Pirelli defends the Japanese GP against claims of boredom, highlighting drivers’ intense battles and a remarkable performance despite tire strategy debates.
Despite a single pit stop strategy, Pirelli has firmly denied claims that the Japanese Grand Prix was “boring,” instead praising the drivers’ aggressive moves in the latter stages of the race.
Pirelli is likely to face criticism following the Japanese GP, where drivers made one stop despite maintaining intense racing throughout. Most of the grid started on medium tires, but those who opted for hard tires didn’t see a major difference in performance.
George Russell even called on the tire supplier to reassess its tire strategy.
Jack Doohan, who completed the longest stint of the race with 38 laps on hard tires, struggled to get out of his car after the race. Meanwhile, Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz set the fastest stint on mediums, completing 33 laps each.
“When the top six drivers cross the finish line in the same order they started, it’s easy to label the race as dull,” said Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director.
“While it might not have been the most thrilling spectacle in F1 history, the racing was still close. Just look at the top three drivers, separated by only 44 thousandths of a second in qualifying, and finishing just two seconds apart in the race.”
“After a cautious start, especially in the first sector – which is the toughest on tires – the drivers pushed hard in the second half of the race. In fact, 14 out of 20 drivers set their fastest laps in the final five laps.”
The track record was broken on Saturday, and the race pace was significantly quicker thanks to the newly resurfaced track.
“Note that Antonelli’s lap time (1:30.965) was 2.741 seconds faster than the best lap of last year’s race by Verstappen, showing a huge improvement in performance compared to 2024.”
“On a track where thermal degradation traditionally plays a big role, we saw almost no performance drop-off in lap times on both the hard and medium tires, even on long stints. This can be attributed to the unusually low ambient and track temperatures, the lowest Suzuka has seen since 2011.”
“Another contributing factor is the improvements made to the 2025 tire range, specifically designed to reduce this kind of wear. Another technical goal we set was to minimize graining, and despite the low temperatures, we saw almost no signs of this issue across the entire grid.”
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Pirelli Defends Race as Rivals Criticize ‘Boring’ Tactics
Pirelli Defends Race as Rivals Criticize ‘Boring’ Tactics