Japanese GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen storms to pole, Leclerc missed out by 0.01s

Max Verstappen locked his position on the front of the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix after posting the fastest time of 1:29.304. The Dutch driver needed only one timed run at the start of Q3 to post the quickest time. No other driver on the grid managed to beat his time throughout. Charles Leclerc came very close but was short by just 0.01 seconds. He will start the grid at the front row alongside Verstappen. Carlos Sainz qualified P3. He was also very close to Verstappen’s fastest time by 0.057 seconds but couldn’t improve at the later stages.

Verstappen had to wait for the confirmation of his pole position after the session ended. He was called to the steward’s office for an incident in which he came dangerously in front of McLaren’s Lando Norris while the British driver tried to overtake him on his out-lap. The stewards reviewed the incident and called both drivers for an explanation in the steward’s office. Verstappen was only reprimanded after the meeting with the stewards ended and escaped penalties.

Q1

The first qualifying session was straightforward for Verstappen, Leclerc, and Sainz. The Mclaren and Alpine cars also cleared Q1 comfortably. Nicholas Latifi, like much of this season, qualified last. Latifi was joined by his teammate Alex Albon who qualified for P16. The other drivers to join them were Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, and Lance Stroll. Gasly was the surprise exit from Q2. The Frenchman complained about the performance of his brakes throughout the session. On different occasions, he had a lockup while on the track and ranted on the radio about his car’s brakes not functioning properly. He will start the race at P17, much lower than his usual qualifying results.

Q2

As in Q1, Q2 was straightforward for Red Bull and Ferrari. Both teams needed one lap for their drivers to go comfortably into Q3. Sergio Perez, however, did one more lap and posted the fastest time in Q2 by going 1:29.925. He was the first driver to go into the 1:29s this weekend. Mercedes, who was faster on the wet track, saw that they couldn’t match the pace of either Red Bull or Ferrari. The team reported that they were down on top speed for both cars and couldn’t match the lap times of the top 2 teams.

Daniel Ricciardo failed to qualify for Q3 again. The Aussie driver could not improve on his previous attempt and, as a result, dropped out from Q3 by just 3 milliseconds. The other drivers to join him were Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu, and Mick Schumacher. Tsunoda, like Gasly, was also suffering from brake issues. At one point, he was screaming back at his team when they instructed him to apply pressure on his brakes on the straight. However, Tsunoda flat-spotted his tyres and couldn’t do much about the brake issues.

Q3

Verstappen’s fastest time in the session came on his first lap in Q3, which was 1:29.304. The Ferrari drivers were his closest rivals, but both Leclerc and Sainz could not beat that time. They qualified P2 and P3 for the race, respectively. Sergio Perez qualified P4 ahead of Estaban Ocon, who had an extraordinary session. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell could only manage P6 and P8, respectively. Fernando Alonso sandwiched them in P7. Alpines out-qualified McLaren’s Lando Norris, who said that P9 was all he could manage as he couldn’t match Alpine’s pace.

After the double DNF in last week’s race at Singapore GP, Alpine would like to capitalize on this opportunity to overtake McLaren for the 4th spot on the Constructor’s table. Sebastian Vettel, on his last visit to Suzuka, got P10. The Aston Martin car’s result was much higher than expected, but Vettel said he was in his element for the qualifying session. The German driver said on the radio that this circuit was much better than many other circuits he has raced on this year.

Verstappen and Norris nearly collided

The most prominent qualifying incident came in Q3 when Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (both on their out laps) nearly collided with each other. Norris was behind Verstappen, who was going slowly to warm up his tyres. At that precise moment, Norris tried to overtake Verstappen, but the Dutch driver lost control of his car and came in front of the charging McLaren. Norris had to take evasive actions to avoid him and went onto the grass.

Later in the media, Max said he didn’t expect Norris to overtake him on his out lap. Norris said he was going faster because he couldn’t warm up his tyres sufficiently enough. The Stewards noticed this incident and reserved their decision after the session had ended. Both drivers were summoned to Steward’s office later. After hearing from both sides, they decided that no further action was required, and Verstappen kept his Pole Position for Sunday’s race.

Qualifying Result

Out in Q2

Out in Q1