Red Bull’s Max Verstappen “couldn’t have wished for a better result” in a dominant victory at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen largely dominated from lights to flag aside from the pit-stop phase as he saw off McLaren’s Lando Norris to cut his title deficit to the Brit down to a single point, after he had snatched a shock pole position from Norris’ grasp in a dramatic climax to Qualifying.
“We couldn’t have wished for a better result today in our final race with Honda here together.
“It’s been amazing and I’m really proud of what we have done this weekend. We made all of the right calls during the race, were constantly pushing and our tyres weren’t overheating so much due to the colder tyre temperature which helped us.”
Verstappen nevertheless put his victory down to “the key” of having started on pole position, after he “maximised” his performance on a weekend disrupted by grass fires throughout practice and Qualifying, but is wary of the fact that McLaren are still super competitive so there is room to improve further.
“We know our limitations and still have work to do. We are just finding where we can push the car to the limit and need to maximise everything that we can to get the best out of the car and make it more balanced.”
Since F1 returned to Japan in 2022, no driver has denied Verstappen victory at Suzuka and the Dutchman got nostalgic that this would be his final victory around the track under Honda power, with the Japanese power unit supplier moving to Aston Martin next season.
“Finally, this is a perfect send off for Honda and our relationship is something I will never forget. I’ve enjoyed my time with them and how they work: they are so professional and dedicated and they have given me so much. Together to win four Drivers’ Championships and two Constructors’ Championships is unbelievable.
“It did cross my mind whilst driving that it would be insane to win here today and at a home track for Honda, so that gave me a bit of motivation as well. It’s a proper send off and we couldn’t have wished for a better weekend.”
