The 2025 Japanese Grand Prix weekend delivered drama, milestones, and plenty of talking points across the grid. From Max Verstappen’s generational pole to Ollie Bearman and Alex Albon rewriting team histories, there was no shortage of standout performances. Rising stars like Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar continued to make headlines, while veterans like Pierre Gasly finally broke personal curses. Meanwhile, struggles persisted for teams like Alpine and Sauber. Here's a full breakdown of the key takeaways that shaped an unforgettable weekend at Suzuka.
Credits: Formula 1 Website
Three races into the 2025 season, and we’ve already had three different Grand Prix winners—a first in the turbo-hybrid era. You’d have to go back to 2013 for the last time this happened, when Kimi Räikkönen, Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso each claimed early-season victories in Australia, Malaysia, and China.
Add Lewis Hamilton’s sprint win in Shanghai, and the start of 2025 begins to echo the legendary 2012 season - where we saw seven different winners in the opening seven races.
There’s another twist: every race so far has been won from pole position. That’s a rare pattern. The last time it happened? 2020, when Bottas and Hamilton converted four straight poles into victories before Verstappen broke the streak at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Early signs suggest we could be in for a throwback-style title fight - where consistency, not just dominance, might decide it all.
Red Bull (P1 and P12)
Credits: Formula 1 Website
Max Verstappen’s win at Suzuka wasn’t just another tally on the board - it was the former number 33 driver's 33rd career victory from pole position. Only two legends sit ahead of him now: Lewis Hamilton (61) and Michael Schumacher (40).
With this result, Verstappen also became the first driver in F1 history to win four consecutive races at Suzuka - all from pole. Every one of those victories previously sealed a World Championship. Will 2025 follow the same script?
Unlike past years, though, this one was closer. For the first time in his Suzuka winning streak, the gap to the closest non-Red Bull finisher was under 19 seconds.
Verstappen’s Suzuka record remains flawless with Red Bull: the Dutchman has never finished outside the podium since his 2016 debut with the Milton Keynes squad.
This victory also places Verstappen in rare air. He’s now one of just four drivers to win a Grand Prix in ten consecutive seasons, joining Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Alain Prost.
Elsewhere, Yuki Tsunoda (P12) quietly notched a small milestone of his own - finishing ahead of Liam Lawson (P17), making it the first time in 2025 that Red Bull’s second car finished ahead of its junior team.
Red Bull’s dominance at Suzuka is now undisputed. With eight wins, they break the three-way tie with Ferrari and McLaren to stand alone as the most successful team at the Honda-owned circuit.
McLaren (P2 and P3)
Credits: Formula 1 Website
Oscar Piastri had more than one reason to celebrate at Suzuka - his P3 finish made him just the seventh driver in F1 history to score a podium on his birthday.
Even more impressive, he’s the youngest to ever do it at 24 years old, narrowly beating Chris Amon, who achieved the feat at the 1968 British GP at age 25.
It’s been over 20 years since someone pulled that off - Rubens Barrichello was the last, standing on the Monaco podium in 2004 while turning a year older.
Suzuka is quickly becoming a happy hunting ground for Piastri. This marks his second podium at the circuit where he secured his maiden F1 podium in 2023, matching his record at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit (2023 and 2024).
At the front of the title race, Lando Norris continues to rack up consistency. His P2 in Japan extends his podium streak to four consecutive races, the longest active run on the grid. This is also the first time since Lewis Hamilton that a McLaren driver has started the season with 3 consecutive podium finishes.
But there’s a stat lurking in the shadows for Norris fans: since 1995, no driver who finished second at Suzuka has gone on to win the Drivers' Championship. A coincidence... or a curse? History might be against him, but if this season’s unpredictability is anything to go by, it’s far from over.
Ferrari (P4 and P8)
Credits - Formula 1 Website
Charles Leclerc now holds Ferrari’s all-time points record, again!! With 1,411 career points for the Scuderia, he’s moved past Sebastian Vettel’s 1,400. Unlike the last time this milestone was crossed (only for it to be reversed due to disqualifications), this one sticks.
For the first time in 2025, Ferrari weren’t outscored by one of their customer teams: a small but welcome shift after a sluggish start to the season.
After three rounds, a factory Ferrari driver finally leads the standings among all Ferrari-powered cars. Nico Hülkenberg and Esteban Ocon had that bragging right after Australia and China, respectively. Now, Leclerc’s back in front where Ferrari expects him to be.
It wasn’t all celebration, though. Lewis Hamilton’s P7 result marks the first time in over a decade that a Ferrari driver has finished outside the top 6 at Suzuka. Not exactly the kind of history the team - or Hamilton - wanted to make.
So far, Leclerc has finished ahead of Hamilton in every Grand Prix this season. But it’s the Brit who gave the team its only sprint win of the year. An inter-team battle worth watching as the Lewis' reported issues with the floor will get addressed in Bahrain.
Mercedes (P5 and P6)
George Russell continues to fly under the radar, but his numbers are impossible to ignore. He's the only driver besides Max Verstappen to finish every 2025 Grand Prix inside the top five and currently holds the longest active top-5 streak on the grid with eight straight races.
On the other side of the garage, Kimi Antonelli’s rookie season keeps making history. After just three Grand Prix starts, the 18-year-old is already in elite company. He’s the first driver since Lewis Hamilton to open his F1 career with three consecutive top-6 finishes.
Credits - Formula 1 Website
Antonelli also rewrote a few records previously held by Verstappen himself. At 18 years and 225 days, he’s now the youngest driver ever to lead a Grand Prix, shaving three days off Max’s record from Spain 2016.
He also became the youngest to set a fastest lap, surpassing Verstappen’s benchmark from that unforgettable Brazil drive in 2016. It’s early days, but the signs couldn’t be clearer—Antonelli is the real deal.
Racing Bulls (P8 and P17)
Isack Hadjar continues to impress in his debut season. With his P8 finish at Suzuka, he now leads all Red Bull-affiliated drivers, aside from Max Verstappen, in the Drivers' Championship standings.
His result also marks the Faenza-based team’s second-best finish ever at Suzuka, just one spot behind Pierre Gasly’s P7 in 2019. Quietly but confidently, Hadjar is starting to make a real case for himself in the Red Bull pipeline.
Williams (P9 and P14)
After three consecutive DNFs at Suzuka in a Williams, Alex Albon finally broke his streak with a hard-earned P9, his first points at the circuit with Williams and a personal redemption arc years in the making since the start of the Ground-effect era.
He’s also now the first Williams driver since Felipe Massa in 2017 to open a season with three straight points finishes.
With 18 points already, Albon has outscored the team’s entire 2024 tally just three race weekends into 2025.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz might be looking over his shoulder—he’s yet to outqualify or finish ahead of Albon this season.
Haas (P10 and P18)
Credits - Haas F1 Team
Ollie Bearman continued his solid rookie campaign with a P10 finish at Suzuka, securing Haas their first points at the circuit in the ground-effect era.
It was also a small but significant personal milestone—the first time Bearman has finished ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon in a Grand Prix. Quiet progress, but all signs point to a driver settling into F1 with purpose.
Pointless Teams
Lance Stroll’s run of three consecutive top-10 finishes came to a frustrating halt at Suzuka as he was the only driver to be lapped on Sunday, bringing his weekend to a disappointing end.
Alpine’s tough start to the season dragged on as they remain the only team yet to score a championship point.
There was at least a small silver lining for Pierre Gasly. After three years of outqualifying his teammates at Suzuka but finishing behind them, he finally turned the tables and crossed the line ahead.
As for Sauber, the wait continues. Their points drought at Suzuka, dating back to 2013, stretches into yet another year.
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