Japanese GP: Max Verstappen fends off Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win his first F1 race of 2025 season

Max Verstappen fended off Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to say his first victory of the 2025 Method 1 season in a tense end to the Japanese Grand Prix.

Pole-sitter Verstappen beat Norris by simply 1.4 seconds for his fourth straight Suzuka win, with Piastri simply seven tenths behind his McLaren team-mate in third place.

The important thing second of the race got here on Lap 22 when Verstappen and Norris pitted collectively, and the pair exited the pit lane nearly aspect by aspect, with Norris going onto the grass.

Norris claimed he was “forced off” however the stewards shortly determined to not examine the incident after noting it, suggesting the McLaren driver ought to have backed off as Verstappen had his automotive forward.

From there, Verstappen managed his tyres completely regardless of a number of efforts from Norris and Piastri as they pushed laborious however by no means acquired inside DRS vary of the reigning world champion.

The highest three in Suzuka now have a race win every in 2025 however Norris leads the Drivers’ Championship by a solitary level from Verstappen and Piastri is 13 factors again forward of subsequent weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

The highest six completed as they began with Charles Leclerc in a lonely fourth, George Russell in fifth and Kimi Antonelli, who led his first laps of an F1 race, in sixth.

Lewis Hamilton overtook Racing Bull’s Isack Hadjar early on to take seventh place from the rookie driver, with Williams’ Alex Albon in ninth and Haas’ Oliver Bearman in tenth.

Extra to comply with…

Method 1 continues its triple-header in Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix subsequent weekend on April 11-13, reside on Sky Sports activities F1. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime