2025 Driver Rankings | R3: Japan

Sebastian Alston
Apr 6
7 min read

Max Verstappen claimed his first victory of the season around Suzuka, but who came out on top in our driver rankings? And who leads the way for the season? Let's find out:

Max Verstappen

It had to be Max. In a Red Bull car that has proved to be incredibly tricky to drive, Max continues to get the absolute most out of it. He put in one of the best laps of his career to snatch pole away from Lando Norris and then held on expertly in the race to kick-start his title defence. A lot of people wrote off Max and Red Bull after the first two rounds, however, he proved this weekend you can never write off Max.

Isack Hadjar

Whilst a lot of the focus this weekend was on Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar managed to steal the headlines with a brilliant weekend to claim his first points in F1. Ever since his embarrassment in Melbourne, Isack has performed exceptionally for a rookie. He was unlucky with strategy last time out in Shanghai, however this weekend with a normal race, he got the points he deserved in P8. He qualified P7 for the second race in a row, ahead of both Yuki and Liam and even though he was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton, he still kept his head to finish best of the rest. I had doubted his mentality after the tears in Melbourne, but he has come back stronger than ever and he'll certainly be making a lot of people at Red Bull sit up.

Lando Norris

Lando may not have won with, on paper the fastest car, however, he still delivered a near-faultless weekend. In qualifying, it took one of Max's best laps ever to pip Lando, who still got the measure of his teammate. And then in the race he put Max under a fair bit of pressure, all whilst being under pressure himself from Oscar. He claimed his third podium in three races to just about keep the lead of the Championship.

Charles Leclerc

Charles went massively under the radar this weekend, to quietly deliver his and Ferraris's best points tally of the year. He comfortably had the upper hand over Lewis all weekend and was consistent in the race to finish ahead of the Mercedes'.

Oscar Piastri

It was a weekend of 'What ifs?' for Oscar in Suzuka, with the Aussie looking destined to take pole at one point in Q3, before it fell away slightly on his crucial lap. He lost a bit of time in S1, and despite putting in a purple S2 and S3, it was only enough for P3. In the race, Oscar once again looked like he was being slightly held back by Lando ahead of him, and tried convincing McLaren to let him have a go at Max, however he stayed in P3 and picked up a comfortable podium. On another week he could easily have won, but he still showed plenty of promise for the rest of the season.

Alex Albon

Three races and three point hauls for Alex who has had an incredibly strong start to the season. Again he had the measure on Carlos and again he delivered in the race to keep up what looks like potentially being his best season ever (yes I know it's only three races in!). He only could have ranked higher had he been able to make more of a challenge on Isack, but either way super impressive again!

Ollie Bearman

Ollie Bearman had a tough start to the season in Melbourne, but like fellow rookie Hadjar, he has bounced back in style. Points in Shanghai were backed up with another point this weekend, as Ollie was comfortably the quicker Haas. Whilst Esteban was knocked out in Q1 and failed to make any inroads in the race, Ollie made it to Q3 and held onto the final points-paying position. A great weekend once again!

George Russell

Not quite the blockbuster weekend it could have been for George but still a good points haul. He looked like being the one to take the fight to the McLarens all weekend but couldn't quite put it together in Q3. He was comfortable in P5 throughout the race.

Kimi Antonelli

Kimi was a lot closer to George this weekend, and yes this was probably because George wasn't quite on it, but it was still another positive weekend for Kimi. He did well to deal with the pressure of having one lap to make it out of Q1, and his eventual P6 in qualifying shows he's getting up to speed. In the race, he showed great management to make his mediums last longer than even Lewis on the hards. He looked at one point like he may be able to chase down George, however a couple of errors meant he couldn't quite challenge. Either way, a good solid consistent weekend!

Lewis Hamilton

A very quiet weekend for Lewis. He was slower than Charles all weekend, not by much, but enough to see him down in P8 in qualifying and P7 come the chequered flag. He made one of the only overtakes of the whole Grand Prix, with his early move on Hadjar, but other than that, some room for improvement.

Fernando Alonso

Finally a clean weekend for Fernando! He had the clear pace advantage over Lance who struggled, and despite not quite being able to make it into the points, it was a solid performance. He got past Gasly opportunistically at the start, and held onto P11, keeping Tsunoda in the Red Bull behind. A place to kick on from for Fernando

Pierre Gasly

Another disappointing weekend for Alpine, in a season that looks like being one to forget. Pierre for the first time all season had the clear upper hand over Jack, but it wasn't enough to see him into the points. He was somewhat unlucky at the start as he was overtaken by Fernando, but did well on his opening stint to keep Yuki behind. This hard work was for nothing though as he was undercut by Yuki after a poor stop for the Alpine. Work needs to be done on Alpine's front, but Pierre himself had a solid weekend.

Nico Hulkenberg

A quiet weekend for both Sauber's, who clearly didn't have the performance to challenge those higher up the grid. Nico had the measure of Gabriel all weekend and had a quiet but consistent race.

Jack Doohan

His weekend got off to the worst start possible with his high-speed crash at turn 1 in FP2. Whether it was his fault, or the team's fault for telling him to try the corner with DRS open, we don't know, but either way, it was a far-from-ideal start to the weekend for Jack. With limited running, after not taking part in FP1, Jack struggled in qualifying and couldn't make it out of Q1. In the race, he started on the soft tyre and pitted relatively early to undercut a couple of cars ahead. He then did well on the hard to only finish a couple of places behind his teammate. A solid recovery to the weekend for Jack, but probably not enough to get any pressure off his back.

Carlos Sainz

Another weekend of struggles in the Williams for Carlos, despite looking at the pace of Alex at times earlier on in the weekend. A 3-grid place penalty for blocking Lewis in qualifying all but ruined his chances of points, and even though he had a solid race, with overtakes on Nico and Jack, it was still one to forget for the Spaniard.

Yuki Tsunoda

A strange weekend for Yuki on his Red Bull debut. He looked on the pace in FP1 and Q1, however, his high downforce setup cost him in Q2, and he couldn't take advantage of it in the race. He managed to clear Liam Lawson early on to avoid the embarrassment of finishing behind the man he replaced, but couldn't get past either Pierre or Fernando on track. Nevertheless, he still showed more promise than Liam did in his two weekends, and both Christian Horner and Helmut Marko seemed optimistic about his performance. It will take time, but there were glimmers he'll be able to get up to speed.

Gabriel Bortoleto

Again, just like Nico, not much to report for either Sauber car, however, Gabriel was slower than Nico all weekend. It's frustrating to see such a talented driver not be given a car that allows him to show his skills, especially when we see his F2 title rival from last year fighting for points, however, Gabriel will be learning plenty from fighting at the back.

Liam Lawson

A decent return to RB for Liam, even if he wasn't able to take advantage of the cars pace. He out-qualified Yuki and made it to Q2 for the first time this season, but was still disappointed to only start P13. In the race, a little error at the start cost him a place to Yuki, and after that, he wasn't quite able to get to the RB's limit and dropped a couple more places. A weekend of learning for Liam, but like Yuki, some glimmers of hope.

Esteban Ocon

Esteban just didn't have the pace this weekend. A poor qualifying saw him out in Q1 whilst Ollie made it to Q3, and with how difficult it is to overtake around Suzuka, Esteban couldn't make a charge for the points. A stark contrast to his performance in Shanghai, and he'll be hoping to gain some consistency for the rest of the triple header.

Lance Stroll

Another driver with vastly contrasting emotions to last time out, Lance had a miserable weekend. He qualified plumb last, couldn't make the softs last longer than ten laps, and trailed behind at the back for the whole race. Lance would have been hoping to carry on his good early season start and build momentum, but this weekend has seen that all crash down.

So Max leads the way after three rounds, with the two McLaren drivers hot on his heels. George falls down from the joint lead to fourth, whilst Alex Albon continues his impressive start. Esteban was in the top ten after Shanghai but drops out in place of Isack Hadjar.