Max Verstappen achieved his fourth consecutive victory at the Japanese Grand Prix with a solid lights-to-flag win at Suzuka. The Red Bull driver fending off the McLarens to score his first win of the 2025 season.
In the beautiful white Red Bull as a celebration from Honda, the defending world champion put together a controlled drive at the front of the order, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could not mount a challenge to pass Verstappen.
Verstappen pulled a two-plus-second gap over Norris in the opening laps to fend off any early threats under DRS, and did not respond to McLaren’s apparent dummy call for Norris to pit – as engineer Will Joseph suggested his driver could “box to overtake”, but Lando subsequently stayed out.
McLaren tried to force a response by stopping Piastri at the end of lap 20, and Verstappen did indeed pit – but Norris followed him into the pitlane. The McLaren pit crew found a second on its Red Bull rival in the box, putting Verstappen and Norris level at the exit, but Norris did not have space to go two-wide on the exit and ran across the grass.
His attempt to draw the race stewards’ attention on the radio did not come to pass as the incident was not serious, leaving his only opportunity of securing a second win of 2025 to come with an on-track overtake.
But, over the following 30 laps, Norris was unable to find a way to get within DRS range of Verstappen, and could only match the Red Bull driver for pace. This left McLaren with a problem, as Piastri was happily sitting within a second of Norris and trying to arrange a switch in positions.
McLaren did not elect to pull the trigger despite Piastri’s better pace, which left Verstappen untouched in front – the Papaya cars were left to finish behind the four-time champion.
Charles Leclerc clinched fourth place, preserving his grid position to beat the Mercedes duo; although the earlier-stopping George Russell got to within 1.2 seconds of the Ferrari driver by the end, he was unable to find any further ground on Charles despite offering early pressure. Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed sixth with a long medium-tyre stint, and finished a further 1.3 seconds behind his more experienced teammate.
At least Kimi Antonelli had the honour of leading a couple of laps for Mercedes and become the sport’s youngest leader.
Lewis Hamilton’s alternative strategy, starting on the hard tyres, paid off to some degree with seventh, having gained a position on rookie Isack Hadjar – who scored his first Formula 1 points with eighth.
An irascible Alex Albon claimed ninth despite his complaints on the radio to his Williams team about gearshifts and his pitstop timing, while Haas driver Oliver Bearman clinched the final point over Fernando Alonso and Red Bull debutant Yuki Tsunoda. Liam Lawson was P17 on his return to Racing Bulls.
So not the most exciting Japanese Grand Prix but in terms of drive and achievements, Max Verstappen delivered the result in the beautiful white Red Bull. That’s four straight wins at Suzuka and such a fitting tribute to sign off Honda by finishing in first position.
Japanese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:22:06.983
2 Lando Norris McLaren +1.423s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +2.129s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +16.097s
5 George Russell Mercedes +17.362s
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +18.671s
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +29.182s
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +37.134s
9 Alexander Albon Williams +40.367s
10 Oliver Bearman Haas +54.529s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +57.333s
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +58.401s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +62.122s
14 Carlos Sainz Williams +74.129s
15 Jack Doohan Alpine +81.314s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +81.957s
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +82.734s
18 Esteban Ocon Haas +83.438s
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +83.897s
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
Max Verstappen scored his first victory of the 2025 season with a masterful drive to P1 in the Japanese Grand Prix, the World Champion holding off the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to claim a fourth consecutive win at the Suzuka Circuit.
After making a strong start from pole position, Verstappen held a decent lead over the McLarens throughout the early stages. Drama then ensued during the pit stop phase when the Dutchman’s slightly slow stop saw Norris – who had pitted on the same lap – try to go side-by-side at the pit exit, resulting in the McLaren man having to take to the grass while Verstappen remained ahead.
While both drivers voiced their unhappiness about the incident over the team radio, the stewards opted not to investigate and Verstappen remained ahead of Norris as the race progressed, building a gap back to the Briton.
However, the battle ramped up in the final 10 laps as Piastri closed in on Norris – leading the latter to up his pace and begin to cut into Verstappen’s advantage. It was ultimately not enough, though, with Verstappen crossing the line ahead of Norris to claim his 64th Grand Prix victory.
Norris’ second place looked to potentially be under threat from his team mate in the closing stages but, as the Australian’s challenge fell away in the final tours, the positions remained the same, with Piastri having to settle for third on his 24th birthday.
Charles Leclerc claimed fourth for Ferrari, ahead of the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, the latter of whom enjoyed an impressive run in the lead during the pit stop phase after going long for his opening stint.
Lewis Hamilton added to the Scuderia’s tally in seventh, while rookie Isack Hadjar clinched his first points of the season with a solid drive for Racing Bulls in eighth. Alex Albon followed in ninth for Williams, with Haas’ Ollie Bearman claiming the final point on offer in 10th.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/verstappen-surges-to-fourth-consecutive-japanese-gp-victory-ahead-of-norris.1MOpqos1ljTyhFILJKiHZD
Four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen shared a heartfelt message after securing the Japanese Grand Prix victory. The race at Suzuka marks the last in Honda’s home country before it ends its engine partnership with Red Bull at the end of the year.
Verstappen and Red Bull have celebrated a staggering amount of success with the partnership after it began in 2019. The Dutchman reflected on the partnership after he clinched the win after starting from pole position.
“It means a lot to me,” the reigning drivers’ champion commented.
“It was in the back of my mind as well, you know, in those last few laps, I was like, well, I need to try and stay ahead. It would be a great story, our final kind of farewell race together with Honda here in Japan, and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over all those years together. I think this is like a perfect send-off dream result.”
Red Bull has had a tricky start to the season, but after “turning the car upside down,” as team chief Christian Horner put it, Verstappen managed to get to the top step of the podium.
“It was tough, you know, just pushing very hard, especially on the last set.
“The two McLarens were pushing me very hard, and it was a lot of fun out there, not easy, of course, to manage the tyres, but I’m incredibly happy.
“It started off quite tough this weekend, but we didn’t give up. We kept improving the car, and today, it was in its best form. And of course, you know, starting on pole, that really made it possible to win this race.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/max-verstappen-declares-japanese-gp-a-perfect-sendoff-to-red-bulls-honda-partnership/10710382/
Lando Norris has downplayed the clash he had with Max Verstappen on the pit exit during the Japanese Grand Prix, describing it as “simply racing”.
Verstappen took the win at the Suzuka track as Red Bull commemorated the end of its partnership with Honda, making this his first victory of the 2025 season. The Dutchman crossed the line ahead of McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri.
It was a sedate race, but a moment following the pitstops of Verstappen and Norris had fans momentarily on the edge of their seats as the drivers ran beside each other on the pit exit, with Norris losing traction as he ran his right tyres over the grass. The standings leader got squirrelly as he struggled with traction and lost some time to his rival.
As the two drivers argued who was at fault over the radio with their engineers, the post-race interview with the Briton featured him downplaying the tussle.
“It’s racing, I think. He was still ahead, it kind of squeezes into one, and Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space… in a good way, in a racing way. So, nothing more than that,” Norris reflected.
Initially, the driver argued that Verstappen had “forced me off,” while Verstappen told his engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, that “Norris pressed his pit limiter off too early, there’s no way that was legal”.
Stewards confirmed soon after that no further action would be taken, putting this to bed quickly.
“I guess I just lost out yesterday,” Norris said. “Max drove a good race today, no mistakes. The pace was too similar today to do anything more. Long race, a lot of pushing.
“It was a flat-out race from start to finish, so tough, but just not enough today, nothing special that we had that we could get Max on. They were quick and no mistakes, so he deserved it.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-on-max-verstappen-pit-lane-clash-last-guy-i-expect-to-give-me-any-space/10710380/
Yuki Tsunoda has reflected on his first home race as a Red Bull Racing driver. Although he felt more confident in the car, he shared his “mixed feelings” after failing to finish within the points.
While speaking to the media after his 12th-place finish, Tsunoda explained:
“I’m happy with the race, in terms of my performance, but obviously, in terms of results, it’s quite tough, especially for my home Grand Prix.
“I was definitely expecting more, and you know, at least I wanted to finish in a point, so it’s mixed feelings.
When asked how confident he was feeling about beginning to understand the RB21 and closing the gap to his team-mate Verstappen, the 24-year-old added:
“The 53, 54 laps I got in this race was the most laps I had in this car. Every lap I was learning, and finally, I got decent laps in the car, and I definitely feel more confidence in the car. I just feel overall controlled more towards the end of the race.
“I’m happy considering the amount of time I had, but because of [it being my] home Grand Prix, I just wanted to finish in the points. I just have to build the pace. It’s fortunate that there’s Max that I can learn from. So I just keep doing what I’m doing. I’m excited for Bahrain actually.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/yuki-tsunoda-shares-mixed-feelings-after-first-race-with-red-bull-was-expecting-more/10710441/
Lando Norris says McLaren should have pitted him before Max Verstappen to try to defeat the Red Bull Formula 1 driver, but thinks the Suzuka race was lost in qualifying.
Verstappen safeguarded his lead from pole on the first lap, and the four-time champion then never really looked under serious threat from the chasing McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri.
While the McLarens were the quicker cars, overtaking at Suzuka proved almost impossible, and Norris and Piastri never found clear air to extract the pace out of the MCL39.
With the Japanese Grand Prix an easy one-stop race, the only real opportunity for Norris to leapfrog Verstappen came at the sole round of pitstops, but Norris then pitted on the same lap as his rival. It led to a tense moment as Norris came out alongside Verstappen, taking to the grass on the exit.
But with no real on-track chance to challenge Verstappen over the second stint either, Norris felt McLaren should have tried different tactics.
“Maybe we could have tried a bit more with strategy and overcut or undercut,” he said.
“We just boxed on the same lap for some reason, so there are some things we’ll discuss. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
“I probably should have just tried to undercut. The thing is there’s always the safety car risk.
“I don’t think I could have gone longer because then I think I would have lost a position, so that wasn’t on the cards. But yeah, I think we probably should have just tried to undercut and tried something different.”
But Norris felt that even by pitting one lap earlier it would have been tough for him to emerge ahead because it would have taken Pirelli’s hard tyres time to get up to temperature, rendering the classic undercut less powerful.
“Honestly, I think the undercut is not easy here because the hards are not mega in the first sector,” Norris explained. “So, whether that even would have worked, I’m unsure.
“Max still always had a little buffer to me so, even with a good out-lap, I don’t think it was enough to have passed anyway.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-questions-mclaren-strategy-but-felt-japanese-gp-was-lost-in-qualifying/10710458/
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has addressed questions surrounding the Woking outfit’s strategy during the Japanese Grand Prix.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen managed to clinch the victory at Suzuka after fending off the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
McLaren attempted to throw off the Milton Keynes squad with a call to bring Norris into the pits on lap 19 only to quickly follow it up with instructions for the current championship leader to stay out. Unfortunately for McLaren, this didn’t pay dividends, and they weren’t able to capitalise either on an undercut or an overcut.
In the closing laps of the race, Piastri closed in on his team-mate and requested a chance to challenge Verstappen. However, no team orders were called.
Stella explained to Sky Sports following the race that it would have been difficult to threaten Verstappen with the Dutchman starting from pole position. He explained:
“The race was mostly decided yesterday. There wasn’t much action going on in the race and we ended up with the same result as qualifying.
“We got a lot of points [with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the podium] and so it was encouraging again for our car but the others are not far behind and sometimes ahead.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-chief-defends-japanese-gp-strategy-not-possible-to-overtake/10710410/