Max Verstappen showed his dominance in the 2025 Formula 1 season by securing his first win of the year at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen put on a stellar performance at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, claiming his first win of the season after fending off McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Verstappen’s victory came after a tense finish, with Norris finishing just 1.4 seconds behind and Piastri another seven-tenths back in third.
The race’s pivotal moment came on Lap 22, during the pit stops. Verstappen and Norris pitted together, but a slow Red Bull stop allowed Norris to challenge Verstappen, leading to a brief moment where Norris ended up on the grass after trying to overtake. Despite Norris’s frustration, the stewards deemed no investigation necessary, as Verstappen had the position going into the corner.
From there, Verstappen expertly managed his tires, holding off the McLaren duo, whose cars had a pace advantage but struggled to close the gap due to the difficulty of following closely in Suzuka’s high-speed corners. Meanwhile, Piastri didn’t take any risks against his teammate and settled for third on his birthday.
In addition to Verstappen’s win, McLaren secured a valuable double podium finish, putting them 36 points ahead of Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship. However, McLaren will likely be disappointed not to capitalize on their strong performance at a track that suited their car.
The top six results saw Charles Leclerc in fourth, George Russell in fifth, and Kimi Antonelli securing sixth, marking a solid showing for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton, who started on hard tires, ended up seventh, while other notable finishers included Isack Hadjar in eighth and Alex Albon in ninth.
With Verstappen’s victory, he now trails Norris by just one point in the Drivers’ Championship, setting up an exciting battle for the title as Formula 1 heads to Bahrain next weekend.
Japanese GP Results – Top 10:
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 1:22:06.983
- Lando Norris (McLaren) – +1.423
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – +2.129
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – +16.097
- George Russell (Mercedes) – +17.362
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – +18.671
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – +37.134
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – +40.367
- Alex Albon (Williams) – +56.321
- Oliver Bearman (Haas) – +54.529
F1 continues with its triple-header in Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend (April 11-13).