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The 2025 F1 Japanese GP saw Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win the race. The race weekend was a masterclass from the Red Bull driver as he used the pole position lap on Saturday to control proceedings on Sunday to win.
The track for the F1 Japanese GP has seen many brilliant races over the years and has been a drivers' favorite as well. The racing on Sunday was maybe not the best but the challenge still remained.
With that being said, how did every driver fare at the F1 Japanese GP? Let's take a look at our driver ratings for the weekend.
Criteria
- Performance in both qualifying and races is judged.
- Results achieved compared to the potential of the car.
- Mistakes made over the weekend.
- Relative performance against teammate.
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2025 F1 Japanese GP: Rating the drivers
McLaren
Lando Norris
Rating: 7.5
Is McLaren a tough car to drive? Yes, it is. Should Lando Norris have won the F1 Japanese GP? Yes, he should have. The championship lead is now down to one point, and this should worry the Brit.
Oscar Piastri
Rating: 7
Pretty much the same thing that one could say about Lando should be said about Oscar as well. The F1 Japanese GP win was there for the taking. The Australian finished a place behind his teammate and now falls further in the championship.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc
Rating: 9.5
Post-qualifying, Chris Medland said that Max Verstappen's lap meant we've forgotten the stunning job Charles Leclerc did with his lap. Ferrari had no business being in P4 in that race. Well, that's what Charles achieved, and it was a further testament to the kind of asset the team has in its ranks.
Lewis Hamilton
Rating: 6
Lewis Hamilton had a below-par F1 Japanese GP, and nobody else was to blame for it. The driver didn't nail his qualifying lap, and that's all she wrote. It would be interesting to see what's in store for him in Bahrain, as he hinted about a defective part thwarting his run in the first three races.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen
Rating: 10
What Max Verstappen did in the F1 Japanese GP is precisely why we watch this sport. It's these moments of brilliance that he can achieve in a car that is not exactly the class of the field at this stage.
It's as perfect a weekend as Verstappen or anyone else could have, and we would be foolish not to recognize him as one of the championship contenders.
Yuki Tsunoda
Rating: 6
There's the good bit, and there's the bad bit about Yuki Tsunoda's weekend. The good? He showed a far bigger potential than Liam Lawson ever did. The bad? He couldn't exploit it and score points.
There's simmering optimism about Yuki's underlying pace, but the triple header is probably going to give us a better idea.
Mercedes
George Russell
Rating: 7.5
The team and the driver tried something slightly different for the F1 Japanese GP qualifying, but that induced an error on his final flying lap. George has been impeccable this season, but we cannot take away the fact that the Mercedes deserved a better result than a P5 from its driver.
Kimi Antonelli
Rating: 7
There are two ways to look at Kimi's weekend. The first is the rescue act in his final qualifying attempt. The second is the fact that he's delivering a smidge lower than what the Mercedes is capable of.
While the potential is there, and Kimi Antonelli is showing that he can do a good enough job in the car, there's some scope left, and this was once again the case in the F1 Japanese GP.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso
Rating: 7.5
It's hard to assume that there was anything more in the bag for Fernando Alonso to exploit from the Aston Martin. The driver is slowly getting into the groove of being more consistent with the car under him, and points will come soon enough.
Lance Stroll
Rating: 4
This was a poor one for Lance, as he somehow just didn't have the pace to do much either in qualifying or during the race. The Canadian would be disappointed with the result, as there was certainly more on the table.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly
Rating: 7.5
Gasly is slowly getting back to his metronomic self, where he gives the team what the car is essentially capable of. Just like Alonso, points are coming soon for the Alpine driver, and the F1 Japanese GP was arguably a positive for the French team.
Jack Doohan
Rating: 4
This was a poor performance from Jack. The Australian has the pace, but the mistakes are slowly becoming unforgivable. You cannot continue to do this week in and week out. The fourth race in Bahrain is crucial now for Doohan as he tries to put a weekend together for once.
Haas
Esteban Ocon
Rating: 5
Ocon pointed to a lack of clarity about what was wrong with his car as the reason behind an underwhelming run in the F1 Japanese GP. Somehow, the French driver was nowhere while his teammate was in the Top 10, something that is just not acceptable.
Ollie Bearman
Rating: 8
In all fairness, Haas had no right to be in the top 10, and we could see it during the race where slowly and steadily, Bearman continued to fall back from the driver in P9. This was the kind of Midas touch that we should see from the young driver more and more in his first full season.
Ollie Bearman is a special talent, and this race was the first indication of the same.
Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson
Rating: 5
Liam's first race weekend in a Racing Bulls was okayish at best. He did struggle with pace compared to Isack Hadjar, and while a part of it is expected, there's maybe a part of it where he probably should have done better on a track he knew quite well.
Isack Hadjar
Rating: 8
A good all-around weekend from Isack Hadjar, who seamlessly took over from Yuki Tsunoda as the team leader. It's interesting how well he's doing in his rookie season, and if he can keep this up, we might be looking at a strong future for the French driver.
Williams
Alex Albon
Rating: 7.5
On one side, Alex Albon has been nailing it for Williams as he continues to pick up points. On the other side, should he arguably have beaten Isack Hadjar? The irate team radio from Albon was interesting, but it did reveal the driver he has for getting a better result out of the car under him.
Carlos Sainz
Rating: 5
Carlos Sainz continues to look out of sorts in his Williams. The F1 Japanese GP was arguably better compared to the first two races, but that gulf is still there between the two, and he needs to cover it soon enough.
Sauber
Nico Hulkenberg
Rating: 7
Sauber is essentially still a slow car, and those points in Australia look even more precious at this stage. With that being said, Hulkenberg did what he could with the car at the F1 Japanese GP, and there wasn't much more that he could potentially have achieved from the package.
Gabriel Bortoleto
Rating: 6
Bortoleto had a decent F1 Japanese GP, and the Brazilian was right alongside his experienced team throughout the weekend. The only thing the rookie seems to lack is a better car to show that he's capable of at this stage.
