Japan GP: Kimi wins, Oscar P2

Kimi wins the race in Japan to become the youngest title leader. Oscar finally starting a race finished P2 while LeClerc held off George to finish P3.

Kimi showing pace in Japan

We know that the Mercedes is fast and they have an upper hand in the starting of the season with all the new regulations. What has come as a surprise is how close is Kimi to his well established team-mate George Russell. His rookie season last year had his share of ups and downs as one would expect from an 18 year old directly hurled into a top team like Mercedes. That patience by Toto Wolff has paid off as the new season started. Kimi is on the pace right from get go. He was close to George in every practice session in all the race. He won the race in China to become the second youngest race winner, after Max Verstappen. That could have been attributed to a bit of luck.

However here in Japan he was better than George in all the practice session and got the Pole. George was struggling with issues and he was never close to Kimi. Then the start went bad as it has been the case with Mercedes in all the races. Kimi went down to P6. George also had a bad start but still maintained a decent position.

Then Bearman had a massive shunt which changed the fortunes for everyone. George had pitted just a lap before and Kimi got a free pitstop. He made the most of it and took the race win. Kimi is the youngest Championship leader in F1. While we had a long season ahead George cannot take things for granted anymore. Also McLaren, especially under the hands of Piastri showed solid pace and they can be a contender soon.


Piastri starts a race, finishes P2 in Japan

Oscar Piastri was unfortunate to not even start the first two races. Here he got a good start and well into the lead but then the Safety car and he had to settle for P2. Lando finished P5 and he seems to be content with the 2025 Championship and not showing the hunger anymore.

Ferrari P3 and P6 in Japan

Charles had a good race to finish P3. However Ferrari still doesn’t have the race pace to fight Mercedes. Now even McLaren seems to be coming strong and fighting with them. Hamilton looked good but eventually settled for P6. Ferrari had a good car and is solid at the start but they need to work hard to get more performance if they want to fight Mercedes for the title.

Pierre Gasly had a solid race as he kept Max Verstappen off and finished P7 while Max finished P8. Would would have thought this was possible even a few years back. Liam Lawson finished P9 and Esteban scored the final race point.

Japan GP Top 10: Kimi wins the race