Formula One - Japanese Grand Prix - Verstappen delivers a dominating victory at Suzuka for Honda's final outing with Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen continues to show dominance around the historic Suzuka Circuit, despite a valiant charge by McLaren, while we Honda's final outing with Red Bull at home.

Contributions by Charlie Thornton and Isidor Trondsen

Photo: Clive Rose

FREE PRACTICE

For the second time this season Jack Doohan found himself in the wall, this time the high speed scare was caused by Doohan leaving the DRS flap open when the Australian rookie turned in for turn one during Friday's second practice. The driver thankfully managed to walk away from his 297 kph / 185 mph crash with no injuries, other than to the car and most importantly, his future at Alpine.

The Alpine crew managed to rebuild the car in time for the third practice session on Saturday morning, essentially requiring to swap every major part of the car bar the power unit. Franco Colapinto has already been linked with the seat Doohan currently occupies, so is this the straw that broke the camel’s back for the French team, and will we see a mix-up in the near future?

QUALIFYING

The opening qualifying session of the Japanese Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen voicing concerns over front-end grip in the RB21, struggling to hook up his early laps. Meanwhile, McLaren came out swinging with Lando Norris soaring to the top of the timesheets, with teammate Oscar Piastri not far behind in third. Confident with their lap times, both of the McLarens opted to stay in the pits during the final runs. Out in Q1: Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Ocon, Doohan, Stroll

Photo: Mark Thompson

In qualifying two, Norris stamped his control on the field with a blistering lap that put him 0.35 seconds clear of Max Verstappen. George Russell kept Mercedes in the mix, clocking in just a quarter of a second behind Norris in second. But the session was abruptly halted when a red flag was thrown, where the marshalls responded to another fire near the iconic 130R corner, and once the track was cleared, the midfield battle intensified. Liam Lawson managed to sneak into tenth position briefly, but was quickly displaced as Fernando Alonso, Isack Hadjar and Alexander Albon all improved. 

Out in Q2: Gasly, Sainz, Alonso, Lawson, Tsunoda

The final qualifying session saw a thrilling back-and-forth as Russell initially went to the top, but Verstappen showed rapid improvement in the middle sector. Both Piastri and Norris looked formidable, until Norris, who was on a flying lap, dipped a wheel at turn seven, which resulted in him requiring to back out of the planned run. Verstappen set a provisional pole time, but Piastri soon responded with a lap two-tenths faster, however, Norris wasn’t done yet. On his final attempt, he surged to first position by just 0.057 seconds over his teammate, but it was ultimately Verstappen who had the final shot, delivering an almost flawless lap, reclaiming pole position by the slimmest of margins, while also breaking the Suzuka lap record of a 1:26.983. 

Top 10: Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell, Antonelli, Hadjar, Hamilton, Albon, Bearman

Photo: Bryn Lennon

RACE

A damp but drying Suzuka set the stage for the Japanese Grand Prix, with early morning showers adding some moisture to keep the drivers on their toes, though not enough to warrant using the wet compound tyres. Off the line, Lando Norris got a great launch and threatened Max Verstappen for the lead into turn one, but Verstappen held firm on the inside and retained the lead. Behind them, chaos was avoided despite a tense moment at 130R where Fernando Alonso muscled past Pierre Gasly, squeezing the Alpine driver into yielding position.

In the midfield, Carlos Sainz began to make moves, picking off Nico Hülkenberg for fifteenth on lap two, while rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli had a small scare, outbraking himself at the final chicane, but managed to keep position. By lap three, Verstappen was on the radio complaining about poor upshifts, a rare issue for the Red Bull machines, while Oscar Piastri began to reel in Norris, sensing a potential opportunity. The team informed Verstappen the issue might self-correct, and by lap seven, his shifting was improving, Red Bull seemingly found a workaround on the fly.

Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton made a slick move on Isack Hadjar into turn one on lap six, climbing through the midfield from his seventh place starting position. Interestingly, Alexander Albon also reported shifting problems just a few laps later on lap eleven, though Williams doesn’t share drivetrain components with Red Bull, raising some eyebrows in the paddock to perhaps a bigger issue.

Photo: Steven Tee

Sainz’s scruffy day continued with a lock-up at the final chicane on lap seventeen, with race control later noting the Spaniard for potentially gaining an advantage by leaving the track, while an investigation loomed.

The first wave of pit stops came around lap twenty-two, with all three front-runners, Verstappen, Norris and Piastri diving in. Norris lost precious time due to a sluggish stop, and an aggressive pit exit that saw him briefly on the grass trying to reclaim position from Verstappen. During the pit shuffle, eyes focused on Antonelli, with the teenage sensation not only inheriting the race lead, but keeping it for ten laps, becoming the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead a Grand Prix at just eighteen years and two-hundred-twenty-four days old. Though he eventually yielded to Verstappen on lap thirty-two, the Mercedes rookie continued to impress with his mature racecraft and pace.

Photo: Toshifumi Kitamura

With Verstappen’s shifting issues behind him, he managed to maintain the lead through the final stint, but Norris and Piastri kept the pressure on, ensuring no room for errors. The McLaren duo shadowed the Red Bull to the flag but couldn’t quite find a way past. After fifty-three laps of high-speed chess at Suzuka, Verstappen crossed the line first, claiming his first win of the 2025 season, with Norris just behind in third, and Piastri completing the podium. Charles Leclerc and George Russell rounded out the top five in a race defined by clever strategy, youthful ambition, and a touch of drama. 

Home-hero Yuki Tsunoda, on his debut for Red Bull received the Driver of the Day vote, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed the fastest lap of the race after a mightily impressive drive in the second stint for the young Italian.

UNDER THE FLOODLIGHTS AT BAHRAIN

Formula One returns for the Bahrain Grand Prix on the 13th April, where Lando Norris retains the lead of the championship by just a single point over the victorious Verstappen, with Piastri battling for third in the championship with Russell. McLaren lead the constructors championship by thirty-six points over Mercedes, with Red Bull’s efforts only seeing them in third with just Verstappen scoring points for the Austrian-Milton Keynes based outfit.