F1 Japanese GP live media day updates
Updates and stories from Formula 1's media day at the Suzuka Circuit
Live Text
Lando Norris was bullish about McLaren's desire to continue its progress after an impressive run through the opening two races of 2025. "We know that [Red Bull is] behind us, so it still kind of really pushes us.
"When you do it for four, five, six years like Mercedes did back then, it's just only human that you start to get a little bit complacent with certain things.
"But I think for us, we've pushed even more into this season, just to start the season off on the right foot."
Ayao Komatsu praised Ollie Bearman's drive in Shanghai, and felt that perhaps he should have been less surprised by the Briton's difficult race in Australia.
"Maybe from my side, because he's been so impressive, I kind of don't treat him as a rookie. Maybe I should have put more effort in thinking, telling myself he is still a rookie going to Melbourne, so it's not just him, it's about the whole environment."
Lewis Hamilton says he 'wasn't disappointed' by Ferrari's disqualification in China, and believed that the team has worked hard to bounce back in Japan. "I'd say the most impressive thing is how the team have taken it, how they've worked, how they've churned through the data and how we've progressed from here is most important."
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was in good spirits in his session; after his first two F1 races, he's faced both the extremities and mundanities of life in the last two weeks. He karted with Valentino Rossi, who told his compatriot "lots of stories from racing, lots I can't share" and also returned to school. Quite the contrast!
Some team-themed artworks on the way into the circuit. I won't pretend to be an expert on a history of Japanese sculpture, so I'll just present them to you as they are:
Photo by: Jake Boxall-Legge
Lawson also wished Tsunoda luck and said it was a "good opportunity" for the Japanese driver - who also faced much in the way of questioning. Amid the whirlwind of the past week, Tsunoda admitted he hadn't heard from Helmut Marko at all. "Very unusual," he surmised.
It's been somewhat busy this morning - we've had Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda as the main attractions in the press conferences. Lawson was resolute in his handling of the questions about his demotion, and sanguinely stated that he wasn't even in an F1 seat a year ago. He's looking forward to getting stuck in at Racing Bulls.
Carlos Sainz reckons that his "theories" why he has endured a stilted start to life with Williams will remain as such, until he makes a step forward across this upcoming triple header.
"For this next triple header, if I manage to do a good step in the right direction, that's when theories are confirmed."
Ollie Bearman reckons it was nice to have "squashed Australia" after scoring points in China. "I can imagine that after two bad weekends can become a bit more difficult [to reset], so I was quite motivated not to make that the case."
It's "business as usual" for Aston Martin, per Andy Cowell, despite the brand's sale of some of its stake in the F1 team, as Lawrence Stroll also invested $52.5m into the road car business.
"It just shows that Lawrence is hugely committed to Aston Martin road cars and Formula 1 team and that commitment has been in place for many years and we'll be racing as Aston Martin for a long time to come," Cowell added.
Want a bit of behind-the-scenes to MMB's acclimatisation to Japan? Here's his Football Italia-meets-Michael Palin style wanderings through Osaka:
Ah. Albon's session has been postponed - so that gives us a bit of time for a coffee and a biscuit before we get back into the paddock.
We're off to our first sessions of the day - Erwin's speaking to Carlos Sainz, Mark's going to see Andy Cowell, and I'll jet off to see what Alex Albon has to say.
As our media bus rolled into the track, there's already a congregation of fans at the gates hoping to get a glimpse of the drivers as they make their way in - or, indeed, their favourite journalists...
Hello and welcome to our media day updates from Japan! After a bit of media accreditation shuttle shuffling, we've finally collected our passes - and we're going to start hitting the paddock shortly. I'm here at Suzuka with Mark Mann-Bryans and Erwin Jaeggi.
By: Motorsport.com
