Max Verstappen Returns to Winning Ways at the Japanese Grand Prix

Reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen continued his mastery at the Suzuka Circuit on Sunday, April 6, holding off the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win his fourth straight Japanese Grand Prix.

Starting from pole position, the Red Bull driver maintained his lead throughout the race, except briefly after a pit stop midway through, and took the checkered flag after 53 laps with a 1.423-second lead over Norris for his first win of 2025.

Piastri, celebrating his 24th birthday, was third. Late in the race, Piastri declared over his team radio that he had the pace to catch Verstappen but it wasn't to be.

Given the type of lead the Dutchman had, there was little to no chance that Verstappen was going to be overtaken at a track where he has dominated since 2022.

After Norris and Piastri won the first two races of the season, it was just the result Verstappen needed for himself and the team in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture.

Verstappen Reflects on Winning the Japanese Grand Prix

"It was tough, just pushing very hard especially on the last set," said Verstappen. "The two McLarens were pushing me very hard and it was a lot of fun out there."

Added Verstappen, "[It was] not easy of course to manage the tires but 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. Of course, starting on pole really made it possible to win this race."

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth followed by the Mercedes team of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was seventh, ahead of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar. Williams driver Alexander Albon and Oliver Bearman of Haas were ninth and 10th, respectively.

A Disappointing Result for Yuki Tsunoda

Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, who was promoted to Red Bull just before his home race, started in 14th place but was stuck behind Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso for most of the afternoon and finished 12th, out of the points.

"It's tough today because I wanted to at least finish in the points," Tsunoda said. "I am happy with the race in terms of what I have learnt but not in terms of result, so it's mixed feelings."

Added Tsunoda, "I was feeling a lot of support from the crowd, every lap it felt more and I wanted to give something more back to them."

A Smooth-Running Japanese Grand Prix

Other than a brief dust-up with Verstappen and Norris, it was an incident-free race.

Coming out of the pit stop after lap 22, Norris and Verstappen went side-by-side with the McLaren driver briefly going on the grass but there were no penalties assessed.

Both drivers complained about the other over their team radios but the race stewards elected not to investigate the matter.

Following that pit exit incident, Norris initially reported over the radio that Verstappen had forced him off the track, but later labeled the incident as "racing."

"He was still ahead," the McLaren driver said after the race. "It kind of squeezes into one and Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space, in a good way and in a racing way, so nothing more than that."

In terms of the championship, Verstappen's victory means that he is now just one point behind Norris who has 62 at the top of the standings, with Piastri moving up to third with 49 ahead of Russell.

The next race is the Bahrain Grand Prix from April 11-13.

Author: Jim Armstrong

The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.