Formula 1

Being able to select five of the top six finishers of the Japanese Grand Prix was always going to yield a bucketload of points in Fantasy F1, and it proved to be enough to see Igor Dobron move to the head of the Motorsport: Race our Writers featured league.

Dobron’s ‘norrisica’ squad has amassed an impressive 845 points from the opening three rounds and, utilising the Limitless chip – allowing a player to spend as much as they want on their team rather than being constrained by the $100million cost cap – made all the difference.

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished in the podium places at Suzuka and all three were in Dobron’s team – although using the DRS boost on Norris meant some points were left on the table.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Team-mates George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli were also selected, as well as the Mercedes squad itself, while McLaren also weighed in with 71 points.

Nour El Ghandour is just four points off the top spot, having the same team other than Charles Leclerc replacing Antonelli.

The highest score of the round was split between Danny Rowbotham, Samuel Weetch and Marti Costa, who all brought in a huge 293 points, all using their Limitless chip and having Verstappen as their DRS Boost.

In terms of the Motorsport.com writers themselves, F1 reporter Fil Cleeren was the big mover of the weekend, jumping up to second among his peers with a total for the round of 167 points.

However, Erwin Jaeggi remains the pick of the writers with ‘The Jaeggimeisters’ totalling 565 points, a lead of 22 points over Cleeren.

Japan was the first race of a triple-header and Bahrain is next up, check back on Motorsport.com from Wednesday where we will preview the next round of Race our Writers.

We will bring you ‘expert’ analysis from what two of our writers are doing with their respective teams and predict what alterations could improve your chances of progressing up the leaderboard.

Still yet to join our league? What are you waiting for? It is not too late! Join HERE.

Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix will not be billed as one of Formula 1’s all-time classics as low tyre degradation largely left the field in its qualifying order by the chequered flag. The lack of passing opportunities during the race was also of significant note.

It has never been particularly easy to pass at Suzuka; in modern times, the nature of Turn 1 makes DRS generally ineffective, and the few straightline sections transitioning into hard stops means it is very difficult to slipstream a driver in front.

The other factor at play is the increasing dirty-air problem. F1’s current generation of cars was designed to make passing opportunities easier, as the reduced reliance on ‘overbody’ aerodynamics was supposed to a) ensure that cars lost less downforce when in turbulence, and b) produce less turbulence through the prescriptive approach to the aerodynamic design.

In previous generations, turbulent air produced by the ever-increasing desire to create outwashing air with the front wing, and from the increasing quantity of vortex-generating aero devices, made it difficult for cars to follow. F1 cars are generally designed to work in ‘clean’, laminar air; furthermore, turbulence is incredibly hard to model given its randomness. 

At the time of the new regulations’ introduction, it was estimated in F1’s research that a 2021-spec car could lose up to 47% downforce when around 10 metres behind, and around 35% at 20m. With the now outgoing rules, it stated that its models showed an 18% downforce reduction at the 10m mark, and 4% at 20m.

Reduced downforce while following also causes the chasing car to slide more, putting more energy through the tyres and resulting in higher degradation. It was hoped that the new rules could minimise this effect and allow cars to race closer.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

But Suzuka exposed how this has regressed, as it was apparent that closing to within a second of the car in front was incredibly difficult. Again, the low tyre wear contributed to this factor as drivers were generally able to push for the whole race, but that cars with clearly different performance characteristics remained separated by over a second showed that it was difficult to catch up.

As the current ruleset has matured, F1 teams have found loopholes to expand on the performance of their cars at the penalty of following F1’s intentions. Note the front wings, for example; although strictly governed to ensure the wing elements transition directly into the endplate, teams have found methods of exposing edges and tips to push more airflow away from the front tyres to glean further performance.

The edges of the floors have become much more complex, and the rear wings also now come with exposed wing tips on the upper element; the regulations intended to merge the top flap into the rear wing endplates but, again, teams have sidestepped this to increase the power of the wings. 

Each of these innovations over the past couple of seasons have generally contributed to greater levels of turbulent wake, making it incrementally more difficult to follow other cars.

“Ultimately we keep adding aerodynamic downforce, which means that the losses are even bigger,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained. 

“So I think the dirty air is a problem – we have seen this even in China; if you see [Lewis] Hamilton when he was in the lead of the sprint, he could do pretty much whatever he wanted, even if the tyre was damaged.

Andrea Stella, McLaren

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“Possibly this is one of the reasons why the 2026 regulations may introduce some reset from this point of view, because I think even if this generation of cars was conceived to actually improve following – that was what we were talking about in 2022 – there’s been so much aerodynamic development now.

“Again, [the cars] have become so much of an aerodynamic machine that as soon as you follow, you lose the performance.”

That’s not the fault of the teams, as their target is to build the fastest car – not satisfy an overtaking metric intended by the rules. But it’s not going to get any better through the year as development continues.

The inclusion of active aerodynamics may potentially help the situation next year, as could the implementation of the power unit override to give the drivers more power at their fingertips.

But, even with the close field that currently defines 2025, certain circuits are going to make passing very difficult – so expect to be hearing more about dirty air until the end of the season.

Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix will not be billed as one of Formula 1’s all-time classics as low tyre degradation largely left the field in its qualifying order by the chequered flag. The lack of passing opportunities during the race was also of significant note.

It has never been particularly easy to pass at Suzuka; in modern times, the nature of Turn 1 makes DRS generally ineffective, and the few straightline sections transitioning into hard stops means it is very difficult to slipstream a driver in front.

The other factor at play is the increasing dirty air problem. F1’s current generation of cars was designed to make passing opportunities easier, as the reduced reliance on ‘overbody’ aerodynamics was supposed to, a) ensure that cars lost less downforce when in turbulence, and, b) produce less turbulence through the prescriptive approach to the aerodynamic design.

In previous generations, turbulent air produced by the ever-increasing desire to create outwashing air with the front wing, and from the increasing quantity of vortex-generating aero devices, made it difficult for cars to follow. F1 cars are generally designed to work in ‘clean’, laminar air; furthermore, turbulence is incredibly hard to model given its randomness. 

At the time of the new regulations’ introduction, it was estimated in F1’s research that a 2021-spec car could lose up to 47% downforce when around 10 metres behind, and around 35% at 20m. With the now out-going rules, it stated that its models showed an 18% downforce reduction at the 10m mark, and 4% at 20m.

Reduced downforce while following also causes the chasing car to slide more, putting more energy through the tyres and resulting in higher degradation. It was hoped that the new rules could minimise this effect and allow cars to race closer.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

But Suzuka exposed how this has regressed, as it was apparent that closing to within a second of the car in front was incredibly difficult. Again, the low tyre wear contributed to this factor as drivers were generally able to push for the whole race, but that cars with clearly different performance characteristics remained separated by over a second showed that it was difficult to catch up.

As the current ruleset has matured, F1 teams have found loopholes to expand on the performance of their cars at the penalty of following F1’s intentions. Note the front wings, for example; although strictly governed to ensure the wing elements transition directly into the endplate, teams have found methods of exposing edges and tips to push more airflow away from the front tyres to glean further performance.

The edges of the floors have become much more complex, and the rear wings also now come with exposed wing tips on the upper element; the regulations intended to merge the top flap into the rear wing endplates but, again, teams have sidestepped this to increase the power of the wings. 

Each of these innovations over the past couple of seasons have generally contributed to greater levels of turbulent wake, making it incrementally more difficult to follow other cars.

“Ultimately we keep adding aerodynamic downforce, which means that the losses are even bigger,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained. 

“So I think the dirty air is a problem – we have seen this even in China; if you see [Lewis] Hamilton when he was in the lead of the sprint, he could do pretty much whatever he wanted, even if the tyre was damaged.

Andrea Stella, McLaren

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“Possibly this is one of the reasons why the 2026 regulations may introduce some reset from this point of view, because I think even if this generation of cars was conceived to actually improve following, that was what we were talking about in 2022, there’s been so much aerodynamic development now.

“Again, [the cars] have become so much of an aerodynamic machine that as soon as you follow, you lose the performance.”

That’s not the fault of the teams, as their target is to build the fastest car – not satisfy an overtaking metric intended by the rules. But it’s not going to get any better through the year as development continues.

The inclusion of active aerodynamics may potentially help the situation next year, as could the implementation of the power unit override to give the drivers more power at their fingertips.

But, even with the close field that currently defines 2025, certain circuits are going to make passing very difficult – so expect to be hearing more about dirty air until the end of the season.

Mark Mann-Bryans and Jake Boxall-Legge wrap up their coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix in what was a tense battle at the front between Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Mark and Jake review the “if’s and but’s” of the race, as to whether McLaren should have been more aggressive on strategy, or if Norris’ trip across the grass on pit exit made a difference. Should they have swapped cars and let Piastri attack Verstappen at the front?

Also, who’s more accountable for the lack of passing, the track, of Year 4 of this regulation set?

There’s also a review on a strong weekend for the rookies, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli in sixth for Mercedes, Isack Hadjar in eighth for Racing Bulls, and Oliver Bearman ‘s second consecutive points finish for Haas.