Verstappen surges to fourth consecutive Japanese GP victory ahead of Norris and Piastri

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.

Just missing out was Fernando Alonso, though the Aston Martin driver will undoubtedly be pleased to be classified after failing to finish during the opening two rounds of the campaign.

Yuki Tsunoda took P12 on his Red Bull debut, a result that the Japanese racer will perhaps be unhappy with after failing to score points, though he did still earn the Driver of the Day accolade from the fans.

Tsunoda’s former team mate Pierre Gasly was 13th for Alpine, ahead of Carlos Sainz in the Williams and the other Alpine of Jack Doohan in 15th. Nico Hulkenberg followed in 16th for Kick Sauber, while Racing Bulls returnee Liam Lawson crossed the line in 17th place.

Esteban Ocon claimed P18 for Haas, while Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll rounded out the order in P19 and P20 respectively.

In terms of the championship, Verstappen’s victory means that he is now just one point behind Norris at the top of the standings, with Piastri moving up to third ahead of Russell.

AS IT HAPPENED

After three practice sessions followed by a thrilling Qualifying – in which Verstappen stormed to an unexpected pole position, beating the McLarens of Norris and Piastri – the attentions of the paddock shifted to the main event, the Japanese Grand Prix.

One change had been made to the starting order prior to the race getting underway, with Sainz moving from 12th to 15th after receiving a three-place grid drop for impeding Hamilton during Q2 of Saturday’s Qualifying hour.

Some uncertainty had lingered earlier in the weekend over what the weather might have in store for Sunday’s race amid the potential for rain on the forecast. And while showers did indeed hit the circuit in the morning, those had abated by the time that the Grand Prix was about to begin, with the track also quickly drying out in the cool conditions.

As the cars assembled on the grid at the iconic Suzuka Circuit and the tyre blankets came off, it was confirmed that most of the field would be starting on the medium compound, with the exception of Hamilton, Bortoleto and Ocon on the hards and Doohan and Stroll running the softs at the rear of the pack.

As the cars set off for the formation lap, it soon became clear that the racing line had become drier than the other side of the track, meaning that those with odd-number starting slots were on the drier area while the drivers lining up in even-number positions faced a greasier surface.

When the five lights went out for the 53-lap encounter, Verstappen made a smooth start to hold the lead from pole, with the McLarens also getting away well to maintain their starting positions.

While the top 10 order remained the same, a close fight was unfolding further back between Alonso and Gasly, the two scrapping over P11 before the Aston Martin came out on top, while Bortoleto slipped to the back of the field after running through a damp patch.

Meanwhile Tsunoda had overtaken Lawson – the man he replaced at Red Bull – to move up into 13th within the first three laps, while Antonelli cut a chicane in sixth place though did not gain a position in the Mercedes, with the top 10 standing as Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell, Antonelli, Hadjar, Hamilton, Albon and Bearman.

Up at the front, Verstappen had built a gap of more than one second from Norris by Lap 5. But things were not running entirely smoothly for the World Champion, who reported that his upshifts were “really bad” in the Red Bull.

After getting his hard tyres up to temperature, Hamilton made a move on Hadjar to claim seventh place on Lap 6, with his Mercedes replacement Antonelli the next in his sights a further two seconds up the road.

Piastri was continuing to run in the DRS of Norris – having remained within a second of his team mate – while Verstappen had stretched his lead out to two seconds, the Dutchman reporting that his upshifts were feeling better following those earlier issues.

In an update that may have been more welcome to some than others, Norris was told by his engineer that rain could possibly fall on Lap 20, though stressed that this “doesn’t change our plan”.

Elsewhere Stroll became the first driver to pit on Lap 10, the Canadian swapping his soft tyres for the hard compound to emerge in last place. There was trouble further up the order for Albon in ninth, who complained that the “shifts are so bad” in his Williams.

One driver seemingly a bit happier was Russell, the Mercedes man – who finished on the podium in Australia and China – chasing down Leclerc for fourth place, while Hamilton was also continuing to close in on Antonelli.

Norris was informed that there was “no sign of graining” on any tyre compound as the McLaren driver continued to run some two seconds behind race leader Verstappen by Lap 14, with Piastri just over one second back from his team mate in third.

Russell, meanwhile, had dropped back slightly from Leclerc, and Antonelli in sixth remained 1.8s clear of Hamilton. The top 10 order was completed by Hamilton, Hadjar, Albon and Bearman, and further back Doohan became the latest driver to pit for the hard tyres in P19.

On Lap 18, Norris was told that the area where he and Piastri were losing the most time to Verstappen was in the hairpin, before receiving a message to box to overtake Verstappen – only for the pit crew to then retreat again, meaning that the call was a dummy one in an attempt to get their rivals to stop first.

One driver who did pit, though, was Russell, who stopped for hard tyres on Lap 20 to return to the track in P13 behind Tsunoda. Piastri soon followed, putting him back out in P9 with the hard compound on ahead of Alonso.

A burst of action then ensued in the pit lane, with Verstappen, Norris and Leclerc all visiting the pits, and there was drama when Norris tried to go side-by-side with Verstappen – who, after a slow stop, had the line in the pit lane – at the exit, the McLaren then ending up on the grass and having a moment.

Both drivers voiced their displeasure at the incident over the radio, with Norris claiming that he was forced off the track while Verstappen believed he had right of way. Amidst this drama, Antonelli had taken the lead – leading by four seconds from Hamilton, the man he replaced at Mercedes.

While the stewards noted the incident between Verstappen and Norris, it was soon confirmed that there would be no investigation. Albon, meanwhile, was not happy following his pit stop for Williams, the Thai driver fuming over the radio: “You guys make no sense. Ridiculous.”

As the race reached its halfway point on Lap 27, Antonelli led from Hamilton – both yet to pit – with Verstappen, Norris and Piastri completing the top five. Given that there would be no investigation into what happened at the pit exit, Norris was reminded by his engineer that he would have to overtake Verstappen on the track.

Elsewhere, Sainz – still running on old medium tyres – was trying to defend against a chasing Hadjar in a scrap for P9, with the Racing Bulls rookie getting past the Williams into Turn 1. Hamilton, meanwhile, had a lock-up in the Ferrari, which allowed Verstappen to snatch P2 before the Briton subsequently made his pit stop for the medium rubber, dropping down to P7.

After holding the lead well for numerous laps, Antonelli dived into the pits on Lap 32, bringing him back out in sixth on the hard tyres – but with his stop being slightly slow, the Italian had Hamilton right on his tail.

Plenty of teamwork was playing out across the field, with Ocon asked to let Haas team mate Bearman by, while Gasly also swapped places with fellow Alpine driver Doohan. Meanwhile Sainz and Lawson had both bolted on the soft tyres after going long on their opening stints, potentially making them ones to watch as the race entered its latter stages.

On Lap 36 – with the gap at the front standing at 1.5s – Verstappen was told by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase that he could push until the end, with Norris still in second ahead of Piastri in third, while Leclerc, Russell, Antonelli, Hamilton, Hadjar, Albon and Bearman completing the top 10.

One man not running in the points was Tsunoda, having stepped up to Red Bull for his debut with the team in front of his home crowd. The Japanese driver was down in 12th, though still ahead of Lawson in 17th for Racing Bulls.

Things were getting intriguing at the front for the McLaren pair, with birthday boy Piastri rapidly closing in on Norris while Verstappen remained 1.4s clear in the lead. Was an intra-team battle on the cards for the final 10 laps?

“I think I have the pace to get Max,” Piastri told his engineer – before Norris relayed the same message in terms of his own pace. The Briton then seemingly backed this up by breaking clear of Piastri and starting to cut into Verstappen’s lead.

Elsewhere, Antonelli set a new fastest lap of the race during what had been another impressive event for the 18-year-old, having built a gap of seven seconds back to Hamilton. Fellow rookies Hadjar and Bearman were also continuing to run in the points in eighth and 10th respectively.

As the race entered into its final five laps, Verstappen remained 1.3s ahead of Norris – but Piastri was again getting agonisingly close to his team mate, with the gap at times closing to just half a second. Antonelli, meanwhile, was trying to chase down fellow Mercedes driver Russell.

Verstappen ultimately remained untouchable at the front, crossing the line 1.4s clear of Norris – and while the Briton had a bit of a messy moment across the final chicane on the last lap, he kept P2 ahead of Piastri, the Australian calling Norris’ move “cheeky” over the team radio.

Leclerc took fourth for Ferrari, with Russell and Antonelli following in fifth and sixth respectively, meaning that the top six drivers remained in the same classification as they had started in.

Hamilton, meanwhile, moved up one place from his grid slot in seventh, with Hadjar scoring his first points of the campaign in eighth place. Albon added a further two points to Williams’ tally in P9, while Bearman rounded out the top 10 for Haas.

Alonso missed out on points in P11, but did record his first finish of the season after retiring in both the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix. Tsunoda followed in P12 on his Red Bull debut, though the Japanese driver was still crowned Driver of the Day in the fan vote.

Gasly, Sainz and Doohan took the positions from 13th to 15th – meaning that Alpine are still looking for their first points of the year – while Hulkenberg was 16th and Lawson ended his first race back at the wheel of the Racing Bulls machine in 17th place.

Ocon claimed P18 in the Haas, with Bortoleto and Stroll rounding out the top 10 for the third round of a 24-race campaign.

Key quote

"It was tough, just pushing very hard especially on the last set," said Verstappen. "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. Of course starting on pole really made it possible to win this race."

What’s next

For the next stop in a triple header of races, F1 will travel straight to Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix from April 11-13. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action from the Bahrain International Circuit.