Max Verstappen won for the fourth consecutive time in the Japanese Grand Prix. The reigning champion controlled the race from start to finish and defeated both the McLaren drivers to win his first race of the season.
The Dutchman had a smooth race in a car, which is not the quickest in the field. The majority of the race wasn’t that interesting, with drivers finding it difficult to overtake. It wasn’t a classic F1 race, but there were several winners and losers in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Winners of the Japanese Grand Prix
1. Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen’s season of damage limitation peaked with an unlikely win in the Suzuka GP. The 4-time champion had an error-free race, except for the slow pit stop which was sadly one of the most exciting parts of the race. This is the 64th victory for him, as he reduces the lead in the title race.
2. Isaac Hadjar
Whenever Red Bull promotes a driver from their sister team, their teammate starts delivering top-notch performance. Isaac Hadjar had an excellent 2025 Japanese GP, where he finished the best of the rest. So, I’ll drop the question: did Red Bull make the wrong driver choice again?
3. Kimi Antonelli
The majority of F1 enthusiasts and creators assumed that Antonelli would have a tough weekend after two great weekends on the run. However, he had a solid race and finishing 6th behind his teammate. The Italian couldn’t break the record for the youngest F1 race winner, but he became the youngest driver to lead a race in Formula 1. He had an exciting race with a different strategy from George, ultimately ending with the lap record for the track.
4. Oliver Bearman
Another rookie who shined in the 2025 Japanese GP was Oliver Bearman in the Haas. After a horrid race in the Australian Grand Prix, Bearman put up another great show in Japan. The team brought in upgrades; however, were they really a top 10 side this race weekend? The answer is no, but the young gun had an exciting Japan qualifying session and backed it up with a great drive in the race.
Losers of the Japanese Grand Prix
1. McLaren
McLaren has the fastest car in F1, so every time they don’t win, it goes down as a loss. The Papaya team had two drivers in the top 3 but couldn’t pull up an effective strategy to outwit Max. The 0.012 seconds gap in qualifying decided the outcome of the Japanese GP. To top it off, Oscar Piastri looked for the faster car but couldn’t get past Norris, so he couldn’t attack the leader.
2. Yuki Tsunoda
The struggles of Red Bull’s second driver continue. Nobody expected Yuki to match the pace of Verstappen in his first race weekend for Red Bull, but he showed some promise in the early sessions. Things turned out bad when he didn’t qualify well on Saturday and had a bad race weekend on Sunday. Will Yuki be also demoted back to Red Bull?
3. Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon joined Haas as a lead driver, but he was completely outperformed by his rookie teammate. After Red Bull, Haas was the only other team having such a disparity in the pace of their drivers. And in a race weekend where experience should count, it was an embarrassing showing by Ocon.
4. Carlos Sainz
Is Carlos Sainz going to be another Daniel Riccardo? The smooth operator has not had the best start in his new team and has been out-qualified and outscored by Albon in the three races. Sainz made some great moves during his second stint, but he was not signed by Williams to race in the lower part of the grid.
5. Liam Lawson
The horror 2025 F1 season for Liam Lawson continued. Everybody thought that the Kiwi wasn’t given enough time at Red Bull. However, he had a very poor weekend in VCARB, where he was overshadowed by Isaac Hadjar. So, where Liam Lawson will end up as the season goes through is something to watch out for.
2025 Japanese Grand Prix Standings
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