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

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		53	-			1	25		Red Bull	Red Bull
2	L. Norris McLaren	4		53	+1.423 1.423	1.423		1	18		McLaren	Mercedes
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81		53	+2.129 2.129	0.706		1	15		McLaren	Mercedes
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		53	+16.097 16.097	13.968		1	12		Ferrari	Ferrari
5	G. Russell Mercedes	63		53	+17.362 17.362	1.265		1	10		Mercedes	Mercedes
6	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		53	+18.671 18.671	1.309		1	8		Mercedes	Mercedes
7	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		53	+29.182 29.182	10.511		1	6		Ferrari	Ferrari
8	I. Hadjar RB	6		53	+37.134 37.134	7.952		1	4		RB	Honda
9	A. Albon Williams	23		53	+40.367 40.367	3.233		1	2		Williams	Mercedes
10	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		53	+54.529 54.529	14.162		1	1		Haas	Ferrari
11	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		53	+57.333 57.333	2.804		1			Aston Martin	Mercedes
12	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		53	+58.401 58.401	1.068		1			Red Bull	Red Bull
13	P. Gasly Alpine	10		53	+1'02.122 1'02.122	3.721		1			Alpine	Renault
14	C. Sainz Williams	55		53	+1'14.129 1'14.129	12.007		1			Williams	Mercedes
15	J. Doohan Alpine	7		53	+1'21.314 1'21.314	7.185		1			Alpine	Renault
16	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		53	+1'21.957 1'21.957	0.643		1			Sauber	Ferrari
17	L. Lawson RB	30		53	+1'22.734 1'22.734	0.777		1			RB	Honda
18	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		53	+1'23.438 1'23.438	0.704		1			Haas	Ferrari
19	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		53	+1'23.897 1'23.897	0.459		1			Sauber	Ferrari
20	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		52	1 lap			2			Aston Martin	Mercedes
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