2025 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix Highlights

Scuderia Ferrari HP leaves the 2025 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix with 18 valuable points—its highest race total so far in this challenging start to the season. Charles Leclerc brought home a strong fourth place, while Lewis Hamilton claimed seventh, both delivering solid performances in what turned out to be a solitary, dry-weather race.

Strategic Split Pays Off

Rain earlier in the day gave way to dry conditions by race time, allowing for a fully dry Grand Prix. The team opted for a split tyre strategy: Leclerc started on the Mediums, Hamilton on the Hards. Both drivers held position off the line, with Hamilton making his first move on Lap 6, overtaking Isack Hadjar at Turn 1 to climb to seventh.

Pit stops began unfolding from Lap 19. Leclerc boxed for Hards on Lap 21, rejoining in 10th before steadily regaining ground to slot into fourth—where he had started—after the field cycled through their stops. Hamilton extended his stint until Lap 30, running as high as second behind Kimi Antonelli before switching to Mediums and rejoining in seventh.

Steady Finish, Room to Improve

In the second half of the race, the order largely stabilized. Leclerc ran consistently but gradually lost tenths per lap to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, putting a podium finish just out of reach.

Hamilton, meanwhile, engaged in a brief battle with Antonelli, but his Medium tyres began to fade, forcing him to settle for seventh at the flag.

Eyes on Bahrain

With margins as tight as ever—just a few tenths separating contenders from the midfield—every improvement matters. The team now sets its sights on Bahrain, Round 4 of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship. Improving the balance of the SF-25 and optimizing tyre management will be crucial to unlocking its full potential.

Another test awaits, but with solid points from Japan, the momentum is building.

Charles Leclerc, Driver, Scuderia Ferrari

It was a bit of a lonely race out there today . P4 is never the result we aim for , but there are positives to take from the weekend . The work we put in on Friday with set-up adjustments really paid off , and we’ve made solid progress . That said, we know there’s still a gap to the front — they’ve got a clear edge on pace right now . We’re focused on maximizing every opportunity, every point , and that’s what we did today . The goal is to keep our heads down, keep pushing , and hopefully close the gap so we can fight for wins later in the season .

Lewis Hamilton, Driver, Scuderia Ferrari

That was a challenging race for us today . We just didn’t have the pace to fight with the front-runners , and that’s something we’re going to dig into and work hard on before the next rounds. I opted for a setup that felt solid overall , but out on track, it didn’t quite give me the edge I needed . Massive credit to the team – everyone’s been working flat out , and we’ll keep pushing as one to unlock more performance . And to the fans – you’ve been absolutely incredible all weekend . Your energy and support out there genuinely make a difference .

Frédéric Vasseur – Team Principal, Scuderia Ferrari

Today’s race result was a clear reflection of what we saw in qualifying yesterday. Given the car we had this weekend, we probably couldn’t have achieved much more. We were consistently two to three-tenths off the pace in qualifying, and that gap carried over into the race.

There are still some areas where we’re struggling , and it’s clear we need to keep pushing to unlock more potential from the car as we head into Bahrain and Saudi Arabia . There’s definitely room for improvement , particularly with car balance and tyre management .

The good news is that for Bahrain next week, all teams—including us—will benefit from having baseline data from pre-season testing. That should give us a clearer picture of where we really stand and help guide our next steps toward progress.

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