Record-breaker Antonelli aims higher after hitting front in Japan

SUZUKA: Four-time world champion Max Verstappen led from pole to chequered flag to win the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, his first victory of the 2025 season, with McLaren’s Lando Norris second.

The Dutch Red Bull driver crossed the finish line almost 1.5 seconds in front of Briton Norris, who held off his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri of Australia in third. The win on a damp but drying track at Suzuka was Verstappen’s fourth straight victory in Japan and closed the gap on Norris at the top of the drivers’ championship to one point.

Norris now has 62 points after three races, with Verstappen on 61 and Piastri third on 49. “It was tough. The McLarens were pushing me very hard,” said Verstappen. “It was a lot of fun but not easy pushing the tyres. I am incredibly happy.

“Starting on pole made it possible to win.” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth ahead of the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was seventh, with RB’s Isack Hadjar next ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’s Oliver Bearman.

Yuki Tsunoda finished 12th in his first race for Red Bull since replacing Liam Lawson, having started from 14th on the grid in his home grand prix. Lawson was 17th for RB. Norris said the race was won and lost in qualifying, where Verstappen pulled off a lap for the ages to claim his first pole of the season with a new lap record.

“Max drove a good race today, made no mistakes,” said Norris, who started from second on the grid. “A flat-out race from start to finish, so it was tough but there was nothing we could get Max on.”

‘Mr Motivator’

Verstappen and Norris were involved in a flashpoint midway through the race as the two front-runners emerged from a pit stop. Norris drew alongside Verstappen but the Dutchman refused to budge and Norris was forced onto the grass before sliding back onto the track. Stewards reviewed the incident and decided not to investigate further and Norris admitted later it was just part of racing. “Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space, in a good way, in a racing way,” he said.

Verstappen has struggled to get to grips with his Red Bull this season, finishing second in Australia and fourth in China. But he set a stunning pole lap and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed the way Verstappen has kept the team in the title race.

“There’s no better tonic for motivation than winning,” said Horner. “Verstappen is like Mr Motivator. It was a flat-out race, there was no tyre saving. “For us all priority is on the drivers’ championship, for us the constructors’ will be harder.” McLaren’s double podium extended their lead in the constructors’ title race to 36 points over Mercedes. McLaren have 111 points, Mercedes are second on 75 with Red Bull third on 61, all scored by Verstappen.

Eighteen-year-old rookie Antonelli briefly took the mid-race lead while Verstappen and Norris were in the pits, to become Formula One’s youngest-ever race leader. Verstappen, back in the lead after Antonelli’s stop, was given the green light to push until the end of the race. Piastri told his team “I have the pace to get Max” but Norris would not cede second and Verstappen could not be caught. Conditions at Suzuka had been dry all week, with a series of small trackside fires halting practice several times but rain early on Sunday removed any chance of a repeat in the race.

Kimi Antonelli set his sights on a first grand prix win after the 18-year-old Mercedes rookie became the youngest driver to lead a Formula One race on Sunday in Japan. The Italian, who finished sixth at Suzuka, briefly moved into first when leader and eventual winner Max Verstappen and the pack chasing him pitted midway through the race. Verstappen was 18 years and 228 days old, four days older than Antonelli, when the Dutch four-time world champion first took a grand prix lead at Spain in 2016, a race he went on to win. Antonelli, who lies fifth in the drivers’ championship on 30 points, said he would now aim even higher. “It was a nice feeling to lead the race for a few laps and become the youngest driver in F1 history to have done so,” he said. “The next goal is to do that on the only lap that matters: the final one.”

Antonelli finished one place behind teammate George Russell. He also finished fourth in the season-opener in Australia and sixth in China. Antonelli has 30 points and is the leading driver of the six full-season rookies on the grid in 2025. Next comes Haas’s Oliver Bearman back on five points. The Italian said he was looking forward to making an impact at next week’s Bahrain Grand Prix. “Every time I get in the car, I am building my learning and feeling more comfortable,” he said.

“Hopefully we can keep improving and begin to fight for some of the positions further forward than we managed today.” Bradley Lord of Mercedes said Antonelli had “ticked off several more milestones today”. “He has built his confidence over the weekend at a demanding track and achieved a solid result,” Lord said. “His development is encouraging to see and it’s a third consecutive strong race performance from him.” — AFP