Japanese Grand Prix Tips

Lando Norris arrives for round three of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship - the Japanese Grand Prix - with an eight-point lead over Max Verstappen in the standings.

However, it is Norris's McLaren team-mate, Oscar Piastri, who the Bristolian will be more concerned about.

Piastri sits 10 points off Norris, but took his maiden Grand Prix pole position in China last time out and converted that into a third career victory.

The Australian had looked set to finish second in the season-opener in Melbourne before sliding off the track in the rain. Had he not done so, Piastri would be leading the championship.

Tip 1 - Lando Norris to win Japanese Grand Prix @ 29/20

The opening two races have shown that the McLaren is the machine to have in the early part of the season, and that looks likely to be even more the case at Suzuka.

There are many long, fast bends which put a lot of strain on the tyres, and the McLaren seems the kindest car on its rubber.

Mercedes have also made a bright start to the year and are bringing their first upgrades to Japan, but it looks safest to stick with the papaya cars for now.

Piastri won in Shanghai last time, but his teammate Norris was unable to put together a clean lap in qualifying and was nursing brake issues for a significant portion of the race.

In ordinary circumstances, the Briton looks the quicker driver and makes plenty of appeal at the odds.

Norris finished fifth at Suzuka last year, before the team had introduced the major upgrade that carried them to the constructors' title for the first time since 1998.

Piastri ended the race eighth, almost 18 seconds behind his team-mate, and Norris looks the more likely to keep McLaren's winning run going. .

Tip 2 - Liam Lawson top-10 finish @ 5/4

The biggest F1 story since Shanghai has been the demotion of Liam Lawson from Red Bull to the junior Racing Bulls team after just two races as Verstappen's team-mate.

The New Zealander swaps seats with the much more experienced Yuki Tsunoda, but it looks like a poisoned chalice for the Japanese driver, who must quickly get to grips with a difficult car around a challenging circuit, with a huge weight of expectation from the home crowd and media to boot.

Losing the Red Bull seat will have been a devastating blow for young Lawson, but he will be warmly welcomed back into the Racing Bulls team, who know him well.

The car looks much better than the results would suggest and, importantly, pretty easy to drive, judging by the strong performances of rookie pilot Isack Hadjar, last season's Formula 2 runner-up.

Suzuka is the first circuit of the season Lawson has raced at before - in fact he knows it very well from his time in Japanese Super Formula - and he can give himself a much-needed confidence boost by picking up his first points of the season.

View all Formula 1 betting markets

Odds correct at time of publication but subject to fluctuation