Formula One in Tokyo on the Xiaomi 15 Ultra

Out of Camera #3

This weekend is Formula One’s Japanese Grand Prix, and while the sport is not exactly a stranger to soap opera-style drama, the run-up to this particular race has been unusually chaotic. Yuki Tsunoda, the only Japanese driver in F1, has replaced Liam Lawson as champion Max Verstappen’s teammate on Red Bull after only two races; Lawson’s poor performance saw him demoted to Tsunoda’s previous slot on Racing Bulls, which is kind of like a G-League version of Red Bull that shares the same grid.

Tsunoda was a huge star in Japan even when on Racing Bulls, so to have this happen right before the Japanese Grand Prix is incredible timing, and there’s been a huge amount of attention on him and Red Bull in general as F1 lands in the country this week. Yesterday for The Japan Times I covered a fan event in Tokyo that saw all four Red Bull and Racing Bulls drivers test out F1 cars on public roads and offer their reactions to the shakeup in onstage interviews.

You can read that story here, which includes a few photos. As an F1 fan for going on three decades, it was a cool experience. But just as importantly, how about that Xiaomi 15 Ultra?

Max Verstappen

I didn’t know what the photography situation was going to be like at this event, but I figured versatility would be crucial — not least zoom performance. That’s the biggest upgrade with Xiaomi’s 2025 flagship, so I was looking forward to putting it to the test.

This is what the Xiaomi 15 Ultra brings to the table:

• 23mm-equivalent lens with 50-megapixel 1” sensor and f/1.6 aperture

• 70mm 3x telephoto lens with 50-megapixel 1/2.51” sensor and f/1.8 aperture

• 100mm 4.3x periscope telephoto lens with 200-megapixel 1/1.4” sensor and f/2.6 aperture

• 14mm ultrawide lens with 50-megapixel 1/2.76” sensor and f/2.76 aperture

I took all these photos in Leica Authentic mode, one of the two default exposure options in the camera app. I didn’t edit colour or exposure at all — only cropping and straightening.

Here are some shots that didn’t make it into the JT story.