Max Verstappen drove a controlled and deliberate race, with the pair of McLarens nipping at his heels throughout the Japanese Grand Prix, to take his first win of 2025 in his engine supplier Honda’s backyard.
The Red Bull driver started from pole and led almost every lap to stand atop the podium for the first time since the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, last December, with a masterful drive to keep his rivals at bay during the late stages of the race at the famed Suzuka Circuit.
“It was a fun race; the whole race I saw two orange cars in my mirror, especially those last 20 laps, we were pushing quite hard out there,” said Verstappen, who only lost the lead after his one pit stop. “I think most of it, of course, was done yesterday, being able to start from pole, because around here I think it’s just very hard to follow. You know, the cars are improving every single year, more downforce, and probably you’ll see it’s just a bit harder to follow, but still, we’ll take it – we really maximized the weekend, and I’m very proud of everyone.”
In the end, Verstappen crossed the line 1.423 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, with the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri 0.706 seconds behind his teammate. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished 16.097 seconds back, in fourth, with Mercedes driver George Russell rounding out the top-five, crossing the line 17.362 seconds behind Verstappen.
The win moved the Red Bull driver to within one point of championship leader Norris, 62-61, with Piastri third at 49 points, followed by the Mercedes paring of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, with 45 and 30 respectively. In the constructors standings, McLaren extended its lead over Mercedes to 35 points, 111-75, with Red Bull third on the 61 points by Verstappen.
The one pit stop by the leaders arguably offered the most excitement of the Grand Prix, when leader Verstappen and second-placed Norris came in together for their stops at the end of Lap 21, while separated by about one second.
They went side-by-side after taking tires, with Norris driving onto the grass as he tried in vain to get past at pit exit. Although he complained that Verstappen squeezed him off, the replay clearly showed Norris accelerating onto the grass while the Red Bull held straight. Race control reviewed the incident, but took no action.
“It’s racing, I think,” said Norris. “He was still ahead and 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.
“We’re fighting for a win every weekend, but they deserved it – both Red Bull and Max deserved it this weekend. They’ve been catching up, they’ve obviously made some improvements, and as a team, we didn’t have enough this weekend, so we have to work harder for the next one.”
Interestingly, McLaren did not grant Piastri’s late-race request to let him pass his teammate and have a crack at Verstappen, despite his pleas that he could take the fight to the leader. In the end, he accepted the team’s decision and came home third.
“I felt like I had really strong pace and felt like, if I had the track position, I could go and get Max, but that’s what happens when you qualify behind, unfortunately,” said Piastri. “I at least asked the question and I think that was a fair response. I think it was a good race, and that’s how we want to go racing.”
Although Verstappen controlled the show, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli made some history by not only becoming the youngest driver to lead an F1 race, at 18-years-old, but also becoming the youngest driver to put up the fastest lap of a Grand Prix.
While it stayed close for the entire 53 laps, Verstappen really never saw a challenge. He got away well and led through the first corner, with Norris and Piastri in hot pursuit. The Red Bull driver built a one-second gap before DRS came available, which helped him keep the McLarens behind early, and he seemed to be able to manage the gap when needed for the rest of the day.
The gap to the McLarens ebbed and flowed throughout the race, but the top-three order remained constant. Behind the trio, the race turned into a parade, with almost no passing anywhere on track after the first lap.
Lewis Hamilton, in the second Ferrari, started in eighth on the hard tire, while the other cars in the top-15 came to the grid on mediums. He got past Isack Hadjar, in the VCARB, for seventh, using DRS on the start-finish straight at the beginning of Lap 6. His later pit stop saw him out seventh on medium tires, on Lap 31, but he couldn’t make the strategy work and made up no more ground.
Yuki Tsunoda finished out of the points in his first race in the second Red Bull, after starting 14th and crossing the line 12th, while the driver he replaced, Liam Lawson, started 13th in the VCARB car and finished 17th.
Canadian Lance Stroll started last, after a mistake in qualifying, and made little progress in the race after starting on soft tires and pitting early for hard tires. He ended the day exactly where he started, in 20th spot.
