Max Verstappen held off to turn his first pole position of the year into a maiden victory in 2025. That was despite spending the entire race with the in his wing mirrors and with also within touching distance of the lead.
Close-fought races have been at a premium at Suzuka in recent years. Over the last few years, the has been won by a margin of more than 10 seconds - but even with just a handful of laps to go on Sunday the top three were separated by just two seconds.
But though the McLarens piled on the pressure, for the first time this year Verstappen had the race pace to not only compete but keep them both at bay. Norris tried to move past but had to settle for second place ahead of his team-mate - a result which preserves his place at the top of the standings.
Overtaking was not common in a largely lifeless affair. started fourth and finished there, never in touch with the three ahead but always with the pace to keep the two cars of and comfortably behind him.
did rise one place, moving past Isack Hadjar in the early stages but that only got him up to seventh place. Hadjar came home eighth to continue his impressive start to life in , with and rounding off the top 10.
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Verstappen had Norris and Piastri bearing down on him heading into turn one. But the McLarens, perhaps knowing they have had a pace advantage over all season so far, didn't try anything too risky and chose instead to bide their time.
That made the opening exchanges rather uneventful as Norris settled in a couple of seconds behind Verstappen. He was careful not to get too close and cause unnecessary damage to his tyres, but didn't want to drop too far back and allow the Dutchman to build a comfortable lead.
He couldn't get too close without risking destroying his tyres but at the same time. Red Bull were slow to change their drivers' tyres and Norris had the chance to get past before they got back out on track.
He pulled out of his pit box alongside Verstappen and tried to take the lead but ran out of room. Norris ended up going over the grass and having to abort his move to overtake, accusing the Dutchman of forcing him off.
Verstappen had an accusation of his own, claiming Norris had turned off his pit limiter too quickly and suggesting the Brit had been speeding in the pit lane. In the end, the stewards decided to take no further action against either driver.
Norris spent the rest of the race tailing Verstappen and began to close in with a dozen laps to go. But he wasn't able to get close enough to make the use of the one DRS zone on the track and had to settle for the runner-up spot.
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