Verstappen wins in Japan in the face of McLaren pressure

Max Verstappen secured his first victory of the 2025 season at the Japanese Grand Prix, controlling the race from start to finish with a 1.4-second lead over Lando Norris. The Red Bull driver resisted constant pressure from the two McLaren drivers, who couldn't find opportunities to overtake.

The race began on a wet track, and Verstappen took advantage to build a gap of over two seconds ahead of Norris in the opening laps, avoiding any early threat from DRS. On lap 5, the Dutch driver reported over the radio about issues with upshifts in his car, something he had mentioned in previous seasons.

On lap 9, light rain was forecast for lap 20, and Lance Stroll became the first driver to pit on lap 10. McLaren tried to provoke a reaction from Red Bull when engineer Will Joseph suggested to Norris that he could "pit to overtake," but the British driver stayed out.

Antonelli leads his first laps in F1

Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes rookie, had the opportunity to lead several laps on his Formula 1 debut during the pit stop sequence. The Italian completed a long stint on medium tires to finish sixth, just 1.3 seconds behind his teammate George Russell.

Russell finished fifth after closing to within 1.2 seconds of Charles Leclerc in the final laps, but couldn't gain more positions despite the initial pressure he put on the Ferrari driver, who maintained his starting position of fourth.

Hamilton fights back while Hadjar scores his first points

Lewis Hamilton implemented a counter-strategy by starting on hard tires that allowed him to climb to seventh place, passing Isack Hadjar, who nevertheless scored his first Formula 1 points by finishing eighth.

Oliver Bearman completed the points for Haas, finishing ahead of Fernando Alonso and Red Bull debutant Yuki Tsunoda.

On lap 33, Haas issued team orders to swap positions between Bearman and Ocon, helping the British driver secure the final point. Liam Lawson finished seventeenth on his return to Racing Bulls.

2025 Japanese GP F1 Results