At the Japanese GP, Max Verstappen made a triumphant return to pole position with a magnificent qualifying performance.
The two-time world champion, who had been eliminated in Q2 in Singapore, secured his ninth pole position of the season with an impressive 1:28.877.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start behind the Red Bull driver on Sunday in third and second place, respectively, with both McLarens lagging over half a second behind Verstappen’s pole time.
Verstappen’s margin of 0.581s over Piastri is the largest Suzuka pole advantage since Rubens Barrichello in 2003. Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok described Verstappen’s lap as “one of the great qualifying laps in F1 history.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner praised Verstappen’s “absolutely mind-blowing performance.”
Ferrari, who had clinched pole in the last two Grands Prix, had to settle for fourth and sixth place with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, respectively.
Sergio Perez, who separated the two Ferrari cars, was 0.773s behind his teammate Verstappen’s effort.
Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, managed to outshine his Mercedes teammate George Russell, but the Silver Arrows will start in seventh and eighth place.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda thrilled his home fans by securing ninth place, while Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin extended his record of being the only driver to reach every Q3 session this season, finishing in tenth place.
Unfortunately, Logan Sargeant crashed at the final corner during Q1, which halted the session with a red flag.
The American driver, who was able to walk away from his wrecked Williams, had not set a lap time, allowing Alex Albon to maintain his 100% qualifying record over his teammate.
Verstappen had topped all three practice sessions, setting himself up as the favourite for pole position on Saturday.
In qualifying, he immediately went into the 1:29s in Q1, despite a rough ride through the Degner Two corner.
Despite using used soft tires during Q2, Verstappen was able to dip below the 1:30 mark, with only Leclerc’s final lap preventing the Dutchman from topping all three segments.
Verstappen was the first driver to head out in Q3, and his provisional pole time of 1:29.012 would have been sufficient, as he had already placed himself four-tenths ahead of the field.
However, on his final lap, Verstappen found even more performance to secure his pole position, his 29th of his career, drawing him level with five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson remarked, “If you don’t think you can improve on perfection, just look at that second lap for Max Verstappen.”
Red Bull will win their sixth Constructors’ Championship crown on Sunday if they outscore Mercedes by one point and are not outscored themselves by Ferrari by 24 points or more.
Piastri and Norris will attempt to make life more challenging for Verstappen on Sunday when they line up from second and third on the grid – McLaren’s first top-six start at Suzuka since Jenson Button and Hamilton started there in 2011.
Piastri will make his first front-row start in an F1 Grand Prix, having edged out teammate Norris by 0.035s in Q3.
Neither McLaren was able to improve on their final qualifying efforts, as Verstappen had lowered his provisional pole time.
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Norris told Sky Sports F1, “We will try and beat him off the line! We did at Silverstone. But the Red Bull is six-tenths quicker on a single run, and normally the race pace is even better. You never know. At Suzuka, many things can happen; they have in the past. We have two cars to try and get him, but we also have a lot of quick cars behind us like Perez, who is in a lot quicker car than us, and Leclerc is in a similarly competitive car.”
Sainz and Leclerc only did one flying lap in Q3, but they were unable to find enough performance to overtake the McLarens or Perez.
Hamilton could take some relief from outqualifying Russell for the first time since the Belgian GP in July, but Mercedes were never in contention for the front three rows of the grid.
Japanese GP Qualifying result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3) Lando Norris, McLaren
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
7) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
8) George Russell, Mercedes
9) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
10) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
