Sport and Health

F1 Japanese GP 2025: Verstappen returns to victory, McLaren consolidates its lead in the standings

April 07, 2025

Curated by Andreas Grandi

The team with the best driver may have lost its technical supremacy, but the most organised team still finds itself having to manage the competitive spirit of its champions

The podium of the F1 GP Japan 2025, held over the weekend, therefore rewarded Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with his first win of the season, while second and third were Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both of McLaren.

Confirming these impressions is also a daily chronicle that was, all in all, predictable.

The Dutch winner led the 307km Suzuka circuit, only troubled – so to speak – by a tricky exit from the pits after the first pit stop, when Lando Norris attempted a futile overtaking move.

The race was held in dry conditions, despite the morning rain, with most drivers starting on medium tyres.

Team strategies, including radio-requested position swaps, and pit traffic did not alter the order of the top six drivers on the starting grid.

Worthy of mention is the race of the eighteen-year-old Kimi Antonelli, a Mercedes driver. Taking advantage of the pit stops of drivers in the top positions, for a few laps the rookie from Bologna found himself in the lead of the race, setting a historic record.

Let's continue with the news briefs. While waiting for confirmation in next Sunday's race, for the Bahrain GP, the Ferrari team is recovering in competitiveness but, as we are about to report, not yet in terms of chronometric values.

Fernando Alonso, with Aston Martin, finished his first race in 2025, finishing eleventh, outside the points zone. Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, making his debut with Red Bull, finished twelfth.

Pierre Gasly finished thirteenth for Alpine, ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz in fourteenth and Alpine's Jack Doohan in fifteenth.

Nico Hülkenberg finished sixteenth for Kick Sauber, followed by Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls).

Esteban Ocon (Haas), Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) crossed the line in eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth positions.

An examination of the time results highlights the notable disparities that still exist between the teams.

Winner Max Verstappen prevailed by just a few seconds over Norris and Piastri (McLaren).

The gap is growing for the pursuers: Leclerc and the two Mercedes drivers, Russell and Antonelli, have gaps of 16, 17 and 18 seconds.

The biggest delays were for Hamilton (Ferrari), Hadjar (Racing Bulls), Albon (Williams) and Bearman (Haas), seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth respectively, with gaps of between thirty seconds and even a minute.

The world championship drivers' standings Lando Norris is back in the lead with 62 points, followed by Verstappen with 61, Piastri with 49, Russell (Mercedes) with 45 and fifth Kimi Antonelli with 30 points.

The constructors' standings instead align McLaren, followed by Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, with 111, 75, 61 and 35 points respectively.