Max Verstappen resisted the McLarens to score his first victory of 2025 in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Lando Norris finished second ahead of Oscar Piastri as the top six drivers came home in the order they started.
McLaren’s hopes of getting either of their drivers ahead of Verstappen ended when their drivers made their first pit stops. Piastri, running third, was the first of the trio to pit, but was unable to gain an advantage on the cars ahead.
Norris, surprisingly, followed Verstappen in on the same lap. McLaren produced a quicker pit stop than Red Bull, and Norris emerged alongside the world champion, but ran onto the grass at the pit lane exit and fell back in behind him.
That set the order until the end of the race. Norris made a late attempt to chase Verstappen down, but never got within DRS range of his rival. Piastri stalked his team mate to the flag and the trio took the chequered flag covered by just 2.1 seconds.
Charles Leclerc took fourth for Ferrari ahead of George Russell, neither having the pace to join the three-way fight at the front. Andrea Kimi Antonelli led the middle part of the race, running long on his first set of medium compound tyres, but fell back to sixth after his pit stop.
Lewis Hamilton tried to make progress starting on the hard tyres, while those ahead chose mediums, but wasn’t able to extend his first stint longer than Antonelli’s. He passed Isack Hadjar for seventh place, the Racing Bulls driver claiming his first points with eighth.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
Williams drivers Alexander Albon was unhappy with gearshift problems and his team’s strategy, but scored points for the third round in a row with ninth. Oliver Bearman took the final point in 10th.
All 20 cars finished the race, and Lance Stroll was the only driver to be lapped by the leaders.
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
2025 Japanese Grand Prix
Browse all 2025 Japanese Grand Prix articles
