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F1 Japanese GP: Verstappen fends off McLaren pair for flawless victory

Max Verstappen held off the two McLarens throughout the Japanese Grand Prix to clinch his first Formula 1 victory of 2025 in a flawless performance, crossing the line with a 1.4s advantage.

The Red Bull driver capitalised on his impressive qualifying run to put together a controlled drive at the front of the order, ensuring that he did not wilt under the scrutiny from the two McLarens behind - as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could not prise open a chance to pass Verstappen.

Verstappen put a 2s gap over Norris in the opening laps to ward 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 the Briton subsequently stayed out.

McLaren tried to force a response by stopping Piastri at the end of the 20th lap, and Verstappen did indeed pit - but Norris followed him into the pitlane. The McLaren pit crew found a second on its Red Bull counterparts 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 stewards' attention on the radio did not come to pass as the incident was waved off, leaving his only opportunity of securing a second win of 2025 to come with an on-track overtake.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images)

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 quandary, as Piastri was happily sitting within a second of Norris and angling for a switch in positions.

McLaren did not elect to pull the trigger despite Piastri's better pace, which left Verstappen untouched in front; the orange cars were left to flank the four-time champion on the podium.

Charles Leclerc clinched fourth place, preserving his grid position to beat the Mercedes duo; although the earlier-stopping George Russell got to within 1.2s of the Ferrari driver by the end, he was unable to find any further ground on the Monegasque despite offering early pressure. Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed sixth with a long medium-tyre stint, and finished a further 1.3s behind his more experienced team-mate.

Lewis Hamilton's contra-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 F1 points with eighth.

Alex Albon claimed ninth despite his complaints on the radio about gearshifts and his pitstop timing, while Oliver Bearman clinched the final point over Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda.

F1 Japanese GP - race results

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine
1 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 53

-

    1 25   Red Bull Red Bull
2 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 53

+1.423

1.423

1.423   1 18   McLaren Mercedes
3 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 53

+2.129

2.129

0.706   1 15   McLaren Mercedes
4 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 53

+16.097

16.097

13.968   1 12   Ferrari Ferrari
5 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 53

+17.362

17.362

1.265   1 10   Mercedes Mercedes
6 Italy A. Antonelli Mercedes 12 53

+18.671

18.671

1.309   1 8   Mercedes Mercedes
7 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 53

+29.182

29.182

10.511   1 6   Ferrari Ferrari
8 France I. Hadjar RB 6 53

+37.134

37.134

7.952   1 4   RB Honda
9 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 53

+40.367

40.367

3.233   1 2   Williams Mercedes
10 United Kingdom O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 53

+54.529

54.529

14.162   1 1   Haas Ferrari
11 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 53

+57.333

57.333

2.804   1     Aston Martin Mercedes
12 Japan Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 22 53

+58.401

58.401

1.068   1     Red Bull Red Bull
13 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 53

+1'02.122

1'02.122

3.721   1     Alpine Renault
14 Spain C. Sainz Williams 55 53

+1'14.129

1'14.129

12.007   1     Williams Mercedes
15 Australia J. Doohan Alpine 7 53

+1'21.314

1'21.314

7.185   1     Alpine Renault
16 Germany N. Hulkenberg Sauber 27 53

+1'21.957

1'21.957

0.643   1     Sauber Ferrari
17 New Zealand L. Lawson RB 30 53

+1'22.734

1'22.734

0.777   1     RB Honda
18 France E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 53

+1'23.438

1'23.438

0.704   1     Haas Ferrari
19 Brazil G. Bortoleto Sauber 5 53

+1'23.897

1'23.897

0.459   1     Sauber Ferrari
20 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 52

1 lap

    2     Aston Martin Mercedes
In this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
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