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Red Bull’s car is not as fast as McLaren’s, and Lando Norris narrowly leads the Formula 1 championship for a reason, yet Max Verstappen is setting up an unlikely title bid.
Asking any more of Verstappen from this start to the season would be unreasonable. He has been unleashed in the role of the underdog and in this form he can win the championship if he gets a little help from Red Bull.
Verstappen's driving with an edge that means he maximises everything. He is picking up every point possible on Red Bull's good, bad and mediocre days - and only having good or great ones of his own.
As Fernando Alonso said on Saturday: "He’s an outstanding driver and he’s proving it every weekend. The lap he put today is only down to him.
"The car is clearly not at the level to fight for pole, or even top five, but he manages to do those magical laps and magical weekends.
"So at the moment he’s the best, he’s the reference for all of us, and we need to keep improving to reach that level."
If a car that is by no means a disaster can be improved to even come close to meeting Verstappen's standards for it, how could you look past that for the title?
The way he hounded the McLarens early on in Australia, and then pressured Norris in the closing laps, was already a sign of how much of an irritant Verstappen was likely to be whenever the car allowed it.
Then he did the classic 'score big on your bad days' trick in China, where the Red Bull was not in a happy place.
Now he has sprinkled a touch of magic on a car that was just about good enough to be in the mix for pole to claim track position and then execute a flawless race to win.
“That’s one of the best weekends Max has had,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said.
“We literally turned the car upside down set-up wise, worked very hard with the engineering team, and were finally able to give him a car that he could make use of in Q3 with the most stunning lap.
“To convert that into a hard-fought victory in a straight fight puts him one point behind in the drivers’ championship. We leave Japan still with plenty of work to do but huge motivation.”
The closest thing to a challenge Verstappen had from McLaren’s Lando Norris at Suzuka was when Norris was presumably just hoping to be a nuisance to Verstappen after their pitstops, getting half alongside after a quicker release just to end up on the grass at the exit.
Of course Max could have moved over a little to make it easy for Norris. But why would he do that? Any movement was within his entitlement and was just to make sure his car was positioned smartly against Norris - who argued his case over the radio, but that was just standard fare for modern F1 racing.
Still, the whole thing was a reminder of Verstappen’s dismissive, ruthless edge. If he needs to give no quarter to Norris, no quarter will be given. And, given how last year went, would you not still back Verstappen to emerge on top more often than not in wheel-to-wheel combat?
On top of all that, the first three races indicate Norris does not have a clear edge over team-mate Oscar Piastri in qualifying trim or in races. The risk of dropped points on the team’s strong days is there for both McLaren drivers. They have also already left a little on the table so far, and opened the door to Verstappen here.
Then there is the fact there will be headaches for McLaren in managing the two drivers this season while Verstappen, obviously, is top dog and stands alone at Red Bull even after the driver change there.
That’s a lot for McLaren to manage to beat Verstappen over a season, but there is an obvious rebuttal: Verstappen defied F1’s fastest car at Suzuka, but it’s also asking a hell of a lot to keep doing that for the whole year.
“The most important condition to pursue both championships is having the best car,” said McLaren boss Andrea Stella.
“It’s important if we’re not in condition to win, we keep racing in a robust way. If you can’t win, finish on the podium. And in the long term if you keep performing like this, I think this will be rewarding.
“Max at the moment is making the difference himself but it’s very difficult to keep up for 24 events in a season if you don’t have the best car.”
McLaren's drivers were punished for slightly underperforming in qualifying at Suzuka as it was so hard to overtake. Plus, the very low degradation meant the car's best quality - great tyre management - couldn't be unleashed.
That maximised Verstappen's chances of converting his hard-earned track position, something that will be more difficult to do elsewhere - if he does get the jump on them again.
Then there's the fact this RB21 is capricious, with a through-corner balance Verstappen finds hard to tame.
The problem also shifts as Red Bull tries to solve it - a front axle limitation on entry can move to mid-corner, or rear instability can go from corner exit to turn-in.
This is for Red Bull to resolve, lest it ask too much of a driver who is already at the limit of what is achievable.
Without the car improving, even Verstappen’s biggest fan on the grid, Alonso, admits it will be very difficult for this to be sustained - and Alonso, of course, is speaking from experience, having fallen just short of getting an unlikely title over the line in inferior machinery in 2012.
“I hope for him he can fight until the end, but they need to improve the machine a little bit,” said Alonso, who joked that after four titles in a row, it’s OK for Verstappen to now be fighting with a slightly less competitive car.
“But it is hard and I think the people don’t realise how difficult it is and how you need to make perfect every weekend. And he is doing that so far.
“It reminds me of my 2012, in a way, when the car was not so good and we fought for the championship.
“But I didn’t win it in the end. Let’s see, I hope for him he can win it.”
