Max Verstappen won his first race of the 2025 season by delivering an excellent performance at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Red Bull's Verstappen managed to stay ahead of McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, securing first place.
As per BBC Sports, this victory also marked his fourth consecutive win at the Suzuka Circuit.
With this win, he’s now just one point behind Norris in the championship ranking.
Verstappen started the race in first place and kept a good lead over the two McLaren cars in the early part of the race.
However, during the pit stop phase Verstappen’s stop was bit slow which allowed Norris, who pitted at the same time to attempt to pass him as they exited the pits.
But due to the limited space, Norris was forced to drive on the grass to avoid colliding with Verstappen, allowing the Red Bull driver to stay ahead.
Related: Max Verstappen pips McLaren duo to secure Japanese GP top spot
In final laps, Piastri began to catch up Norris, forcing him to speed up.
However, despite Norris's efforts, he couldn't reduce Verstappen's lead and Verstappen won the race, marking his 64th victory in his career.
After winning the race, Verstappen expressed, "It was tough, just pushing very hard on the last set. The two McLarens were pushing me very hard.”
The player added, “I’m incredibly happy. It started off quite tough this weekend but we didn't give up, we carried on improving the car and today it was in its best form. Starting on pole was very important."
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc successfully defended his fourth-place position against George Russell, while Russell's teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, had a strong final performance, nearly closing the gap to Russell.
Antonelli made history by becoming the youngest driver to lead a Formula 1 race at just 18 years and 224 days old, surpassing Verstappen's previous record when he was slightly older during his 2016 win in Spain.
Antonelli also set the fastest lap, breaking another record as the youngest driver to do so, surpassing Verstappen's previous fastest lap record from the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix.
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