[Aditya]

The third race of the 2025 Formula 1 season is here. With the McLaren cars dominating in the first two races, it will be interesting to see if Max Verstappen - the reigning world champion, has the pace to challenge them

Qualifying: 5th April from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM IST

Race: 6th April 10:30 AM IST

Where to Watch: F1 TV Pro or FanCode



The 2025 Japanese Grand Prix takes place over 53 laps of the 5.807 km Suzuka Circuit.

Track Layout



Circuit Stats



Full Weekend Timing (IST)



2024 Results





Source

Formula 1

[Sensible_Speed]

Yuki looks better already. Hope he can hang on to Max today in Quali

[AtheK]

How did Max pull it off, man is a beast!!

Yuki atleast made it to Q2, with more time in the car, he should only get better. Will be an interesting race tomorrow with McLaren pace and Max in front.

[PetroheadPranav]

F1 - Japanese Grand Prix 2025 - Qualifying

Highlights

Hulkenberg slightly misses out on P15.
Liam into Q2 for the first time this season.
Q2 starts and Max sets the time - 1.27.523 and there is a fight for 2nd (Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell, Piastri).
Piastri almost goes off track limits.
Suddenly there is a fire in the grass and the red flag is waved.
Hamilton and Sainz impeding the flag is noted - Investigation to begin after session.
With 8 minutes remaining in hand, Q2 continues.
Leclerc and Hamilton start off and place 3rd and 4th respectively.
Tsunoda finishes 14th in home track then again in 11th only. He then falls to 15th below Liam. Competition expected between the two.
Carlos tries twice but finishes only in 12th.
Q3 starts off with rivalry between Russell, Max and Piastri for 1st. Piastri goes to P1. This is a birthday present by himself for 6th (2001 born).
The session ends after Norris, later Max suddenly end up in 1st in the final seconds.
Note : Sainz down by 3 places for impeding red flag
Much was expected out of Tsunoda. But with practice in the new car, he will perform exceptionally well. (better than Liam at least) Good decision from Redbull if not late.
At the same time, his team mate Max Verstappen sets the track record for the Suzuka track - 1.26.985 s

Bonus : FP2

Doohan destroys his Alpine with massive crash into the wall and escapes unhurt! Reason not known
After 20 mins of red flagging, Alonso goes deep into the gravel and causes a red flag!
After this, again, there is a red flag due to a trackside fire.
The Practice ends with another fire in the final minutes with 4 red flags in total time!

Qualifying results

1. Max Verstappen - 1.26.985
2. Lando Norris
3. Oscar Piastri
4. Charles Leclerc
5. George Russell
6. Kimi Antonelli
7. Isack Hadjar
8. Lewis Hamilton
9. Alexander Albon
10. Oliver Bearman
11. Pierre Gasly
12. Carlos Sainz
13. Fernando Alonso
14. Liam Lawson
15. Yuki Tsunoda
16. Nico Hulkenberg
17. Gabriel Bortoleto
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Jack Doohan
20. Lance Stroll

Note : Sainz down by 3 places for impeding Hamilton while Hamilton was on his push-lap

[volkman10]

Verstappen surges to fourth consecutive Japanese GP victory ahead of Norris and Piastri.

[jomyboy]

Wow, what a snooze-fest of a race! Sure, the Red Bull ain't lightning-quick this year and Max is doing a solid job behind the wheel, but let’s not kid ourselves here. If he didn’t have a fast car, he’d be nowhere near the front, just like in China. Watching onboard footage is almost painful. These drivers are cruising around at such lazy speeds, it might as well be an outlap every lap! There is no edge-of-your-seat action, this isn’t racing, it’s a parade with engines on cruise mode.

[libranof1987]

Absolutely clinical race from Max to keep the hunting McLarens behind him. A fairly uneventful race otherwise - even the commentators had to keep finding something spicy to report! They kept hoping Max would lock up or make a mistake just so there'd be some action on the track.

RBR is probably the only team that has drivers so apart in the standings, and now, they've tried three! Their mismanagement of drivers is quite unfortunate.

We're just three races in but this season might just become a three-way fight right to the last corner of Abu Dhabi!

[VW2010]

A goods train will be interesting to watch vs the Japanese GP.

Utterly disappointing race and this is something that will repeat in many races due to the nature of cars and the inherent problem to make it more competitive and interesting

Sad part is, usually there would be something interesting between 6th to 12th which was also non existent

The fact that even the mighty mclaren couldn't get close to the horrible red bull says everything about the sad nature of this race.

Max was indeed the best. One has to accept that he is not from the regular cream of drivers and is one step above all in this current list

[minzanurag]

Literally snoozed from Lap 20-47, and when I woke up the order and quite surprisingly, even the time gaps were still the same. I don’t usually blink my eyes when F1 is on but gosh, this made me actually sleep for an hour.

In contrast to the first two races (sprint included) of 2025. Anyway I hope Red Bull has real pace and Tsunoda, also, can up his game in a few races time, else we might be seeing game of musical chairs between Max, Lando and Norris, with Russell or Mr. Kimi-2 taking up few podiums in between. Lesser said about Ferrari the better.

Also, difficult to see Sainz and Alonso having the season they have had so far.

[PetroheadPranav]

Before it was Shangai, now Suzuka. I don't know which one was more unexciting. I expected Norris to overtake Max, or at least the class 1 rain the team radio said they were expecting.

Watching Russell's and Hamilton's slow onboard made me doze off (Not to mention Russell actually played well).

But, I must say Red Bull's pace and livery aced the game.

But for poor Piastri who could have taken 2nd or 1st, his team asked him to stay there and eat Pastry for his birthday.

[StarrySky]

In the post-race interview, Sainz called Suzuka "Monaco with fast corners". I have to agree with him. A boring race, but on the other hand, the WDC race has become tighter.

The next big flexiwings change, I believe, will be introduced from Barcelona. It could change the pecking order. If Max is still within touching distance then, the McLaren drivers may come to rue not making full use of their early season advantage.

[avdhesh15]

- 20 cars finishing
- Top 6 in same order
- Close to 0 overtakes
- No fight between top 6
- No safety car
- No rain
= As boring as it gets

But, Max was simply brilliant today

[Epic]

I don't know what was up with McLaren.

At around Lap 40 they could have easily let Piastri pass Lando and given him shot at overtaking Verstappen. And judging by Piastri's pace, it was highly likely that he would.

If he did, he could have backed up Verstappen into Lando and McLaren could have enjoyed a P1-P2 finish. If he didn't, they could have given the place back to Lando.

But not even considering giving Piastri a shot was absolutely biased and for no reason as it was clear that Lando did not have the pace for a P1 finish.

[amitoj]

It was a "nothingburger" of a race. McLaren could have made it interesting but I think the team went to sleep even before the race started.
Max's pole winning lap was the best part of the race. And perhaps the only highlight.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by amitoj

McLaren could have made it interesting but I think the team went to sleep even before the race started.

Can't blame them too much to be honest. I think they know Constructors is in the bag (almost certainly) and that they have two drivers capable of winning the Driver's Championship. They probably don't want to rock the boat too much and let the drivers/cars win races, rather than team orders.