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Verstappen beats McLaren: relive the Japanese Grand Prix with live commentary

Follow the Japanese Grand Prix, the third round of the 2025 Formula 1 season, with live commentary on AUTOhebdo.

Published 06/04/2025 à 06:40

Dorian Grangier

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Verstappen beats McLaren: relive the Japanese Grand Prix with live commentary

© Florent Gooden / DPPI

After a weekend of rest following a double headers between Australia and China, the Formula 1 returns to the Japanese GP for the third round of the season. Since its first appearance in 1987, the Suzuka circuit has become a must have, adored by the pilots, notably thanks to the Esses of its first sector, very impressive on the onboard camera.

> The starting grid for the Japanese Grand Prix
> Follow the evolution of the ranking live via F1 Live Timing.

F1 – Japanese GP
Relive the Grand Prix live with commentary

53/53 – 👋 Thank you all for following us! See you next week for the Bahrain Grand Prix! Have a great Sunday!

Verstappen holds off McLarens to claim first win of the year

53/53 – 🔎 At the championship, Lando Norris remains in the lead with 62 points, one point ahead of Max Verstappen (61 points). Oscar piastri is third with 49 points.

53/53 – 🏁 MAX VERSTAPPEN WIN AT SUZUKA! The Dutchman takes his first victory of the season and moves back to within one point of Lando Norris in the championship! McLaren are defeated for the first time in 2025. Isack Hadjar finishes 8th and scores his first points in F1!

53/53 – Last lap, Max Verstappen heads towards a first victory with a lead of 1 seconds over Lando Norris.

52/53 – Two laps to go and the gaps remain frozen between the three leading drivers…

51/53 – Three laps from the finish, Max Verstappen maintains a 1-second lead over Lando Norris and a 2-second lead over Oscar Piastri. Andrea Kimi Antonelli improves his best time to 2:5.

49/53 – There are five laps left and Oscar Piastri remains in his teammate's exhausts. At the back of the pack, Carlos Sainz takes the best of Nico Hulkenberg for 15th place.

48/53 – Oscar Piastri is back in Lando Norris' DRS zone and sets the best first sector.

47/53 – ⏱️ Best lap time for Antonelli in 1'31″072After leading his first laps in F1, will the Italian set his first fastest lap?

47/53 – 🔎 If the Japanese GP standings were to remain the same until the finish, Lando Norris would remain in the championship lead by one point ahead of Max Verstappen.

46/53 – 🔵 We had to wait until the 46th lap to see the first blue flag presented to Lance stroll, dead last, which lets the three leading drivers pass.

45/53 – That's it, Lando Norris starts to accelerate and Oscar Piastri leaves the DRS zone. The gap between Verstappen and Norris is 1 seconds.

44/53 – The Australian is getting closer and closer to his teammate…

43/53 – Oscar Piastri starts putting pressure on McLaren on the radio, saying he has the pace to catch Max Verstappen…

42/53 – Apart from the suspense in the Top 3, not much is happening on the track in the rest of the rankings…

41/53 – There's chatter on the McLaren pit wall, while Lando Norris isn't getting any closer to Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri remains in contact with the Briton.

40/53 – Oscar Piastri is now in Lando Norris' DRS zone, and the Australian is on the attack with a first sector record.

39/53 – Isack Hadjar is comfortably installed in 8th place, five seconds ahead of Alex AlbonThe Frenchman is well on his way to scoring his first points in F1.

38/53 – The top three are within three seconds, but for now, Max Verstappen leaves Lando Norris by more than a second.

37/53 – 🆙 Equipped with soft tires, Carlos Sainz easily overtakes Liam Lawson for 16th place.

36/53 – Despite its medium tires, Lewis Hamilton does not ride faster than the leaders... and on the contrary, the Briton loses several tenths to Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

35/53 - So here are the standings for the Japanese GP now that all the drivers have made their stops.

35/53 – Lawson and Sainz were the last drivers to stop after completing 34 laps on the medium tyres. The New Zealander finished 16th, the Spaniard 17th.

34/53 - Alpine asks Doohan to let it pass gasly who, after a missed stop, finds himself only 15th and far from the points.

33/53 – 🆙 Alexander Albon is furious and continues to overtake! Liam Lawson – who has not yet stopped – is the latest victim of the Thai driver, who climbs back to 9th place.

32/53 – And that's it, Antonelli finally stops to put on hard tires! The Italian comes out 6th ahead of Hamilton.

31/53 – Lewis Hamilton pits, switching from hard tyres to medium tyres. Andrea Kimi Antonelli remains on track with his medium tyres.

30/53 – 🆙 Magnificent overtaking by Isack Hadjar on Carlos Sainz on the outside of the first corner! The Frenchman moves up to 9th place, the points are within reach!

29/53 – 🔎 Here are the standings as we passed the halfway mark a few minutes ago. Antonelli and Hamilton have yet to make a pit stop.

28/53 – Alexander Albon, still as angry as ever on the radio, overtakes Gabriel Bortoleto for 12th place.

27/53 – Andrea Kimi Antonelli hasn't stopped yet, and so he leads the Grand Prix for the first time in his career, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and his hard tires. The Italian becomes the youngest driver in F1 history to lead a lap.

26/53 – Pit stop for Isack Hadjar who puts on hard tires. He comes out 10th, ahead of Esteban Ocon.

25/53 – The incident between Verstappen and Norris at the pit exit was noted by the stewards… but no investigation will be launched. After his pit stop, Pierre Gasly lost his position to Yuki tsunoda.

25/53 – George Russell lost a lot of time in traffic. He took advantage of the stopAlonso to stick to Charles Leclerc.

24/53 – Verstappen and Norris defended their pit exit maneuvers on the radio. The stewards have not yet launched an investigation.

23/53 – Russell and Piastri's undercut didn't work: the Briton got stuck in traffic and now finds himself far behind the leading drivers.

22/53 - Verstappen, Norris and Leclerc stop at the same time! It was the Dutchman who came out just in front, forcing Norris into the grass.

21/53 – Oscar Piastri covers George Russell's pit stop and stops as well, the race begins to heat up. The Australian also switches to the hard tyres and comes out 9th behind Oliver Bearman.

20/53 – George Russell is the first driver in the Top 10 to stop in the pits! The driver Mercedes put on hard tires and came out 13th, behind Yuki Tsunoda.

19/53 – 🔎 The pit stop window opens for drivers starting on medium tires… and McLaren tries to bluff a pit stop for Lando Norris, but Red Bull doesn't fall for it.

18/53 – Pierre Gasly manages to resist against Yuki Tsunoda who is unable to get close to theAlpine.

17/53 – Small error from Carlos Sainz, 15th, who was forced to short-circuit the chicane after braking on a white line that was still wet.

16/53 – Jack Doohan pits, swapping his soft tires for hard ones. The Australian, who had a serious accident in FP2, restarts in 19th place.

16/53 – The only driver to benefit from DRS is Yuki Tsunoda, who is putting pressure on Pierre Gasly for 12th place.

15/53 – For now, it's not the race of the century with fixed gaps and few overtakes. Verstappen still has a 2" lead over Norris and a 0" lead over Piastri. Behind him, Russell is no longer in Leclerc's DRS zone.

14/53 – ⏱️ The Australian continued with a new best lap of 1'33″253. He is 1 seconds behind his teammate Lando Norris.

13/53 – ⏱️ New fastest lap for Oscar Piastri in 1'33″334. It should be remembered that the best lap point was removed in 2025.

12/53 – In the Top 10, only George Russell has DRS: the Briton is threatening Charles Leclerc for 4th place.

11/53 – 💬 It's Alex Albon's turn to complain about the rather difficult gear changes, the Thai driver is very angry on his radio.

10/53 – First pit stop for Lance Stroll, who started on soft tires. The Canadian is still last and is starting again on hard tires.

9/53 – 🌦️ McLaren announces a possibility of “class 1” rain, or light rain, around lap 20… but only for one lap. "It doesn't change our plan." Oscar Piastri is told.

9/53 – 🔎 With his hard tires, Lewis Hamilton is running the same times as the six drivers ahead of him, all on mediums. The choice is proving to be a profitable one for the Briton so far.

8/53 – 📺 Relive the start of the Japanese Grand Prix in replay.

7/53 – 💬 The gear changes are better, Max Verstappen announced over the radio. The Dutchman now has a two-second lead.

6/53 – 🆙 First overtaking in the Top 10: Lewis Hamilton overtook Isack Hadjar at the first corner to gain 7th place!

6/53 – Without DRS, Lando Norris finds himself threatened by Oscar Piastri, who remains close to his teammate, under second.

5/53 – 🔎 Here is the ranking after five laps of the race.

4/53 – Max Verstappen manages to create a gap of more than a second ahead of Lando Norris, while the Dutchman complains about these upshifts.

3/53 – 🆙 Note that Yuki Tsunoda overtook Liam Lawson for 13th place.

3/53 – Andrea Kimi Antonelli forced to cut the chicane after a major understeer, the Italian remains 6th ahead of Isack Hadjar.

2/53 – A drying line is already forming as the laps progress. Lando Norris tries to stay under second gear and therefore in Max Verstappen's DRS zone.

1/53 – No change in position in the Top 10, the drivers remain cautious. On his hard tires, Lewis Hamilton is struggling a little more.

1/53 – 🟢 The five lights go out, and the Japanese Grand Prix is ​​underway! Max Verstappen remains in the lead ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri! A clean start despite the wet track.

0/53 - The formation lap is underway! There are still some damp spots on the Suzuka track.

6h58 – 🔎 We know the tire choices for the start of the Japanese Grand Prix: all the drivers will start on medium tires, except Hamilton (8th), Bortoleto (17th) and Ocon (18th) who will start on hard tires, while Doohan (19th) and Stroll (20th) have chosen soft tires.

6h56 – 🇯🇵 In his debut with Red Bull, will local hero Yuki Tsunoda be able to climb back into the points zone at home? The Japanese driver starts 14th, just behind a certain Liam Lawson.

© Antonin Vincent / DPPI

6h54 – 🌦️ According to data provided by F1, the chance of rain during the Grand Prix is ​​only 20%. Temperatures are relatively cool at Suzuka, with 15°C in the air and 22°C on the track.

6h51 – And while we’re celebrating, Charles Leclerc will be competing in his 150th Formula 1 Grand Prix this Sunday!

6h49 – 🎂 On this April 6th, we wish a happy birthday to Oscar Piastri, who turns 24 today! Third on the grid, will the Australian manage to secure a victory at Suzuka?

6h46 – 🔎 If the rain leaves the 20 drivers alone during the Grand Prix, we should be heading towards a race with a single pit stop, even if Pirelli is proposing four different strategies, including two two-stop strategies.

What are the possible strategies for the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix?

6h44 – 🌦️ The main news from this pre-race session is the rain that fell on Suzuka in the morning, which "washed" the circuit before the Grand Prix. The track is still slightly damp, but the drivers are expected to start on slick tires regardless.

6h42 – 🔎 Here is the starting grid for this Japanese Grand Prix with the first pole position of the season for Max Verstappen ahead of the two McLarens, and the excellent 7th place of Isack Hadjar! Note that Carlos Sainz, initially qualified 12th, took three penalty places for obstructing Lewis Hamilton during qualifying.

6h40 – 👋 Hello everyone ! Welcome to this live commentary to follow the Japanese Grand Prix, the third round of the 2025 Formula 1 season! The race will start in a few minutes, at 7:00 a.m.!

F1 Weather Japanese GP Suzuka

© Florent Gooden / DPPI

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Dorian Grangier

A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.

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1 Comment (s)

Yves-Henri RANDIER

06/04/2025 at 02:03 a.m.

Well, Verstappen's undeniable victory, but overall a rather boring Grand Prix with a Top 10 finishing order almost identical to the starting grid!

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