Max Verstappen seals his place in 2025 F1 title fight with Japanese Grand Prix victory

SUZUKA–Max Verstappen took a lights-to-flag victory in the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix to hold off McLaren rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The win makes a record four consecutive clean sweeps of the Japanese Grand Prix for Verstappen, who becomes the third race winner in three races so far this year.

While Verstappen controlled the race from pole, the decisive moment of the race came as he left pit lane, having lost around half a second of his lead and departing just milliseconds ahead of Lando Norris.

The McLaren driver saw an opportunity on the outside of the Red Bull at pit exit, but Verstappen held his line, and Norris drove off the track, having to settle for second.

Norris and Piastri set a determined pace as they chased down the Dutchman but were unable to catch him by the chequered flag, with Piastri denied a request to pass his teammate and attempt to catch the leader on his own.

"It was tough, just pushing very hard especially on the last set, the two McLarens were pushing very hard," said Verstappen.

"It was a lot of fun out there, not easy to manage the tyres. This place means a lot to me and it was in the back of mind in the last few laps to try and stay ahead because it would be a great story and a kind of final farewell with Honda here in Japan."

"I'm incredibly proud of what we have achieved across all those years together and this is a perfect send-off."

Verstappen leaves the grand prix second in the standings after his 64th career win, marking Red Bull’s eighth in Japan, the 123rd overall for the team.

The McLaren battle ramped up in the final ten laps of the grand prix as the Australian closed in on his British teammate and into the one-second DRS zone, but he was unable to mount a pass and a request to the team to swap the positions went unanswered.

Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, followed by George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in team order for Mercedes in fifth and sixth.

Lewis Hamilton was seventh, followed by rookie Isack Hadjar in eighth for the Racing Bulls, Alex Albon for Williams, and Ollie Bearman completing the top ten.

Aussie Jack Doohan was fifteenth.

Lando Norris leads the standings on 62 points, just one point ahead of Verstappen, with Piastri in third on 49 points. McLaren leads the team standings on 111 points, with Mercedes in second on 75 points, and Red Bull languishing in third on 61 points.

The Formula One field returns next week for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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