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F1 team photo
Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen have returned to their winning ways in the 2025 Formula 1 season recording their first win. Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix for the fourth time in a row edging out the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastry.
Despite some early morning showers, it was a surprisingly clean start in the fourth race of the season at Susuka and it stayed incident-free throughout the entire 53 laps.
World champion Max Verstappen crossed the line in his Red Bull for his 64th overall grand prix victory 1.4 seconds ahead of McLaren’s championship leader Lando Norris who claimed second place.
Celebratory team photos always turn into chaos 🤣 @redbullracing #F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/Dfh6zch0TI
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2025
Norris’ lead over the Dutchman in the drivers’ standings was effectively slashed to just one point.
Australia’s Piastri in the second McLaren, who won last time out in China, rounded out the podium in third place on his 24th birthday as the top six finished as they had started on the grid.
Verstappen is now the first driver ever to win four Grands Prix in a row at Suzuka, while Red Bull became the first team to win eight times in Japan, surpassing McLaren and Ferrari.
“It was hard pushing hard on the last set the two McLarens were pushing me really hard it was a lot of fun out there not easy of course to manage the tyres I am incredibly happy it started off quite tough this weekend but we didn’t give up, we kept improving the car and today it was at its best form and of course starting on pole that really made it possible to win this race,” says Verstappen.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth, the Mercedes of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished fifth and sixth with Lewis Hamilton seventh in the other Ferrari.
Antonelli became the youngest driver ever to lead a Grand Prix at 18 years 224 days.
The Italian also set the fastest lap and again is the youngest driver to do so surpassing Verstappen at 19 years 44 days in Brazil in 2016.
