FORMULA 1
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 Credit: Brynn Lennon A great performance from four-time world champion Max Verstappen sees him take a fourth successive Japanese Grand Prix victory at Suzuka. Verstappen shone after taking pole position on Saturday with a new lap record. By controlling the pace and showing the almighty talent that Formula One has been accustomed to, Verstappen held off limited pressure from McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The reigning world champion took victory from the two McLaren drivers, with Norris holding a persistent pressuring teammate behind in Oscar Piastri. Norris remains in the championship lead, as he came into the weekend in that position. However, Verstappen with victory has closed the gap down to one point between the duo with a title battle looking on the cards between the two once again. It was a race that saw limited action across the 53 laps and all 20 drivers saw the chequered flag. All drivers apart from Lance Stroll of Aston Martin finished on the lead lap of the Grand Prix. Stroll was also on a two-stop strategy! How the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix unfoldedApril 6 2025 would descend on Suzuka and that brought Grand Prix Sunday for the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship. One of the most iconic circuits in the history of Formula One would feature early on in what is set to be of the closest ever seasons. In the lead up to the weekend, many incidents of drama and thrilling moments had unfolded even dating back to Free Practice 2 on Friday. Limited Race Strategy running in Free Practice 2 and Free Practice 3, due to the red flag stoppages. That made it exciting ahead of the Grand Prix, due to the teams and drivers being a bit in the unknown to do with the strategy. In qualifying on Saturday, the favourites were the two McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri came into the session as favourites, with the speed the McLaren team had shown at large parts throughout the weekend. However, they would all be surprised by a stunning lap from Max Verstappen, who caught everyone off guard with his lap of 1:26.983 and took his 41st career pole position for his fourth successive pole position at Suzuka, in four consecutive years. Lando Norris would qualify second ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri. Both would be hoping to apply the pressure on the reigning world champion, who would start the race from the very front of the field. The race would begin with a mix of tyre compounds throughout the field with mainly the medium and hard compound of tyres for the large majority of the starting grid. Just Lance Stroll and Jack Doohan were the drivers who opted for the soft compound of tyre. When the lights went out, a great start from Verstappen saw him fend off any challenges from the two McLaren drivers and took the lead into the opening corner sequence. The two McLaren drivers filtered out into second and third place with Norris ahead of Piastri. Further back, an entertaining wheel to wheel battle happened between the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly throughout the opening lap. Alonso managed to make the move up into 11th on the approach to 130R. Verstappen controlled matters out front and early on in the Grand Prix managed to pull out of DRS range of Norris, in a bid to leave the McLaren cars behind and reduce the threat they posed. Lewis Hamilton was likely to be disappointed with his Saturday qualifying position of eighth. On lap six, the Ferrari man overtook the VCARB of Isack Hadjar for seventh with a lovely move at the first turn - using the DRS to his advantage. Putting the pressure for a move on his McLaren teammate was Oscar Piastri who had brought the gap down to Lando Norris and was looking at a potential way through and into second place on his birthday. The first driver to make a pit stop in the Grand Prix was Stroll. The Canadian pitted early on to ditch the C3 Soft compound of tyre and would change onto the C1 Hards. Time passed and then it was time for the lead group to pit. First it was Oscar Piastri who would pit from third place and pitted a couple of laps prior to when Verstappen and Norris came in at the same lap. Lap 21 and Verstappen would be exiting the pits as Norris was released alongside the Red Bull and Norris tried to keep his foot in but ended up almost dropping it on the grass. The incident was noted on lap 24. By lap 25, it was cleared and no further investigation was necessary. This pit lane drama would hand the race lead to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was yet to stop but in the process would become the youngest driver to ever lead a Formula One Grand Prix. Hadjar would be involved in some action after pitting and overtook Carlos Sainz's Williams on lap 30. The pass would be for ninth and it would be a lovely pass around the outside. The Frenchman was impressing once again. After an epic 32-lap stint on a set of C2 Medium tyres and leading the race for nine laps, Antonelli eventually pitted from the lead. Once again, the Italian was impressing in just his third Formula One Grand Prix. The McLaren drivers were slowly beginning to close the gap and aiming to get ahead but they struggled to reign Verstappen in. Despite this, Piastri was trying to pass his teammate once again but had no prevail. Ultimately, Verstappen remained unchallenged out front. Despite McLaren being outright favourites for the win across the weekend and having the car that looked to be the dominant machine, Verstappen showed his class. Suzuka is a track that Verstappen had dominated previously, winning the last three Japanese Grand Prix coming into the weekend. On Sunday, he made it four and took victory and held off any attempts of challenging from the McLaren team. With the win, Verstappen reduced the championship lead to a point at the end of round three, with Norris in the lead of the standings heading into next week's action in Bahrain. Verstappen took victory from Norris and Piastri, who scored a double podium for McLaren, although both were seemingly disappointed they could not add to their one race win tallies so far in 2025. Norris was second ahead of his Australian teammate. Third place for Piastri on his birthday, although he thought he had the speed to get Verstappen. Unfortunately, for Piastri, he was unable to get second and get ahead of his teammate Norris. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and George Russell of Mercedes completed the top five. Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to take the fastest lap as he finished sixth. No point is awarded in 2025 for the fastest lap but still a remarkable driver with such rocketing potential. A disappointing weekend for Lewis Hamilton compared to what he would have hoped for after positives in China. Hamilton was seventh ahead of Hadjar, who picked up his first points in Formula One as he finished eighth. Alex Albon finished ninth for Williams despite being unhappy with his upshifts. Oliver Bearman in a fantastic race for Haas picked up the sole point for a 10th place finish. Formula One goes back racing in a week's time as the championship heads to Bahrain for round four of the campaign at the Bahrain International Circuit between April 11-13. 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship: Round 3 - Japanese Grand Prix provisional classification
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
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