Verstappen's debut with a yawn effect

World champion Max Verstappen broke McLaren's dominance and clinched his first victory in the third race of the Formula 1 season. But in Japan, hardly anyone was excited.

06 April 2025

From: apa/fop

The Dutchman triumphed in a Red Bull on Sunday in an unspectacular, at times boring Grand Prix at Suzuka, ahead of vice world champion Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Norris maintained his World Championship lead by one point over Verstappen, who won from pole position in Japan for the fourth time in a row.

"I'm incredibly happy. The weekend started tough, but we've continually improved the car," said Verstappen, who laid the foundation for his 64th career victory on Saturday with an exceptional qualifying lap.

Max Verstappen crossed the finish line first. © APA/afp / MOHD RASFAN

It was noticeably cooler during the race, but the forecast rain fell long enough before the start that the racing line had dried out again by then. The start went smoothly, with no changes in the top ten positions on the first lap of the narrow, historic circuit.

Antonelli with historic records

Afterward, little happened until the mid-race pit stops. Norris's deficit to Verstappen settled at around two seconds, and on lap 22, the leading duo pitted at the same time. Norris tried to squeeze past, but ended up just behind Verstappen and drove into the grass at the pit exit. The Englishman complained in vain over the radio that the four-time world champion had pushed him into the grass. "Max is the last person I expect to give me space, but that's racing," said Norris. "It was still a good weekend."

Lewis Hamilton achieved his best Ferrari result in seventh place © APA/afp / PHILIP FONG

Andrea Kimi Antonelli took the lead in a Mercedes. At 18 years and 224 days old, the Italian not only became the youngest driver to lead a lap, but also the youngest driver in F1 history to set a fastest lap. The talented driver finished sixth behind his teammate George Russell. This was only the fourth time in more than 1.000 Formula 1 races that the top six finished in the same order they started. Previously, this had only happened on the street circuits in Monaco (twice) and Singapore.

Leclerc overtakes Vettel

Lewis Hamilton, using a different tire strategy, overtook Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar and took seventh place, his best Ferrari result to date. His teammate Charles Leclerc, who was also disqualified in China, finished fourth, overtaking Sebastian Vettel as the most successful points-scorer in Ferrari history. Yuki Tsunoda missed the points in his home race, his first for the Red Bull team, finishing twelfth.