Two weeks after a sprint weekend in China, Formula One was back in action. This time the show was at the Suzuka Circuit for the FORMULA 1 LENOVO JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2025. Heavy rain earlier in the day didn’t prevent the drivers from starting on dry tyres, but the circuit was still littered with wet patches and the threat of rain still loomed overhead.
As the two championship rivals lined up on the front row of the grid, they both aimed their cars toward each other, hoping to beat the other to the first corner. Max Verstappen had a good start from pole position, forcing Lando Norris to slot in behind the white-liveried Red Bull car. The first lap was shockingly orderly, with Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly being the only two drivers to battle through most of the lap.
Verstappen showed strong pace early on, stretching out enough of a gap to put Norris outside DRS range by the end of the opening lap. This is despite expressing some poor upshifting in the opening laps, which were eventually improved by the team on the pit wall.
Another driver with shifting issues was Alex Albon. The Thai driver vented his frustrations over the team radio, with his race engineer getting an earful. He would also complain about the pit strategy later in the race.
The first stint was very non-confrontational, with most drivers attempting to preserve their tyres. With only a single DRS zone at the circuit, the field was bunched relatively close together, making timing a pit stop to avoid coming out in traffic a challenge.
George Russell was the first of the top five drivers to pit on lap 20, potentially trying a long-shot undercut. Oscar Piastri pitted on the following lap. The three leading cars pitted on lap 22.
It was a dramatic stop, with Verstappen and Norris nearly tangling in the pit lane. Norris exited his pit box alongside Verstappen’s Red Bull. Norris had a better getaway at the pit speed limit line, but there’s no space for two cars at the pit exit, forcing Norris to skip over the grass, costing the Brit some time. Norris accused Verstappen of forcing him off the circuit, while Verstappen insisted it was self-inflicted. The stewards agreed with Verstappen, noting the incident but quickly dismissing it without investigation.
In the latter half of the race, Norris did begin to gain time on Verstappen, nearly clawing his way into DRS range of Verstappen. As things settled in, Norris hovered around the 1.5s range. Meanwhile, teammate Piastri appeared to have a much stronger pace, lingering within DRS range of the McLaren for multiple laps.
With ten laps remaining in the race, Piastri attempted to convince the pit wall to swap the cars around, believing he had the pace to chase down Verstappen and become the third driver in F1 history to win a race on his birthday. The team didn’t bite. As the laps ticked down and under pressure from his teammate, Norris again closed the gap to Verstappen with five laps remaining, but again failed to get within DRS range.
McLaren would have to settle for a 2-3 finish, having cost themselves a chance at challenging for victory. Norris would cross the line ahead of his teammate, but behind race winner Max Verstappen. This victory brought Verstappen to only one point behind Norris in the World Drivers’ Championship standings.
The Japanese Grand Prix was the first of three back-to-back weekends. Next up, the teams will rush to Bahrain for the race on April 13 before skipping over to Saudi Arabia for the race on April 20.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 53 | 1:22:06.983 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 53 | +1.423 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 53 | +2.129 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 53 | +16.097 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 53 | +17.362 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 53 | +18.671 | 8 |  | |
| 7 | 53 | +29.182 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 53 | +37.134 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 53 | +40.367 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 53 | +54.529 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 53 | +57.333 | |||
| 12 | 53 | +58.401 | |||
| 13 | 53 | +62.122 | |||
| 14 | 53 | +74.129 | |||
| 15 | 53 | +81.314 | |||
| 16 | 53 | +81.957 | |||
| 17 | 53 | +82.734 | |||
| 18 | 53 | +83.438 | |||
| 19 | 53 | +83.897 | |||
| 20 | 52 | +1 Lap |
| 1 | L. Norris | 62 |  | |
| 2 | M. Verstappen | 61 | -1 | |
| 3 | O. Piastri | 49 | -13 |  |
| 4 | G. Russell | 45 | -17 |  |
| 5 | K. Antonelli | 30 | -32 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 111 | | |
| 2 | Mercedes | 75 | -36 | |
| 3 | Red Bull | 61 | -50 | |
| 4 | Ferrari | 35 | -76 | |
| 5 | Williams | 19 | -92 | |
