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F1 Review: Max Verstappen Too Much For McLaren, Cruises To Fourth-Straight Japanese GP Victory

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Springboarded by a sizzling qualifying lap on Saturday (April 4th), Max Verstappen was untouchable in winning the Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday (April 5th), his fourth consecutive triumph in Japan. The McLaren’s of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri never seriously challenged Verstappen’s Red Bull and settled for a solid, yet disappointing, second and third, respectively.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth, followed by Mercedes teammates George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The top six finished exactly where they qualified, a testament to the difficulty of passing on the Suzuka circuit, as well as the monotony of the race.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished seventh after qualifying eight, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar scored his first F1 points with an eighth. Williams Racing’s Alex Albon overcame shifting issues, and his own bad attitude, to place ninth, while Haas’ Oliver Bearman grabbed the final point with a 10th. 

“It was tough,” Verstappen said. “Just pushing very hard, especially on the last set. The two McLarens were pushing me very hard.

“I’m incredibly happy. It started off quite tough this weekend, but we didn’t give up. We kept improving the car, and today it was in its best form.”

In the driver standings, Norris leads Verstappen by just a single point, 62 to 61, with Piastri 12 behind Verstappen with 49 points.

In the constructor standings, McLaren extended their lead over Mercedes by 15 points, and leads 111 to 75. Red Bull (i.e., Verstappen) is third with 61 points.

The Race

Verstappen handled both McLarens at lights out on a still-drying Suzuka track, with a clean start from all 20 drivers. Norris and Piastri tucked in behind the Red Bull and the game of follow the leader commenced.

Early on, Verstappen and the two McLarens made it clear it was a three-car battle for the win. Verstappen noted an upshift issue on lap three, which his team downplayed. It didn’t appear to be affecting Verstappen’s performance, as the Red Bull had opened up a two-second lead by lap 7.

But, could it be that Norris was being conservative early and stressing his tires less? If McLaren did indeed have a pace advantage over Red Bull, Norris was not showing it.  

Further back in the field, Yuki Tsunoda had passed Liam Lawson for 13th and repeated what he did a week ago, by saying “Goodbye” to the Racing Bull.

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Max Verstappen Takes 1st Win of 2025 at the Japanese Grand Prix

With the pit window for cars that started on medium tires approaching, Verstappen’s edge over Norris continued to hover around the two-second mark. McLaren informed Norris that he was losing time to Verstappen in the hairpin.  

Piastri was the first of the top three to pit, and dropped in on lap 21 for a set of hard tires. Verstappen and Norris pitted a lap later, both for hard tires, and McLaren served Norris a second quicker than Verstappen. That meant the two were nearly side-by-side at the end of pit lane, and Verstappen may or may not have forced Norris into the grass as they blended into the racing line. Luckily for Norris, the grass wasn’t on fire, and he escaped with little or no damage. The incident was noted by race control, and no action was deemed necessary.

The results, after all was said and done, was Verstappen maintained his two-second lead over Norris. Verstappen ran third, with Norris in fourth, as Antonelli and Hamilton, who had yet to pit, occupied the top two spots, respectively.

On lap 30, Verstappen’s edge over Norris was still two seconds, and it seemed that the Dutchman had the race under control. There were still 23 laps left, and Norris’ hopes for winning required him to complete two tasks: 1) catch Verstappen, and 2) pass him. The first seemed possible; barring an uncharacteristic mistake by Verstappen, completing both was nearly impossible.

Norris picked up the pace on lap 45 and trimmed the gap to Verstappen while widening the gap to Piastri. Piastri’s best bet to win was to lay back, hope for Norris to catch Verstappen, and the two rivals/frienemies to make contact, opening the door for a Piastri to win.

But Norris kept his teammate at bay, just as Verstappen kept Norris at bay, and the reigning world champion took the checkered flag with a comfortable 1.4 second cushion.

The Good

Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar placed eighth in Japan after qualifying seventh, a qualifying effort made somewhat difficult because his seat belts were too tight, to the point of causing pain. That’s in stark contrast to Alpine rookie Jack Doohan, whose seat belts seem so loose he might just fall out of his seat soon. 

And Hadjar had the honor to briefly battle with his childhood hero, Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion who now finds himself learning the ins and out of a new car and new team, which often means you’re relegated to battling lower-tier cars for the crumbs after McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes have feasted on the meaningful race points.   

Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli has scored points in all three races to open the season, and has looked adorable in doing so. The 18-year-old Antonelli also became the youngest driver in F1 history to lead a lap and the youngest ever to set a fastest lap. The kid is well on his way to superstardom, as well as the adoration of screaming, brace-faced 13-year-olds, male and female alike. And, just think, someday, if not already, Antonelli will be the hero of aspiring young F1 hopefuls across the globe. 

The Bad

Grass fires around the Suzuka circuit caused delays in two practice sessions on Friday (April 4), as well as qualifying on Saturday (April 5th). It seems ridiculous that the problem could not be more quickly rectified, but to be fair, it was a complex situation, one that a class of Japanese first graders would need less than a minute in which to uncover a solution.   

No one knows why McLaren didn’t try some offset strategy to counter Verstappen’s lead. It was clear from the start that Verstappen in clean air wasn’t going to be caught, even with McLaren’s pace advantage, which didn’t appear that evident in Japan. And it was also clear that McLaren, at worst, would have two cars in the top 3. 

So why not take a chance on a low-risk, high-reward strategy that could have, had all gone in McLaren’s favor, resulted in a McLaren win. McLaren acts like the constructors championship is the ultimate goal. It’s not, but it is to a team that can’t win a drivers championship. Zak Brown needs to take a stand and sometimes sacrifice the good of the team in favor of the good of a driver. Brown is lucky to be in a “two drivers against one” situation, where just a little teamwork between McLaren drivers could make it more difficult for Verstappen to win. Right now, if Verstappen isn’t winning, McLaren probably is. 

Had McLaren employed an offset strategy, the benefits could have beentwofoldd; they may have had at least one driver legitimately challenging Verstappen, and, McLaren could have added some excitement to a race that had none. As it was, neither Norris nor Piastri were able to sniff a hint of victory, much less sniff Verstappen’s exhaust.  

I would posit that McLaren’s lack of strategy boils down to one hard fact: the fewer decisions Zak Brown has to make, the better it is for McLaren. 

Red Bull No. 2 Driver Situation Update

Yuki Tsunoda finished 12th in his debut for Red Bull, well ahead of Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, the driver he replaced, who finished 17th. But, Tsunoda was well behind Lawson’s teammate, Isack Hadjar, who finished eighth. After the race, Hadjar said he would never say no if Red Bull at some point chose him as a driver.  Well, stay close to your phone, Isack, because Tsunoda is one race into his Red Bull tryout (according to Red Bull’s “Liam Lawson Rules,” which are unofficial and unspoken), and it’s not looking good for the Japanese star. He’s possibly just one race away from a rash Red Bull decision and more Christian Horner two-faced doublespeak that justifies Red Bull’s questionable decisions to place talented young drivers seeking affirmation and glory in impossible situations, where they will be compared to a teammate that may be the greatest F1 driver in history. 

But don’t despair, Yuki. You experienced an incredibly memorable moment and lifelong dream – you got to sling Red Bull ball caps like frisbees to your adoring home race fans. 

Somewhat Controversial Moment

Did Verstappen force Norris into the grass as the two exited the pit lane after boxing for hard tires on lap 21? And did Norris release his pit lane speed limiter too early at the same time, which could have resulted in an unsafe release violation? As is often the case with the two rivals in controversial situations, it’s a matter of “he said, he said.” And what “he said” was “I didn’t do anything remotely wrong, but the other guy blatantly broke the rules.”

Verstappen didn’t force Norris into the grass, but he did “suggest” it. And that means Verstappen did subtly force Norris into the grass, but in a way that’s not punishable. It’s called “racecraft” or “killer instinct.” It can be called many things. What’s clear is Verstappen has it, and Norris needs to find it.

And Norris did release his speed limiter too soon, because he knew it would be the only chance he had to remain close enough to the Red Bull to offer any hint of a challenge to Verstappen’s lead.

Let’s just hope this near-clash between Verstappen and Norris is just a precursor to more on-track incidents, which would only intensify what is already a heated rivalry.  

Totally Unnecessary Weather Update

McLaren radioed Norris early in the race with news of the possibility of “Class 1 rain, but only for one lap.” I think I’ve learned more about classes of rainfall in F1 this season than I have in my lifetime. I’ve also learned that F1 meteorologists often predict rain that never happens. 

I know teams often make “dummy” pit calls to make other teams think they are pitting. Are teams now resorting to “dummy” weather forecasts and updates?    

The Driver

Verstappen owned the weekend in Japan, first stealing the pole from Norris in qualifying, then demoralizing the McLarens by dominating the race from start to finish. And Verstappen made it look easy. That’s probably because it was easy. On a chilly and overcast day at the Suzuka circuit, Verstappen’s effort embodied “no sweat.”

And just like that, the championship race is tight, the momentum favors Verstappen, and the pressure has shifted back to McLaren. It will be interesting to see the many ways McLaren can lose a world championship despite having the fastest car. 

The Results (Lenovo Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka International Racing Course)

PosNoDriverCarLapsTime/retiredPts
11Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda RBPT531:22:06.98325
24Lando NorrisMcLaren Mercedes53+1.423s18
381Oscar PiastriMcLaren Mercedes53+2.129s15
416Charles LeclercFerrari53+16.097s12
563George RussellMercedes53+17.362s10
612Kimi AntonelliMercedes53+18.671s8
744Lewis HamiltonFerrari53+29.182s6
86Isack HadjarRacing Bulls Honda RBPT53+37.134s4
923Alexander AlbonWilliams Mercedes53+40.367s2
1087Oliver BearmanHaas Ferrari53+54.529s1
1114Fernando AlonsoAston Martin Aramco Mercedes53+57.333s0
1222Yuki TsunodaRed Bull Racing Honda RBPT53+58.401s0
1310Pierre GaslyAlpine Renault53+62.122s0
1455Carlos SainzWilliams Mercedes53+74.129s0
157Jack DoohanAlpine Renault53+81.314s0
1627Nico HulkenbergKick Sauber Ferrari53+81.957s0
1730Liam LawsonRacing Bulls Honda RBPT53+82.734s0
1831Esteban OconHaas Ferrari53+83.438s0
195Gabriel BortoletoKick Sauber Ferrari53+83.897s0
2018Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco Mercedes52+1 lap0