INDIA in F1

Tag: Japanese Grand Prix

  • Max Verstappen holds off McLarens to take first win of 2025 in Japan: F1

    Max Verstappen holds off McLarens to take first win of 2025 in Japan: F1

    Suzuka (Japan), 6 April 2025: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen held off the McLaren of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, to take his first win of 2025 at Suzuka and become the first driver to take four consecutive Japanese Grand Prix victories beating Michael Schumacher’s record.

    After taking the lead from pole, Verstappen managed a slim gap to the hard-charging McLarens across the first stint. And after shrugging off a pit exit challenge from Norris when they made their sole pit stops on the same lap, the defending champion closed out his first win since Qatar last year in style, managing his tyres and his pace to cross the line with 1.4 seconds in hand over Norris, with Piastri another six tenths back in third. 

    “It was tough, just pushing very hard – especially on the second stint,” said Verstappen afterwards. “The two McLarens were pushing me very hard, and it was a lot of fun out there. Not easy, of course, to manage the tyres, 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. And of course, starting on pole, that really made it possible to win the race.”

    After taking the lead ahead of Norris at the start, Verstappen set about trying to build a gap back to the McLarens, and despite complaining of poor upshifts, by lap five he was 1.4 second clear of Norris, with Piastri almost a second further back.

    As the opening stint headed towards the pit window Piastri was the first of the leaders to blink, and at the end of lap 20 the Australian dived into the pit lane for a set of Hard tyres. That prompted Red Bull to pit Verstappen at the end of the following tour and McLaren responded by pitting Norris on the same lap. 

    McLaren were quicker to fit a set of Hard tyres to Norris’ car and as Verstappen reached the end of the pity lane Norris pulled out into the working lane almost alongside the Dutchman. Verstappen held his line in the fast lane and though Norris protest that he had been forced onto the grass at the side of the pit exit, Race Control ruled that there was nothing to investigate, and Verstappen held the lead on the road. 

    With the pit stops out of the way, Verstappen was now 1.4s clear of Norris, with Piastri another two seconds further back in third. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held fourth place, five seconds off the lead with Mercedes George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in fifth and sixth places. 

    With 20 laps remaining Verstappen was given free rein to push but he couldn’t shake the McLarens, who continued to exert maximum pressure. Verstappen, though, was flawless and the champion delivered a perfect closing third of race to take his first win since last year’s race in Qatar and the 64th of his career. 

    Behind the top three, Leclerc was fourth ahead of Russell, who got to within 1.3 of the Ferrari in the closing stages but couldn’t quite put pressure on the Monegasque driver. Mercedes rookie Antonelli finished sixth while Hamilton took seventh after racing on a Hard-Medium strategy in opposition to the bulk of the field. Isack Hadjar took an impressive eighth place and his first F1 points for the Racing Bulls ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and the final point went to Haas’ Ollie Bearman. 

    2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 53 1:22’06.983 
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:22’08.406 1.423
    3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:22’09.112 2.129
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:22’23.080 16.097
    5 George Russell Mercedes 53 1:22’24.345 17.362
    6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 53 1:22’25.654 18.671
    7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 53 1:22’36.165 29.182
    8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 53 1:22’44.117 37.134
    9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 53 1:22’47.350 40.367
    10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 53 1:23’01.512 54.529
    11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 53 1:23’04.316 57.333
    12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 53 1:23’05.384 58.401
    13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 53 1:23’09.105 1’02.122
    14 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 53 1:23’21.112 1’14.129
    15 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 53 1:23’28.297 1’21.314
    16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 53 1:23’28.940 1’21.957
    17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 53 1:23’29.717 1’22.734
    18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 53 1:23’30.421 1’23.438
    19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 53 1:23’30.880 1’23.897
    20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 52 1:22’19.912 1 lap /12.929

  • Max Verstappen grabs stunning Suzuka pole ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri: F1

    Max Verstappen grabs stunning Suzuka pole ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri: F1

    Suzuka (Japan) 5 April 2025: Max Verstappen took a stunning first pole position of 2025 for the Japanese Grand Prix and claimed the outright lap record of Suzuka as he hauled his tricky RB21 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris by just one hundredth of a second. Oscar Piastri claimed third for McLaren with the top three covered by just 0.040s. 

    In the final runs of Q3 Norris looked to have done enough to secure pole when he crossed the line in 1:26.995. His main rival looked to be Piastri, who was midway through his lap, but no Verstappen, who had struggled for balance all weekend. 

    The Dutchman had clearly not read the script, however and after “sending it and hoping it would stick” the Red Bull Racing driver secured his first pole since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix and the 41st of his career. 

    “We tried the best we could to get the best possible balance with the car, but it wasn’t easy, even in qualifying,” said the Dutchman afterwards. “But every session we just kept on making little improvements. I think that’s what made the difference. And yeah, the last lap was just flat out. I mean, around here being on the limit – or maybe even a bit over in places – is incredibly rewarding.”

    At the start of Q1, it was Piastri who led the way, with the Australian setting the early benchmark at 1:28.143. Verstappen’s opening flyer, two tenths down on P1, left him fourth on the timesheet. Norris then went for an early second attempt and  dropped the P1 time into 1m27s bracket with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc mirroring the strategy to climb to second place, a tenth behind the McLaren on 1:27.920.  

    In the final runs, Piastri reclaimed top spot, posting a lap of 1:27.687 to beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.156s. Norris was third ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen progressed to Q2 in sixth place with a time of 1:27.943, just 0.001s behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. 

    Headed for the exit after Q1, in P16 and P17 respectively, were Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto and the Sauber pair were followed out by Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and in last place Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who had an off in the ‘Esses’ on his final lap. 

    Verstappen was first out of the pit lane at the start of Q2 and the Dutchman upped his pace from Q1 to stop the clock at 1:27.502. It was good enough to split the McLaren’s with Norris taking top sport on 1:27.146, while Piastri could only manage 1:27.613, to sit a tenth off Verstappen. Russell then jumped to P2. Running halted there, however, as a grass fire at 130R brought out the red flags just as the first runs concluded. 

    The session resumed after an eight-minute delay and both Norris and Russell elected to sit out the final runs. Verstappen ventured out but with little threat coming from further behind he abandoned the attempt and headed into the pits. 

    Ruled out at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P11 with the French driver followed out by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Aston Martins’ Fernando Alonso, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda. 

    In the opening runs of the top-10 shootout it was Piastri who claimed provisional pole, with the McLaren driver setting the target at 1:27.052. Verstappen put in a strong Q3 opener of 1:27.278 to take P2 and keep Leclerc and Russell at bay, while Norris’s opener was four tenths slower than his Q2 best and he slotted into fifth place ahead of the final runs.

    Russell was one of the first out for his final flyer and a mistake in the Esses put paid to his thoughts of pole. Norris was next across the line and with a time of 1:16.995 it looked like the championship leader had done enough. Verstappen had other ideas, however, and in a track record time the four-time champion once again proved why he’d been on pole 40 times. 

    “A lot of happiness when I crossed the line,” he said. “The whole qualifying, we just kept on trying to improve the situation a bit. And the final lap, honestly, it was very good. I had a lot of fun out there, being fully committed everywhere. Some places, not sure if I was actually going to keep it or not, but yeah, it was really nice. And yeah, it was great for the team as well.”

    2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:26.983 – –
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.995 0.012 
    3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:27.027 0.044 
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.299 0.316 
    5 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.318 0.335 
    6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.555 0.572 
    7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.569 0.586 
    8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.610 0.627 
    9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:27.615 0.632 
    10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:27.867 0.884 
    11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:27.822 0.839 
    12 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:27.836 0.853 
    13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:27.897 0.914 
    14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.906 0.923 
    15 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.000 1.017 
    16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.570 1.587 
    17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.622 1.639 
    18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:28.696 1.713
    19 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:28.877 1.894 
    20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:29.271 2.288 

  • Max Verstappen wins again; Sergio Perez makes it 1-2 for Red Bull: Japan GP

    Max Verstappen wins again; Sergio Perez makes it 1-2 for Red Bull: Japan GP

    Suzuka (Japan), 7 April 2024: Max Verstappen led a dominant Red Bull 1-2 at the Japanese Grand Prix, beating team-mate Sergio Pérez as Carlos Sainz finished third in a race that was red flagged for a crash involving Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon in the F1 World Championship Round 4 here on Sunday. 

    At the start of the race Verstappen got away well to take the lead ahead of Pérez and McLaren’s Lando Norris. However, further back there was contact. On the run to Turn 3, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, hemmed in and focused on Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to his left, drifted to the right as he prepared to turn in. He failed to see Alex Albon coming on his right and the pair collided. Both went spinning into the barriers and while the drivers were unhurt the tyre barriers required substantial repairs. The red flags therefore came out. 

    After a near 30-minute halt, the cars left the pit lane for a standing start, with Verstappen and Pérez again on the front row ahead of Norris, Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. And when the lights went out for a second time, the Red Bull duo again took up residence at the head of the field.

    With Suzuka basking in strong sunshine, tyre degradation was an issue and the Medium-tyre runners at the front of the pack soon began to struggle. On lap 12, Norris was the first of the leaders to pit, switching to Hard tyres and dropping to P10. He was followed a lap later by McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and then by Alonso. Norris quickly put in the fastest lap of the race as his new Hard tyres began to come alive and when Pérez pitted, the strong undercut meant that Norris jumped ahead of both Sainz and Pérez. 

    Verstappen made his first stop on lap 17 and after switching to Mediums, he rejoined in P2, behind Charles Leclerc who was still on starting Mediums. The champion was soon chasing down the Ferrari driver, and at the start of lap 21 he breezed past to regain the lead.

    Behind him, Pérez was chasing down Norris and on lap 22 he closed right up to the Briton through 130R before diving down the inside into the chicane to take P3 behind Leclerc who was now visibly struggling. Pérez began applying pressure and on lap 26 Leclerc went wide in Turn 9, allowing Pérez to sweep past. That was enough for Lecerc who headed for the pits to make his first stop, along with Norris who was making another early stop. Both switched to Hard tyres for the race to the flag. 

    Pérez made his final pit stop at the end of lap 33, switching to Hard tyres in a swift 2.1s halt. He rejoined in fifth place, just half a second behind Norris. There was no stopping the Mexican, however, and at the start of lap 35 he powered past the McLaren on the approach to Turn 1. 

    In the meantime, Verstappen made his final visit to the pit lane, and after taking on a set of Hard tyres he emerged in P2, behind Sainz who was beginning to struggle on his medium tyres. The Spaniard gave up the fight at the end of lap 36 and when he switched to a final set of Hard tyres, Verstappen retook the lead. Behind him, Pérez picked off the one-stopping Leclerc to move back to P2 a little over seven seconds behind his team-mate. 

    With 10 laps left the Red Bull drivers were in control, with Verstappen 11 seconds ahead of his team-mate, who was 9.6s ahead of Leclerc. Sainz was on the move, however. After passing Norris at the start of the lap he began to quickly close in on Leclerc and at the start of lap 46 he swept past his Ferrari team-mate under DRS on the run to Turn 1 to grab a podium finish. 

    And that sealed the order at the top. Verstappen managed his pace and at the end of lap 53 eased to his third win of the season and to a hat-trick of wins at Suzuka. Twelve seconds later Checo crossed the line to take his 38th podium finish and to seal another dominant 1-2 for the Team. 

    Behind the Bulls, Sainz held on to third ahead of Leclerc, while Norris finished fifth for McLaren ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. George Russell finished seventh, though the Mercedes driver was placed under investigation for appearing to force the eighth-placed McLaren of Oscar Piastri off the track on his way through. Lewis Hamilton was ninth in the second Mercedes and the final point was taken by RB’s home hero Yuki Tsunoda. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing  53 1:54’23.566 
    2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 53 1:54’36.101 12.535
    3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 53 1:54’44.432 20.866
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:54’50.088 26.522
    5 Lando Norris McLaren 53 1:54’53.266 29.700
    6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 53 1:55’07.838 44.272
    7 George Russell Mercedes 53 1:55’09.517 45.951
    8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 53 1:55’11.091 47.525
    9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:55’12.192 48.626
    10 Yuki Tsunoda RB 52 1:54’25.168 1 lap /1.602
    11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 52 1:54’30.734 1 lap /7.168
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 52 1:54’34.799 1 lap /11.233
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 52 1:54’41.485 1 lap /17.919
    14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 52 1:54’42.459 1 lap /18.893
    15 Esteban Ocon Alpine 52 1:55’04.718 1 lap /41.152
    16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 52 1:55’18.632 1 lap /55.066
    17 Logan Sargeant Williams 52 1:55’36.331 1 lap /1’12.765
         Zhou Guanyu Sauber 12 49’29.022 Gearbox
         Daniel Ricciardo RB 0 – Accident
         Alexander Albon Williams 0 – Accident