F1 Fantasy: Verstappen stars as big names deliver in Japan

It looked for all the world like one of the front-running McLarens would overtake Verstappen and take the win in Japan. But the team’s Papaya Rules once again came into question, with Piastri not allowed to pass the struggling Norris and try to deny the Dutchman victory.

That said, it turned out to be a great week for many of Formula 1’s leading teams. Mercedes pair George Russell and Kimi Antonelli continued their impressive start to the 2025 season. Ferrari even managed to complete a grand prix without both its drivers being disqualified!

With the midfield starting to struggle, this week’s F1 Fantasy results very much hinged on who you picked as your star driver. Let’s take a look at how the race in Japan affected the standings in our very own F1 Fantasy league — it’s not too late to join, you can sign up for GP247 F1 Fantasy here.

As you’d expect, Verstappen’s outstanding performance at Suzuka made him F1 Fantasy’s top scorer in week three, picking up 36 points. Despite completely botching the race win, Norris and Piastri still scored pretty well, notching 51 points between them.

Mercedes scored a respectable 41 points themselves as Antonelli broke Verstappen’s record for youngest F1 race leader with just a few days to spare. Russell wasn’t quite able to challenge for the podium as he had done in Melbourne and Shanghai. But his team still sits 10 points ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ standings — surely the Silver Arrows are happy with that.

Relative to the debacle we saw in China, Ferrari will also be happy with fourth and seventh, especially as they were able to hold off both Mercedes with Charles Leclerc, and Lewis Hamilton was one of the few drivers to make an overtake. Overall, the top seven stayed rigidly in place due to the stale nature of the on-track action. This meant very few upsets in the F1 Fantasy stakes.

After Haas’ double points finish in China and Nico Hulkenberg’s heroic P7 in Australia, there were fewer surprises in Japan. Limited mobility in a stinker of a Suzuka Grand Prix saw previous high scorers from the midfield struggle.

Yuki Tsunoda may have underwhelmed with a twelfth-place finish on his Red Bull debut, but he did manage to pull off a few overtakes, earning him 13 points. His Racing Bulls replacement, Liam Lawson, did less well, losing four points. But both still have plenty of learning to do.

Haas pair Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman entered the race weekend with a whopping 59 fantasy points between them, but they left with just five more. Lance Stroll, meanwhile, returned to form with just two points, while the likes of Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly continued to struggle.

One bright spot was Isack Hadjar, who scored his first points in F1 with an impressive eighth-place finish in Shanghai — this probably should’ve gotten him more than the eight fantasy points he actually earned from this. Confusingly, Jack Doohan also racked up six points. This doesn’t sound like much, but it’s interesting considering his drab race and crash during FP2.

As usual, we finish our round-up with a look at the riders and runners in GP247’s very own F1 Fantasy League. This week, Neal Brett’s Team Papaya retained top spot, only just holding on to pole position after Sofia Torrente used their limitless chip to go joint top with team Twilight Dash.

Interestingly, each of this week’s top four had a different lead driver with DRS attached for double points. So clearly it’s still all to play for in this year’s F1 Fantasy standings.

Each week from now until the end of the season, GP247 will provide a running commentary on all things F1 Fantasy. Want to join our fantasy league? There’s still time to get involved using this link.