Max Verstappen

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/Christian Horner/Max Verstappen/Red Bull

Max Verstappen said winning on home ground for engine supplier Honda was an “insane” result for Red Bull.

Sporting a special white-and-red tribute livery to the team’s engine supplier, Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive victory at the Suzuka track, despite being pursued all afternoon by McLaren’s two drivers.

Verstappen, who captured pole position by one hundredth of a second, said taking his first win of the season in Japan was the perfect way to mark the final season of the team’s partnership with its engine supplier.

“Already yesterday was a very beautiful day for us. And then of course to follow it up with a win is just fantastic.

“Honestly, the relationship that we’ve had with Honda has been amazing. I’ve really enjoyed my time with them – how they work, how professional they are and how dedicated they are. They’ve given me so much.

“Together we’ve won four drivers’ championships and two constructors’. It’s been unbelievable and also, of course, something you’ll never forget.”

Although he came under pressure from the McLaren drivers throughout the race, Verstappen said the thought of winning for Honda “did cross my mind while driving, as well.”

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“I said it would be insane to win here today, also for Honda on their track,” he added. “So maybe it gave that extra motivation to try to stay ahead. It’s a proper send-off, we couldn’t have wished for a better weekend to be honest.”

Having only narrowly beaten the McLaren drivers to pole position, Verstappen said his car’s performance in the race was better than expected.

“The whole race I saw two orange cars in my mirror and especially those last 20 laps we were pushing quite hard out there. You could just feel the tyres were degrading more and more but you had to keep on fighting it, basically being on the limit.

“It was better than expected, to be honest, my race pace. I do think that probably the cooler track helped us out a bit with less tyre overheating.”

Verstappen said he was “very proud of this result,” which is the 64th grand prix victory of his career.

“I think most of it was done yesterday, being able to start from pole, because around here I think it’s just very hard to follow. The cars are improving every single year, more downforce, and probably you’ll see it’s just a bit harder to follow. You only have one DRS zone as well here, so it’s very tough. Plus the degradation seemed quite low, so you do a one-stop, so I think that definitely helps.

“But still, we take it, we really maximised the weekend, and I’m very proud of everyone.”

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Verstappen’s pit stop delay was due to Red Bull using reserve crew

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/alexander albon/Andrea Kimi Antonelli/carlos sainz jnr/charles leclerc/Driver of the Weekend/Esteban Ocon/Fernando Alonso/Gabriel Bortoleto/George Russell/Isack Hadjar/Jack Doohan/Lance Stroll/Lando Norris/Lewis Hamilton/Liam Lawson/Max Verstappen/Nico Hulkenberg/Oliver Bearman/Oscar Piastri/Pierre Gasly/Yuki Tsunoda

Max Verstappen lost time in his pit stop during the Japanese Grand Prix because two key team members were missing, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained.

Matt and Jon Caller, who are twins, are the team’s number one mechanics. Horner revealed both had to return home this weekend for personal reasons, and the team had to use reserve members of their pit crew.

Verstappen was leading the race when he came into the pits on the same lap as Lando Norris, who was chasing him. Norris’s pit stop was slightly quicker which allowed him to challenge Verstappen at the pit exit, though he ran onto the grass and fell behind the Red Bull.

Horner said Red Bull anticipated McLaren would bring Norris in on the same lap as Verstappen, and the slight loss of time in their pit stop brought the two drivers close together in the pits.

“After they pitted Oscar [Piastri] first it was clear that they were going to pit Lando the following lap,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “So we pitted to cover [that].

“This weekend the two number one mechanics, that are twins, on the car, unfortunately their dad has not been well so they’ve gone back to the UK. So we’ve got the reserve guys on the pit stop and we had a slightly slower stop than would have been ideal.

“That allowed Lando – thankfully his stop wasn’t stellar either – to get close, but he was never alongside.”

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Norris claimed Verstappen had forced him off the track but race control took no action over the incident. “I think that stewards made the right decision on that,” said Horner.

Not only was Verstappen’s pit stop delayed, the team also failed to complete a planned change in front wing flap angle. That meant his car’s balance did not change as Verstappen intended it to during his second stint.

“At the first pit stop, we didn’t get the front wing adjustment that we wanted into the car and so that compromised his second stint with a bit more understeer than he would have probably liked,” said Horner.

“But again, playing with the tools, working with his engineering team to help him with his diff[erential] settings and so on to help that balance, it was a phenomenal team performance to extract every ounce of performance from the car this weekend.”

Horner praised Verstappen’s error-free run to victory despite sustained pressure from Norris. “There was so little overtaking in that race that it was going to take something Herculean or a big mistake [for] the McLarens to make a pass,” he said.

“It was all about being inch-perfect. Max knew that. He was quick where he needed to be: the last chicane, turn 11, they couldn’t get anywhere near. He kept them just out of the DRS [range].”

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Vote for your 2025 Japanese Grand Prix F1 Driver of the Weekend

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/Lando Norris/Max Verstappen

Start, Suzuka, 2025

Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend?

It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.

Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Suzuka.

Driver performance summary

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Vote for your driver of the weekend

Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?

Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?

Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.

Who was the best driver of the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix weekend?

No opinion (0%)
Gabriel Bortoleto (0%)
Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
Alexander Albon (0%)
Yuki Tsunoda (6%)
Isack Hadjar (11%)
Oliver Bearman (0%)
Esteban Ocon (0%)
Pierre Gasly (0%)
Jack Doohan (0%)
Fernando Alonso (0%)
Lance Stroll (0%)
George Russell (0%)
Andrea Kimi Antonelli (17%)
Liam Lawson (0%)
Max Verstappen (67%)
Lewis Hamilton (0%)
Charles Leclerc (0%)
Oscar Piastri (0%)
Lando Norris (0%)

Total Voters: 18

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Debates and polls

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Verstappen defies Norris to win Japanese Grand Prix after pit lane skirmish · RaceFans

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/F1 Statistics/Lap Time Watch/Max Verstappen/McLaren

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.

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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.

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McLaren admit Verstappen’s pole lap was “near-perfect”: Lap time data

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/Formula 1/Max Verstappen

Even McLaren had to admit there was something special about Max Verstappen’s lap for pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Either of their drivers could have taken pole position. Together they could have locked out the front row of the grid. But minor errors handed Verstappen the slimmest of opportunities, and he seized it brilliantly.

Sector times

On a day when shifting conditions made it harder than usual for drivers to string together their best sector times, Verstappen was the only driver who reached Q3 to pull it off.

He wasn’t fastest in any of the three individual sectors – the McLaren drivers were. Each of them produced sector times which, taken together, could have put them in front of Verstappen.

But they didn’t manage it when it mattered. “We looked like we were on the way to pole position when Max managed to pull off what looks like a near-perfect lap,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted, “so credit to Max.”

P.	#	Driver	S1	S2	S3	Ultimate lap (deficit)
1	81	Oscar Piastri	30.514 (5)	39.197 (1)	17.205 (1)	1’26.916 (+0.111)
2	4	Lando Norris	30.358 (1)	39.301 (2)	17.307 (6)	1’26.966 (+0.029)
3	1	Max Verstappen	30.387 (3)	39.355 (4)	17.241 (2)	1’26.983
4	16	Charles Leclerc	30.535 (6)	39.352 (3)	17.292 (4)	1’27.179 (+0.120)
5	63	George Russell	30.376 (2)	39.560 (8)	17.281 (3)	1’27.217 (+0.101)
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	30.506 (4)	39.454 (5)	17.406 (12)	1’27.366 (+0.244)
7	12	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	30.669 (12)	39.503 (7)	17.295 (5)	1’27.467 (+0.088)
8	6	Isack Hadjar	30.663 (11)	39.471 (6)	17.401 (10)	1’27.535 (+0.034)
9	23	Alexander Albon	30.604 (8)	39.581 (10)	17.399 (9)	1’27.584 (+0.031)
10	87	Oliver Bearman	30.646 (10)	39.639 (12)	17.403 (11)	1’27.688 (+0.023)
11	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	30.760 (14)	39.579 (9)	17.408 (13)	1’27.747 (+0.089)
12	10	Pierre Gasly	30.593 (7)	39.840 (15)	17.389 (7)	1’27.822
13	22	Yuki Tsunoda	30.707 (13)	39.672 (13)	17.449 (14)	1’27.828 (+0.139)
14	14	Fernando Alonso	30.633 (9)	39.705 (14)	17.559 (18)	1’27.897
15	30	Liam Lawson	30.879 (15)	39.634 (11)	17.393 (8)	1’27.906
16	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	30.974 (17)	40.000 (17)	17.542 (17)	1’28.516 (+0.106)
17	27	Nico Hulkenberg	31.082 (20)	39.984 (16)	17.504 (15)	1’28.570
18	31	Esteban Ocon	31.012 (18)	40.137 (18)	17.518 (16)	1’28.667 (+0.029)
19	7	Jack Doohan	30.949 (16)	40.186 (19)	17.608 (19)	1’28.743 (+0.134)
20	18	Lance Stroll	31.034 (19)	40.483 (20)	17.754 (20)	1’29.271

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Teams’ performance

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Suzuka, 2019 — Verstappen broke Vettel’s Suzuka course record from 2019

McLaren and Red Bull had around three tenths of a second over Ferrari and Mercedes. George Russell was disappointed with his lap for fifth on the grid, having been consistently higher than that in practice, blaming low tyre temperatures for a poor start to his final lap.

Racing Bulls threatened to get in among the front runners during practice, but were one of several teams which appeared to be caught out by the shift in wind conditions overnight.

“Somewhere along the way, I think with the wind change, we struggled more,” admitted Liam Lawson following his return to the team. “It’s a shame because the potential of the car has been very, very good this weekend.”

Sauber was the only team to lose both drivers in Q1, which somewhat exaggerates their deficit to the competition, as the track conditions continued to improve in Q2.

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Williams chalked up the biggest year-on-year improvement of any team. Moreover, Carlos Sainz Jnr finally seems to be getting to grips with the car, lapping just five hundredths of a second off Alexander Albon in Q2.

Field performance

Thanks partly to the resurfacing at the start of the lap, Suzuka saw record-breaking times during qualifying. Verstappen trimmed the former record, held by Sebastian Vettel since 2019, by 0.081 seconds.

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Verstappen thought he was going off six times during Suzuka pole lap · RaceFans

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/Fernando Alonso/Formula 1/Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen thought he had over-committed on several occasions during his pole-winning lap at Suzuka.

The Red Bull driver produced a superb lap at the end of the session to beat Lando Norris to pole position by one hundredth of a second.

He said he felt “a lot of happiness when I crossed the line” to score his first pole position since June last year.

He had been sixth after Q1, third in Q2 and second following the first runs in Q3. “The whole qualifying, we just kept on trying to improve the situation a bit,” he explained.

“On the final lap, honestly, it was very good. I had a lot of fun out there, being fully committed everywhere.

“In some places I was not sure if I was actually going to keep it or not. But it was really nice. And also great for the team as well.”

Verstappen said there were six points on the circuit where he thought he was going to go off. “I think exit of [turn] one, into two, six, seven, eight and then Spoon – those places I was like, well, I hope it’s going to stick. But it did.”

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After taking provisional pole position from Norris, Verstappen had to wait for Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren to finish his lap to know he had secured pole.

“When I crossed the line, I could see my name pop up, but I knew Oscar was still behind me. But I was already just very happy with what I did there because I didn’t even expect to be close to that. So that was a nice moment.”

Red Bull tested a range of set-up approaches on Verstappen’s car during practice and at one point he said on his radio it felt as if it was flexing. However it handled much better by qualifying, said Verstappen.

“It was a bit better, I think that issue was a lot better today,” he said. “At the same time, the through-corner balance is still what we need to work on.

“On low fuel over one lap, some bits you can mask a little bit. But it’s still not like I go into the lap fully confident and comfortable.

“So the last lap I was like, well, I’m just going to not try and feel uncomfortable, just send it in and see what we get. It’s very rare that a lap like that then can stick, but this time it worked well.

“We know that we have some issues that we want to solve, but it’s clearly not easy to solve them at the moment.”

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Alonso hails Verstappen’s ‘magical’ Suzuka pole · RaceFans

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/Max Verstappen/Qualifying reports

Fernando Alonso described Max Verstappen’s surprise pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix as a “magical moment.”

The Aston Martin driver was eliminated in the second round of qualifying and was able to watch Verstappen snatch pole away from Lando Norris by a hundredth of a second with his final lap in qualifying.

“Only he can do it, only he can do it,” Alonso told Viaplay after the session finished. “I think there is no other driver at the moment that can drive a car and put it so high, or higher than the car deserves.

“I think it was a magical moment for everyone here.”

Alonso has claimed 22 pole positions in his career, the last of which came at the German Grand Prix in 2012. Verstappen arrived in F1 three years later and took his 42nd pole today.

While Lance Stroll qualified the other Aston Martin last, Alonso reached Q2 and will start from 13th place. He doesn’t believe the car was capable of much better.

“I think we gave it everything on track today,” he said. “Unfortunately, maybe we don’t have the pace yet to be in Q3. P14 in Q1, P13 in Q2, maybe it’s where we deserve [to be] today.”

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He is hopeful the possibility of rain ahead of tomorrow’s race will “offer more opportunities” for Aston Martin. “I think by pure pace, we’re struggling to be in the points, probably.”

Alonso is yet to score this season after suffering a brake problem in China and crashing in the rain-hit Australian Grand Prix.

“In Australia I was pushing, I was fast but I didn’t finish the race,” he reflected. “That can happen in the rain tomorrow.

“You can be conservative and see what happens at the end of the race so you can attack and try to be fast with the risk of another DNF. We will try to do our best strategy tomorrow.”

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Verstappen stuns Norris and Piastri to claim record-breaking pole at Suzuka · RaceFans

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/Christian Horner/Formula 1/Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen broke the Suzuka track record as he denied McLaren a front row lock-out for the Japanese Grand Prix by just 12 thousandths of a second.

The Red Bull driver edged closer to the top of the times throughout qualifying and eventually eclipsed Sebastian Vettel’s 2019 benchmark at Suzuka to claim his first pole position since June last year.

However his new team mate Yuki Tsunoda fared little better than his predecessor Liam Lawson. He made it as far as Q2 but was eliminated in 15th place behind the driver he replaced.

The McLaren pair will line up behind Verstappen followed by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and the Mercedes duo.

Q1

The Racing Bulls drivers, who had looked in great shape on Friday, suddenly found themselves with a fight on their hands to get out of Q1. Isack Hadjar was clearly in distress, repeatedly radioing his team about the discomfort he was experiencing in his cockpit. He eventually made it through in 13th, then climbed out of the car so his team could make him more comfortable.

His new team mate Liam Lawson reached Q2 for the first time this year, but it took everything he had. He was the last driver to join the track for their final runs, and beat Nico Hulkenberg to the last place in Q2 by a hundredth of a second.

That meant both Sauber drivers failed to progress any further. Esteban Ocon also failed to make the cut, as did Jack Doohan, who ended up almost seven tenths of a second off his team mate. Lance Stroll was the first driver to be eliminated after going off in the Esses.

Piastri set the pace to begin with as Russell separated the two McLarens. The Ferrari pair were next, Lewis Hamilton needing a second run on softs after starting the session on the medium rubber.

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Q1 result

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Q2

Verstappen revealed more of Red Bull’s pace as Q2 began, chopping nearly half a second off his best time from the previous session. That left him third after the initial runs, behind Norris and Russell.

A strong lap from Albon put him fifth, but Sainz in the other Williams lay in the drop zone after the first runs. Alonso and Bearman also needed to improve – as did Tsunoda and Lawson. They all had extra time to consider how best to approach their final runs as a grass fire caused the third red flag interruption of the day.

Tsunoda was among the first drivers to set a time in Q2 and his hopes of reaching the top 10 quickly faded. Both cars from his former team Racing Bulls beat his effort, including Lawson.

Sainz narrowly fell short of reaching Q3, then remained on the racing line as he cruised into the first corner, causing Hamilton behind him to take evasive action. The stewards will look into the incident after the session, and a penalty could cost Sainz 12th place on the grid.

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Q2 result

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Q3

Verstappen continued to find time as qualifying progressed, beating Russell’s opening effort as Q3 began. Piastri was quicker than both, however, producing a 1’27.052 which beat the six-year-old track record previously held by Sebastian Vettel.

His team mate Norris fell short with his first run, however, and couldn’t even beat Russell. Then Leclerc produced a surprise lap to take third place behind Verstappen, relegating Norris to fifth.

A superb first sector for Norris appeared to put him on course to salvage pole position and he duly crossed the line with another record-breaking lap. But further behind Verstappen was working on something truly special, and clipped another 12 thousandths of a second off the McLaren driver’s time to take a superb pole position.

Piastri could have taken it back, but a small mistake in the first sector left him four hundredths of a second down. The Chinese Grand Prix pole-winner therefore fell from first to third with his final run.

Leclerc took fourth, while Antonelli joined Russell on the third row of the grid. After his earlier travails, Hadjar salvaged an excellent seventh. Albon took ninth on the grid despite clipping the barrier as he approached the finishing line.

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Q3 result

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Verstappen’s team mates need “calmer”, less competitive car set-ups

2025 F1 season/2025 Japanese Grand Prix/Formula 1/Liam Lawson/Max Verstappen/Red Bull

on 4 April 2025

Red Bull needs to give Max Verstappen’s team mates less competitive set-ups because they cannot handle his “unique” approach to extracting performance from the car, says team principal Christian Horner.

The team has replaced Liam Lawson as Verstappen’s team mate this weekend after he failed to score points in either of the opening rounds. Horner said he was pleased with Yuki Tsunoda’s performance on his debut for the team in first practice at Suzuka.

“It was certainly a good start for Yuki, settling into the car pretty well,” Horner told Sky. “Obviously it’s quite a different feel to what he’s used to, but I thought he settled in and he gave very good feedback and now both drivers are working away to improve the car for the next session.”

Tsunoda is Verstappen’s third different team mate in the last four races as Red Bull dropped Sergio Perez at the end of last season, only to seek a new replacement soon afterwards. Perez and Lawson both struggled to match Verstappen’s pace in the car and Horner said the team have to accept the need to configure their two cars differently to suit their drivers.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, Suzuka, 2025 — Tsunoda’s first appearance for Red Bull in practice went well

“I think we have to provide a different set-up,” he said. “Max’s ability to extract lap time from the car is unique and I think that we haven’t seen another driver able to do that in the way that Max is able to.”

However that will inevitably mean Verstappen’s team mate’s car is unlikely to match the lap times he can produce, Horner admitted.

“You need to give almost a calmer car to whoever is the partner driver to give a more settled and predictable feel,” he said. “That’s not necessarily the quickest car, but it is definitely a more confidence-inspiring car for whichever driver.”

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This has consequences for Red Bull’s approach to the championships, said Horner, as they are favouring one driver while their rivals try to get the best out of two. “Our rules of engagement are very clear,” he said. “Max is the lead driver and Yuki’s job is to support him as best as he can to retain that drivers’ championship.

Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Albert Park, Melbourne, 2025 — **Report: Even the best driver on the grid needs a team mate to push them – Norris**

“The performance that he’s just put in that last session is exactly where we want him to be, to be up there able to support Max.

“Our advantage is that we’re very clear in that strategy. Of course McLaren have got two drivers fighting for a championship, they’ll be taking points theoretically off each other. Ferrari the same, so in a very tight battle, sometimes you’ve got to back your horse.”

He described Verstappen as a once-in-a-generation talent, but admitted that pursuing his development preferences has left them with a car others cannot drive as successfully. “Being his team mate is arguably the toughest job in Formula 1,” said Horner.

“Sergio Perez for four years, for three of those years did a pretty decent job. He was second in the drivers’ championship in ’23, third in ’22 and managed to win some very decent races.

“Of course the development direction that we push to extract performance from the car, we’re always looking to create the fastest car, whether that was in 2021 or ’22, ’23, and of course last year was a lot tougher. But Max is very clear what he wants from the car and of course that will always give you a stronger return if we can give him what he’s looking for.”

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Horner admitted the team made a mistake by promoting Lawson after just 11 grand prix appearances. “With hindsight I think we just asked too much too soon from Liam,” he said.

Liam Lawson's shock early exit from Red Bull examined in five charts — **Stats: Hired to fired in 98 days – Lawson’s shock early exit from Red Bull in five charts**

“We’ve got a lot of work to do with the car and unfortunately I think that sometimes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind.

“But he’s not out of Formula 1. He’s gone back to the Racing Bulls, we still believe in him as a talent for the future and making use of Yuki’s experience will hopefully enable the engineers to make faster progress with the car.”

Tsunoda “brings experience and I think that knowledge is very useful as this season is all going to be about a development race,” said Horner. “That’s why we took the decision early.

“I think Liam would have got there but it might have taken five, six, seven races or half a season. We don’t have that amount of time so after discussing it internally we decided we’ve got to rip the plaster off this now and get on with it. That’s what we chose to do and Yuki’s jumped in and done a good job initially.”

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Verstappen keeps quiet but sends Red Bull a clear message over Lawson shambles · RaceFans