#F1: @Max33Verstappen scores dominant 64th-career victory at #JapaneseGP.

Verstappen Japanese GP Victory – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen scored his first victory of the season at the Japanese GP with a dominant run from lights-to-flag ahead of McLaren pairing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

 

 

The Dutchman drove a faultless race from start-to-finish despite some shifting issues at the start to give their power-unit supplier Honda victory on their home tarmac. This was Verstappen’s 64^th-career win.

 

When the 53-lap Japanese GP began, pole-sitter Verstappen got a solid run off the line cuts Norris off into turn one as behind them, the field were all clear with no collisions.

 

Further back, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso had a look at Haas’s Oliver Bearman at the Casio Hairpin, but the latter covered the former.

 

At the beginning of the second tour, Verstappen held a one second lead over Norris with Piastri third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Antonelli sixth, Hadjar seventh, Hamilton eighth, Albon ninth as Bearman rounded out the top ten runners.

 

Further back Tsunoda overtook Lawson for P13 and was only four tenths behind his former team-mate and friend – Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

 

Race leader Verstappen broke out of DRS range from championship leader Norris.

 

The gaps were very tight between all the runners – lots of cars tucked behind each other. Hamilton was keeping on the heels of Hadjar despite beginning the Grand Prix on the C1 white side-walled harder compounds, whilst Mercedes’ Antonelli cut the corner at the Casio Triangle Chicane – but managed to hold position.

 

Russell was looking racy in P5 as race leader Verstappen reported: “the upshifts are feeling really bad.”

 

Out-front Verstappen lead was still over a second to Norris on the fifth lap as behind the latter, birthday boy Piastri was right within DRS range of his McLaren team-mate.

 

Further back on the sixth tour, with DRS assistance down the main-straight, Hamilton got into the slipstream of Hadjar’s VCARB02 entry and passed the Frenchman for seventh place as the Briton’s tyres were right up to temperature.

 

Hamilton now had a couple of seconds to make up to chase down his Mercedes replacement in Antonelli.

 

On the seventh lap, race leader Verstappen said: “the upshifts are a little better.” As the Dutchman in clear air can continue to nurse his tyres and as a result, his gap to Norris was continuing to grow at this stage of proceedings. Increasing to over two seconds as Norris was beginning to worry about his tyre life.

 

Third-placed Piastri was still within DRS range of his McLaren team-mate, but his tyres won’t like being right behind in the turbulent air of the other MCL39 entry.

 

Further back Hamilton’s pace was in the same lap-range as Leclerc who was on the medium compound and the former will get to run the C2’s later on when his fuel load had dropped.

 

On the tenth tour, Verstappen’s lead over Norris was at 1.995 seconds with Piastri holding third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Antonelli sixth, Hamilton seventh, Hadjar eighth, Albon ninth as Bearman completed the top ten.

 

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, running at the rear switched from the softs to the C1 harder tyres and was over a pit-stop back to nearest driver Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber.

 

In the other Red Bull, Tsunoda was still trying to find a way past Gasly in the fight for P12. He had DRS but could not get close enough to make a move on the Alpine.

 

Norris received over the radio received a warning that light rain is expected around the 20^th tour.

 

Upfront on the 12^th lap, Verstappen and Norris were running within a tenth of each other – but third-placed Piastri was dropping back – the Australian’s gap to his team-mate fell to 1.7 seconds – his medium rubber complaining of being stuck in turbulent air too long.

 

In the battle for fourth place, Russell was continuing to run closely in DRS range of Leclerc’s SF-25 entry.

 

Seventh-placed Hamilton was continuing to make in-roads on Antonelli eating into the Italian’s gap by half-a-second – the battle could play out in the pits where the undercut was expected to be powerful at Suzuka.

 

On the 13^th lap, Piastri after cooling his tyres – was back on the tail of team-mate Norris as the gap fell from 1.7 to 1.4 seconds.

 

Norris was told on the 14^th lap that tyre graining and degradation would not be an issue here – overheating being stuck behind another car could make the rubber scream in protest.

 

Which meant that following another is going to be a difficult challenge, with Verstappen holding the big advantage running in cleaner air out-front.

 

Russell finally started to drop back out of DRS range from Leclerc in the battle for fourth.

 

On lap 16, Alpine’s Jack Doohan was the second driver to stop for a fresh set of the C1 hards and emerged just ahead of last-placed Stroll.

 

The pit window was approaching for the medium tyre runners as sole-tyre supplier Pirelli was expecting them to pit in the lap 19-25 window – a few laps to go before drivers could attempt the powerful undercut.

 

On the 19^th lap, second-placed Norris was told to come in and pit to which the Briton responded confirm to try and attempt race leader Verstappen to box – but the McLaren pit crew returned to their garage.

 

On lap 20, Verstappen’s lead to Norris was at 1.490 seconds with Piastri third, Leclerc fourth as Russell pitted for a fresh set of hards to attempt to undercut Leclerc. Antonelli fifth, Hamilton sixth, Hadjar seventh, Albon eighth, Bearman ninth as Alonso rounded out the top ten.

 

Russell emerged in 12^th place behind Tsunoda.

 

A tour later, third-placed Piastri pitted for his fresh set of the C1’s to cover Russell and came out just ahead of tenth-placed Alonso.

 

On the 22^nd lap, the top three of Verstappen, Norris and Leclerc all came in for their fresh set of hards and all emerged in fifth, sixth and tenth respectively.

 

Replays showed Norris was released close to the path of Verstappen as both drivers ran side-by-side out of the pits as the former ran on the ride-hand-side onto the grass as they exited the pit-lane.

 

This promoted Antonelli up into the lead as the Italian was leading for the first time whilst over the radio both Verstappen and Norris were riling about what happened.

 

Verstappen was maintaining he had right of way, Norris was saying he was forced onto the grass. No investigations incoming from the stewards at that stage.

 

On the 25^th lap, the yet-to-pit Antonelli was 4.122 seconds over Hamilton with Hadjar third with all three to stop soon for a fresh set of rubber, Verstappen fourth, Norris fifth, Piastri sixth, Leclerc seventh.

 

On lap 26, Hadjar pitted from third for his fresh set of hards and emerged in tenth place behind Sainz.

 

Further back, both Gasly and Alonso suffered slow stops whilst the stewards stated that there would be no investigations for the Verstappen-Norris incident.

 

Out-front Antonelli’s lead to Hamilton was at 4.312 seconds with Verstappen 2.997 second back in third, Norris fourth, Piastri fifth, Leclerc sixth, Russell seventh, Lawson eight, Sainz ninth who was noted by the stewards for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at the final chicane as Hadjar completed the top ten.

 

Tsunoda likewise done the same as Sainz at the Casio Triangle Chicane after running a bit too hot.

 

In the fight for ninth with DRS on the main-straight, Hadjar ran around the outside of Sainz into the opening corner and dives into the position after run down into turn one.

 

On lap 31, second-placed Hamilton after suffering a lock-up at the final chicane made his pit-stop for a fresh set of the C2 mediums – a solid 2.2 second stop – and emerged in seventh place behind former team-mate Russell.

 

On the 33^rd tour, Antonelli relinquished his lead to pit for his fresh set of the C1’s and came out in sixth place behind fifth-placed Mercedes team-mate Russell.

 

With twenty laps remaining, Verstappen’s lead over Norris was down to 1.3 seconds with Piastri third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Antonelli sixth, Hamilton seventh, Hadjar eighth, Albon ninth as Lawson rounded out the top ten runners.

 

Both Lawson and Sainz pitted for a fresh set of the C3 softer compounds on their final stints and came out in 16^th and 17^th respectively.

 

Out-front on the 36^th lap, Verstappen was told he can push until the end. No fuel load worries, no tyre degradation concerns. Off he went the Dutchman, unleashing the RB21 as he took a few tenths out of Norris – the gap was at 1.5 seconds. Piastri was 1.2 seconds further back in third.

 

On lap 38, championship leader Norris confirmed his tyres are fine, as the McLaren driver set about closing the gap to race leader Verstappen. The gap stood at 1.4 seconds, and he could not hope his opponent’s tyres will go off a cliff today. He was going to have to make this happen on track, as Verstappen did not look like he would make a mistake.

 

Running in fourth on the 40^th lap, Leclerc race engineer made a suggestion on settings to which the Monegasque driver responded: “Yes, you already told me. I don’t do it for a reason.”

 

On the 42^nd tour, Piastri was posting purple fastest sectors all over the place. He was just eight tenths behind his McLaren team mate. But it does look like Norris was nursing his tyres for a late attack on Verstappen. “If Lando is still saving, I think he should go soon. I have the pace to get Max,” Piastri explained.

 

With nine laps remaining Verstappen’s lead over Norris was at 1.4 seconds with Piastri third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Antonelli sixth, Hamilton seventh, Hadjar eighth, Albon ninth as Bearman completed the top ten.

 

Norris went broke the DRS range from team-mate Piastri in just one lap. The gap between those two was over a second, as Norris thought about closing up to Verstappen now. The Dutchman leads by 1.3s as he was on the hunt for his first win of the year.

 

After a couple of laps cooling his tyres, Piastri went for a last ditch effort to chase down his team mate Norris. He got back within DRS range, but that alone was not enough. He needs Norris to make an error, or else he is destined to finish third on his birthday.

 

On the 49^th lap, Piastri with DRS range was starting to pull close to Norris but was too far back to attempt anything in the battle for second.

 

Piastri once again was within DRS range of Norris on the following tour – but was too far back to mount a challenge.

 

On the penultimate lap, Piastri’s tyres were crying out again. The Australian dropped out of DRS range of his team mate now, with Norris 1.1 seconds back on race leader Verstappen.

 

Verstappen crossed the line to score the Japanese GP victory at Honda’s home Grand Prix by 1.423 seconds over Norris as Piastri rounded out the final podium place.

 

Leclerc reached the chequered flag a distant fourth and ahead of Mercedes duo Russell and Antonelli who were fifth and sixth respectively.

 

The other SF-25 entry of Hamilton took seventh and in-front of RB’s Hadjar who finished eighth whilst Williams’ Albon and Haas’s Bearman completed the final points place.

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2025 Japanese GP – The Top Three

 

 

2025 Japanese GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB21 – (25 Points):

“It was tough, pushing very hard. The two McLarens were pushing me very hard so was a lot of fun out there. I’m incredibly happy. It started out tough this weekend, but we didn’t give up, kept improving the car and starting on pole, could win the race. It is important to maximise your performance, and we did that very well this weekend. [Suzuka] means a lot to me. I knew I needed to try and stay ahead, in our final farewell race to Honda in Japan. This is the perfect send off.”

 

2^nd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – +1.423s – (18 Points):

“I guess just lost out yesterday. Max drove a good race today, made no mistakes. A flat out race from start to finish, so it was tough but there was nothing we could get Max on. [The pit lane incident] was racing. Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space, in a good way, in a racing way. They deserved it this weekend. They are quick, they have been catching up and as a team we didn’t have enough this weekend, so we need to work hard.”

 

3^rd Place – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – +2.129s – (15 Points):

“The pace today was really, really good. I was happy with that, but the track position around here is so important. I think yesterday was the day you effectively won the race, and I didn’t do a good enough job. The pace was mega, I just need to make sure I’m in a better position to use it.”

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Formula 1 Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix 2025 Race Results Classification (53 Laps)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	53	1:22:06.983	25
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	53	+1.423s	18
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	53	+2.129s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	53	+16.097s	12
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	53	+17.362s	10
6	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	53	+18.671s	8
7	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	53	+29.182s	6
8	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	53	+37.134s	4
9	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	53	+40.367s	2
10	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	53	+54.529s	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	53	+57.333s
12	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	53	+58.401s
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	53	+62.122s
14	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams Mercedes	53	+74.129s
15	7	Jack Doohan	Alpine Renault	53	+81.314s
16	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber Ferrari	53	+81.957s
17	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	53	+82.734s
18	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas Ferrari	53	+83.438s
19	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber Ferrari	53	+83.897s
20	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	52	+1 lap
* Provisional results.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1256/japan/race-result

 

Click here for the 2025 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round four of the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship heads straight to the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain for the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2025 from Friday April 11-Sunday April 13.

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#F1 #JapaneseGP #Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen stuns @LandoNorris to pole by 0.012s.

#F1 #JapaneseGP FP3: @LandoNorris heads @McLarenF1 1-2 in fire-interrupted session.

#F1 #JapaneseGP FP2: @OscarPiastri heads @McLarenF1 1-2 in red flag-affected session.

#F1 #JapaneseGP FP1: @LandoNorris edges @GeorgeRussell63 by 0.163s.

#F1 #Lenovo #JapaneseGP 2025 Preview. #Formula1 #JapaneseGrandPrix