore, we will need to be at our best if we want to continue our promising start.

Suzuka, with its fast sweeps and elevation change provide a proper test for both driver and car. This will be Kimi’s first experience there and, whilst it will be another new challenge for him, he will be looking forward to it. He has handled everything thrown at him so far, and we’re looking forward to seeing his continued development. George meanwhile has enjoyed his strongest start to a season in his F1 career. He has delivered with maturity, consistency, and speed. He is performing exactly how we knew he would as the senior driver of the works Mercedes team. He will be looking to continue in that form in Japan this weekend.

Fact File: Japanese Grand Prix

  • Suzuka holds the distinction of being the only circuit we race at that is laid out in a figure-of-eight configuration.
  • After the Degner Curves, the circuit passes under the straight leading to 130R. Owing to this, it’s the only F1 track that runs both clockwise and anticlockwise.
  • This figure-of-eight layout is beneficial for tyre wear. It creates a more even balance between left and right-hand corners (10 being right-handers and eight to the left), distributing load more equally between tyres.
  • The first corner doesn’t require any braking on entry. In Qualifying, drivers don’t hit the brakes until the car is cornering at close to 5G.
  • That helps to generate some of the highest steering wheel torques of the entire season.
  • The vast majority of the first sector at Suzuka is spent cornering. From Turn 1 until the exit of Turn 7, the steering wheel is moving almost continuously for nearly 2km of the lap.
  • For 2025, parts of the track between Turn 1 until entry Turn 8 have been resurfaced.
  • Just 1.2 km of the lap is spent driving in a straight line. Most of the 5.807 kms sees some lateral g-force going through the car.
  • The lack of straights also means that Suzuka is just one of four circuits on the calendar that has a solitary DRS zone, between Turn 18 and Turn One.
  • 130R is one of F1’s quickest corners, taken at 295 km/h. Turn 11 meanwhile is one of the slowest at 60 km/h.
  • The braking zone for Turn 11 is particularly challenging. Drivers must hit the brakes midway through the fast Turn 10. They are cornering at close to 3.5G while turning right before the hairpin left. Lockups are therefore common.
  • Suzuka has one of the highest mass sensitivities of the season. That means that carrying more fuel is more penalising in terms of lap time and performance.
  • Suzuka has hosted the F1 season finale on six occasions, and up until 2022 appeared in the latter stages of the F1 calendar.
  • For the past two seasons, the race has taken place in April, in the middle of the famous Japanese cherry blossom season.
  • All six of Mercedes’ wins in Japan came in consecutive seasons between 2014 and 2019.
  • Mercedes clinched a record-equalling sixth consecutive Constructors’ title at Suzuka in 2019.

Stat Sheet: Japanese Grand Prix

2025 Japanese Grand Prix

Session

Local Time (JST)

Brackley (BST)

Stuttgart (CEST)

Practice One – Friday

11:30 – 12:30

03:30 – 04:30

04:30 – 05:30

Practice Two – Friday

15:00 – 16:00

07:00 – 08:00

08:00 – 09:00

Practice Three – Saturday

11:30 – 12:30

03:30 – 04:30

04:30 – 05:30

Qualifying – Saturday

15:00 – 16:00

07:00 – 08:00

08:00 – 09:00

Grand Prix – Sunday

14:00

06:00

07:00

 

Race Records – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team in Japan

 

Starts

Wins

Podiums

Pole Positions

Front row places

Fastest laps

DNF

Mercedes

13

6

11

5

9

4

3

George Russell

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

Kimi Antonelli

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

MB Power

29

11

28

7

17

8

17

 

Technical Stats – Season to Date (Pre-season Testing to Present)

 

Laps Completed

Distance Covered (km)

Corners Taken

Gear Changes

PETRONAS Fuel Injections

Mercedes

1,033

5,569

16,070

60,038

41,320,000

George Russell

524

2,824

8,152

30,439

20,960,000

Kimi Antonelli

509

2,744

7,918

29,599

20,360,000

MB Power

3,571

19,244

55,596

206,162

142,840,000

 

Mercedes-Benz in Formula One

 

Starts

Wins

Podium Places

Pole Positions

Front Row Places

Fastest Laps

1-2 Finishes

Front-Row Lockouts

Mercedes (all-time)

319

129

300

141

266

109

60

84

Mercedes (since 2010)

307

120

283

133

246

100

55

80

George Russell

130

3

17

5

15

8

N/A

N/A

Kimi Antonelli

2

0

0

0

0

0

N/A

N/A

MB Power

589

225

621

236

477

223

96

127

More

Pictures

3

2025 Chinese Grand Prix - Friday

ENGLISH: 2025 Japanese Grand Prix - Track Map

GERMAN: 2025 Japanese Grand Prix - Track Map

Documents

4

PDF
2025 Japanese Grand Prix – Stats

PDF
2025 Japanese Grand Prix – Stats

PDF
ENGLISH: 2025 Japanese Grand Prix – Preview

PDF
GERMAN: 2025 Japanese Grand Prix – Preview

Press contacts

1

Bradley Lord
Chief Communications Officer

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