Photo: Instagram.com/Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen secures his first win of the 2025 F1 season
JAPAN: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen defeated Mclaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to claim his first win of the 2025 Formula 1 season at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen went ahead against Norris by a mere 1.4 seconds, securing his thrilling victory at Suzuka. Piastri finished third, just 0.7 seconds behind his teammate.
With his win, Verstappen admitted: “It was tough. The McLarens were pushing me very hard.”
He added: “It was a lot of fun but not easy pushing the tyres. I am incredibly happy. This weekend started off quite tough, but we didn’t give up, kept improving the car. Today, it was on its best form. Starting on pole made it possible to win.”
In a social media post, Verstappen shared: “🎌 This one means a lot. What a great weekend for us, we never give up 💪”
Netizens showed their support in the comments by saying: “Absolutely class, champ 🙌 thank you for bringing it home ❤️,” “Best way to good bye honda at home race, what a weekend, what a drive from you Congratulations🤍🤍,” “Brilliant! Super Max! 🙌,” and “Congrats, Max! So proud🤍”
Highlight of the race
A heated moment of the race came on Lap 22 when Verstappen and Norris pitted together. Both drivers exited the pit lane side by side, and Norris briefly went onto the grass.
Norris claimed that he was “forced off” by his opponent, but the officials decided not to investigate any further, stating that Norris should have backed off since he knew Verstappen was ahead of him.
From then on, Verstappen took control of his tyres, and despite encountering several pushes from Norris and Piastri, no one succeeded in challenging him, as they never managed to get within the DRS range of the defending champion.
After the Japanese Grand Prix results, all three drivers now have a race win in the 2025 season. However, Norris currently leads the Drivers’ Championship by one point over Verstappen, and Piastru is 13 points behind.
Moreover, Charles Leclerc finished fourth, followed by George Russell in fifth and Kimi Antonelli in sixth. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton came seventh, just ahead of Isack Hadjar, who ranked eighth. Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman finished ninth and 10th respectively.
The next race is the Bahrain Grand Prix, set for next weekend.
Here are the final results of the Japanese Grand Prix:
| Driver | Team | Time |
| 1) Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:22:06.983 |
| 2) Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.423 |
| 3) Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +2.129 |
| 4) Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +16.097 |
| 5) George Russell | Mercedes | +17.362 |
| 6) Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +18.671 |
| 7) Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +37.134 |
| 8) Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +40.367 |
| 9) Alex Albon | Williams | +56.321 |
| 10 ) Oliver Bearman | Haas | +54.529 |
| 11) Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +57.333 |
| 12) Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +58.401 |
| 13) Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1:02.122 |
| 14) Carlos Sainz | Williams | +1:14.129 |
| 15) Jack Doohan | Alpine | +1:21.314 |
| 16) Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | +1:21.957 |
| 17) Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1:22.734 |
| 18) Esteban Ocon | Haas | +1:23.438 |
| 19) Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1:23.897 |
| 20) Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | +1 lap |
