Max Verstappen takes pole position by over half a second at Japanese GP; Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to line up directly behind Red Bull; Watch the Japanese GP on Sky Sports F1 from 4.30am Sunday with lights out at 6am
Saturday 23 September 2023 15:40, UK
Max Verstappen emphatically returned to pole position at the Japanese GP with a stunning qualifying performance.
The two-time world champion ensured there was to be no repeat of his shock Q2 exit in Singapore and roared to his ninth pole position of the season with a brilliant 1:28.877.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will line up behind the Red Bull on Sunday in second and third respectively with the two McLarens over half a second down on Verstappen's pole time.
Verstappen's 0.581s advantage over Piastri is the largest pole margin at Suzuka since Rubens Barrichello in 2003.
"I think that was one of the great qualifying laps in F1 history," said Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said of Verstappen: "All his laps have been stunning today. An absolutely mind-blowing performance."
Ferrari had taken pole at the last two Grands Prix but had to settle for fourth with Charles Leclerc and sixth with Carlos Sainz.
Sergio Perez split the two Ferrari cars, but the Red Bull man was 0.773s down on team-mate Verstappen's effort.
Lewis Hamilton managed to outqualify Mercedes team-mate George Russell but the Silver Arrows will line up seventh and eighth.
Yuki Tsunoda delighted his home fans by securing ninth place for AlphaTauri ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who extended his record of being the only driver to reach every Q3 session this season.
A big crash for Logan Sargeant at the final corner brought out a Q1 red flag. The American driver - who was able to walk away from his wrecked Williams - tried to push through a wobble and careered into the barriers having not set a lap time, allowing Alex Albon to maintain his 100 per cent qualifying record over his team-mate.
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
Verstappen had topped all three practice sessions to make himself comfortable favourite for pole position on Saturday.
And he set out his intentions in qualifying from the off as he was immediately into the 1:29s in Q1 despite a rough ride through the Degner Two corner.
Despite doing his Q2 lap on used soft tyres, Verstappen was again able to dip below the 1:30 mark and only Leclerc's final lap stopped the Dutchman topping all three segments.
Verstappen was first driver to head out in Q3 again and his provisional pole time of 1:29.012 would have been enough having put himself four tenths clear of the field.
But on his final effort, Verstappen found even more performance to see off any threat of opposition and claim the 29th pole position of his career - drawing him level with five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
"If you don't think you can improve on perfection, just look at that second lap for Max Verstappen," commented Sky Sports F1's Anthony Davidson.
Red Bull will wrap up a 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 seek to make life more uncomfortable 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 be making his first front-row start in an F1 Grand Prix, having edged out team-mate Norris by 0.035s in Q3.
Neither McLaren was able to improve on their final qualifying efforts after Verstappen had lowered his provisional pole time.
"We will try and beat him off the line! We did at Silverstone," Norris told Sky Sports F1. "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."
Leclerc and Sainz only did one flying lap in Q3 but were unable to find enough performance to get ahead of the McLarens, or Perez in Sainz's case.
Hamilton could take small comfort from outqualifying Russell for the first time since July's Belgian GP, but Mercedes were never in contention for the front three rows of the grid.
Saturday morning had started with confirmation that Tsunoda will stay at AlphaTauri for 2024 alongside Daniel Ricciardo, and the Japanese driver backed up that decision by reaching Q3 in front of his home fans.
AlphaTauri are bottom of the Constructors' Championship, but their car has looked a bit more competitive since introducing a raft of updates last time out in Singapore and Tsunoda will start ninth - his best position since May's Monaco GP.
Team-mate Liam Lawson narrowly missed out on a second Q3 appearance after being edged out by Alonso in Q2, the Kiwi driver paying the price for using an extra set of soft tyres in the first segment.
Alonso's improvement right at the end of the second segment was enough to maintain his 100 per cent Q3 streak in 2023 as the two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, William's Alex Albon and Haas' Kevin Magnussen missed out on the top 10.
The first part of qualifying saw Sargeant suffer another heavy qualifying crash.
The American rookie was coming to the end of his first flying lap when he suffered a snap of oversteer during the final corner. Sargeant tried to push through it but went off across the grass and gravel into the wall.
Once Q1 resumed following a red flag period, a big improvement from Lawson prompted a mad dash at the end with 15 drivers heading out.
And Lance Stroll was unable to improve sufficiently as he suffered a second successive Q1 exit at Suzuka in the Aston Martin, a week on from his own big Q1 crash in Singapore.
Former Japanese GP winner Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo team-mate Zhou Guanyu and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg were the other drivers to exit at the earliest stage.
Watch the Japanese Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from 4.30am Sunday, with lights out at 6am. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW. Cancel anytime
