Thursday at Suzuka has been one of the most lively Formula 1 media days in recent memory.

Even beyond the major headlines that have emerged at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend - which we've also recapped below - there have been properly significant developments throughout the paddock

Perhaps that's in part a consequence of this being the final F1 race weekend for five weeks; in any case, here are the main storylines from day one in Japan.

Verstappen's harbouring a big grudge

Max Verstappen is holding onto a months-long grudge, which only became clear on Thursday when he banished a journalist from his media session. 

Back at the Abu Dhabi season finale, after missing out on the world championship by just a couple of points, Verstappen was asked by The Guardian’s Giles Richards: “What do you think now about the incident with George Russell in Spain? Do you regret that looking back in hindsight?”

Verstappen took massive issue with the question, starting his answer with. 

“You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season, the only thing you mention is Barcelona. “I knew that would come. 

Staring the journalist down, he added: “You’re giving me a stupid grin now.” And though Verstappen did then give a perfunctory answer, it was obvious from the tension that this really annoyed him. And it still does because upon seeing the journalist again at the start of his media session at Suzuka, Verstappen ordered him to leave. 

MV: “I'm not speaking before he's leaving.

GR: “Seriously?”

MV: “Yeah.”

GR: “Because of the question last year?”

MV: “Yeah.”

GR: “You want me to leave?”

MV: “Yeah.”

GR: “Because of the question I asked you about in Abu Dhabi about why, about Spain.

MV: “Yep. Get out.”

GR: “You're really, really that upset about it?”

MV: “Get out.”

Verstappen’s reaction at the time was surprising because the question was legitimate. Especially as Verstappen himself had admitted in Dutch interviews that the Spain incident was the only regret he had about his season.

But even more extraordinary is that Verstappen still resents the exchange now, to the point of taking such drastic action seemingly in the spur of the moment.

It does little to disabuse anyone of the notion Verstappen's on a hair trigger at the moment in F1, given his disdain for the 2026 rules - although once this was resolved Verstappen was completely normal, so it didn't seem to be the case that his general mood was clouded. Which just makes the whole thing far more confusing to understand. - Scott Mitchell-Malm

Immediate change to qualifying

The discontent with different parts of the 2026 rules has been so varied in these opening weeks and months that F1's gone from planning talks about how to fix the racing spectacle two rounds in, to deciding no immediate action was needed, to then switching focus to how problematic qualifying is in its current form and now, late in the day, implementing changes ahead of the Japanese GP weekend.

This is all about reducing the amount of energy management drivers are required to do in qualifying, on what should be their fastest laps of the weekend.

The short-term fix for Suzuka is to decrease the upper limit of energy that can be harvested - from 9MJ to 8MJ - a decision that received unanimous support from all power unit manufacturers.

The upshot is that speeds will be lower but, with less energy recovery required, there's a suggestion cars could have an extra four seconds per lap without needing to engage in the super clipping phenomenon.

Technical chiefs will also be tasked with finding longer-term solutions for possible implementation at the next race, the Miami GP, in five weeks' time. - Jack Cozens

What that means for the driving challenge

There’s some cautious optimism that the late qualifying rule change could help mitigate the impact the energy management demands will have on qualifying at Suzuka.

Drivers have conducted their simulator work for this event based on maximum recharging potential and, as Alex Albon said, that is now "in the bin".

That's a headache to resolve but maybe not a bad thing in itself. Because every driver who has prepared for qualifying so far said that parts of the lap were badly compromised.

There are obvious places such as Turn 1, Spoon, 130R - the corners, of various types, at the end of long straights where lift and coast, or super clipping, will be demanded.

But the Degner Curves, arguably the best turns on the entire circuit, were also due to be terribly neutered. The fast, challenging approach to Degner 1 leaves no room for error with a punishing inside kerb and harsh track limits on the exit. Getting that wrong comes at a huge price and how well you get it right sets up your approach before diving on the brakes for Degner 2.

On the simulator though drivers found that by super clipping into Degner 1 they were slowing down so much that they could take the corner full throttle...

If this happens in qualifying it would be a travesty given how much Suzuka is revered as a proper driver's track.

So hopefully Max Verstappen is right and it will be a bit better; it all depends on where teams decide they don't need to save energy, or save as much, with this lower limit in place on the total recharging limit. - SMM

Norris's significant setback

We already knew McLaren had made a nightmare start to its F1 title defence (the lowest points total for a reigning champion in over a decade), but on Thursday at Suzuka, there was a fresh blow.

Mercedes has been unable to fix the battery on Lando Norris's McLaren, which, just like with Oscar Piastri's sister car, failed to start in China.

Drivers are only allowed three batteries for 2026 (one more than usual because of the new regulations), so Norris has already burned through a third of his allowance.

Piastri's battery has had an internal component fixed with permission from the FIA, but a final assessment on whether it is in the clear will only be possible after it has run in the car in Friday practice.

This comes on a weekend when McLaren really needs to kickstart its 2026 campaign. It's unlikely to suddenly leap into the Mercedes-Ferrari battle, but a clean weekend of scooping up maximum points behind the leading four cars would be a good start before its first proper upgrades debut in Miami after the upcoming break. - Josh Suttill

Mercedes' curious wing behaviour has an explanation

If you thought there was something funky about the way the Mercedes front wing was behaving at the Chinese GP...you weren't alone.

Video footage of race winner Kimi Antonelli's car caught the attention of rival teams for what appeared to be a multi-stage transition between the car's straight and cornering mode, running briefly in a halfway state under braking.

Such behaviour appears to contravene F1 rules, which dictate that the transition time between the two modes of the front and rear wings can be no longer than 0.4 seconds. And at least one team is known to have contacted the FIA to check that was within the boundaries of the regulations. So, what was going on?

If you're looking for a conspiracy theory, you might be disappointed: this appears to have stemmed from a miscalculation by Mercedes of the forces required to switch modes with its hydraulic pressure system that pushes the wing into corner mode.

Mercedes became aware of the problem in qualifying in China, and George Russell's front wing was changed as a result. It believed that fixes had been put in place for the race to prevent a repeat, but those were clearly not enough as eventual race winner Kimi Antonelli experienced something similar.

That looks to be the end of the matter: The Race has learned that the FIA, in response to the queries from rivals, did discuss the situation with Mercedes and is satisfied by the explanation that was given. - JC

More Honda countermeasures (but it's being tight-lipped)

Beset by reliability problems, Honda has implemented a further countermeasure for its F1 engine as it struggles to find a base level of respectability at its home race.

It's (perhaps understandably) being cautious not to reveal the nature of the change, but trackside leader Shintaro Orihara insisted Honda "fully understands" what went wrong on Lance Stroll's Aston Martin at the Chinese GP. Similarly, Orihara did not declare what the battery stock is like for Suzuka beyond saying Honda is now "confident" on that score.

Neither Aston Martin has been classified in either of the two grands prix so far this season, and the chief problem has been a serious engine vibration even if some progress has been made in mitigating the extent of this.

Still, even with more countermeasures in place, this is bound to be another chastening experience for the Aston Martin-Honda project. Orihara said "we are confident to finish the race" at Suzuka - but even if that milestone is hit it can hardly be declared 'mission accomplished' for this most ambitious of projects.

Williams has a problem it will prioritise

The three-wheeling problem that Williams has long battled re-emerged in China, as Scott Mitchell-Malm explained here. Alex Albon said on Thursday that "three-wheeling, or call it lack of inside-front grip, has been an issue" with both the front and rear ends and that this is a focal point for Williams in practice running.

It's a problem fundamental to Williams, not one exclusive to Albon. Team-mate Carlos Sainz said it's one of the first things he noticed about the Williams when he first drove it in the post-season Abu Dhabi test in 2024.

"It seemed like the Williams had this vehicle dynamic characteristic that surprised me from the first lap I did in Abu Dhabi," said Sainz.

"I had to get my head around it at the beginning of the season, drive around it, set the car up around it, and we managed to obviously get it better and develop it over the last year, but as soon as we changed regs and the downforce of the car came down overall with these new regulations the problem flared up again.”

Albon's been battling the problem for even longer, ever since he first joined Williams in 2022, and although he had troubles that he is hopeful have been solved by a pre-race gearbox change in China, thanks to briefly experiencing the car on an attempted reconnaissance lap before his failure to start, the underlying problem remains. And it's particularly problematic in slower corners, something that will be exacerbated at Suzuka, where there is significant camber and incline variation.

"Five years ago, one of our weakest corners was Turn 9 and Turn 10 in Bahrain, that [slow] double left-hander, I think that was always a comment," said Albon.

"And look at last year, the years before, there were only a few corners on the track that we were actually slow; these are the corners that are costing us performance.

"This year, generally, as everyone's running with less downforce the issue seems to be highlighted. It [the wheel] is not really in the air, if you look at it it's not got quite the contact patch of the other three tyres on the ground. It's been a big focus point so far this year and we've been attributing a lot of FP1 sessions to see if we can improve." - Edd Straw

Audi drivers had no warning of Wheatley departure

Nico Hulkenberg has revealed he only learned of Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley's departure when he received a news article about it from his mother during a day of driver-in-loop simulator running, revealing how rapidly the situation evolved.

Audi announced Wheatley had left with immediate effect for "personal reasons" last Friday, the day after reports first emerged about the possibility of being received by Aston Martin. As Hulkenberg said, he found out when the rest of the world did.

"Actually, I was in the sim that day and my mum sent me an article," said Hulkenberg. "I'm between [simulator] rounds looking at my phone. I'm like, 'Oh s**t'."

Team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto was more vague, but admitted that he also found out at a "very, very similar times compared to you guys".

"Inside the team, we are very clear with this type of thing so it's not something that [came] as a surprise," said Bortoleto. "I'm not going to lie, it happened very quickly, he joined last year. But when you have things, personal things to put in place, that's the priority."

Despite Bortoleto's effort to downplay the surprise, it's reasonable to infer from what the two drivers said that the whole team was caught out by Wheatley's departure and the circumstances surrounding it. - ES

Support for Ocon in the wake of threats

Esteban Ocon received a letter of support from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in the wake of death threats sent to him by supposed fans of Franco Colapinto after the Chinese Grand Prix.

Ocon hit Colapinto into a spin in China, hurting the Alpine driver's race, although Colapinto was still able to score his first point since joining the team last year.

An apologetic Ocon took responsibility for the clash during the race over the team radio and sought out Colapinto to say sorry immediately after, too.

But not for the first time against a driver who has clashed with Colapinto, an enraged portion of the Argentinian's fanbase directed serious and extensive abuse Ocon's way.

The FIA said it had reached out to Alpine and Haas over the issue as it was "deeply concerned by death threats targeting" Ocon. - SMM