For the first time in history, the fourth qualifying of the season took place in Suzuka. The Japanese circuit saw Red Bull excel over a flying lap, placing both drivers on the front row. The poleman of the day is once again Max Verstappen, but with less margin than usual. Sergio Perez was just sixty-six thousandths behind his teammate, confirming Red Bull’s 1-2 in FP3. This is his first front-row qualifying in over a year. Ferrari still struggled to fire up the tyres in qualifying, with Sainz in fourth place and Leclerc in eighth, while McLaren once again proved competitive here at Suzuka. Mercedes were slightly more solid, albeit still distant from Red Bull. Good qualifying for Fernando Alonso, who will start from the third row.
Q1
Kevin Magnussen was the first car to set a lap. With thirteen minutes to go, all the other drivers also came out. The provisional best time went to Max Verstappen with 1:28.886, with his teammate four and a half tenths behind. Bad feeling with the flying lap again for the Ferraris, who find themselves six-tenths behind Sainz and one second with Leclerc. Excellent lap from Fernando Alonso, who takes second place sandwiched between the two Red Bulls.
In the second run, the track visibly improved. Leclerc is the only one of the top teams, together with Stroll, to take to the track for a second attempt with new tyres. The Monegasque moved into fourth position. It was an excellent session for Bottas and Ocon, who both made it into Q2. The big surprise in qualifying was Lance Stroll, who missed out on advancing by about half a tenth.
Eliminated in Q1: Stroll, Gasly, Magnussen, Sargeant and Zhou .
Q2
The first run in the second session of Q2 saw the Red Bull duo set two strong bankers. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri also put together impressive times. Alons was very competitive, only trailing Verstappen by three and a half tenths. The Ferraris were slightly better than in Q1 but still far from the fight for pole position. Sainz was fifth, almost four-tenths behind the Dutchman, while Leclerc was seventh, just over four-tenths.
Mercedes set their first laps on used tyres before putting themselves into the final session of qualifying with fresh tyres. Yuki Tsunoda once again took advantage of the free ‘slot’ left by Stroll to enter Q3, finishing the qualifying just ahead of Ricciardo.
Eliminated in Q2: Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Albon and Esteban Ocon.
Q3
In the final part of qualifying, everyone takes to the track except Charles Leclerc who will only have one attempt on new tyres. Verstappen confirmed himself in top form, stopping the clock in 1:28.240. Lando Norris is behind him, ‘only’ two-tenths away. Sergio Perez is slightly further back than in Q2, paying a gap of three and a half tenths from his teammate. It was an excellent lap by Sainz, who went into fourth position.
Charles Leclerc, making the lap alone on the track, positioned himself only in eighth position, paying half a second from Max Verstappen. The last run sees Sergio Perez very fast, but not enough to take pole position. The Mexican was just behind Verstappen’s Pole time of 1:28.197. Drivers struggled to improve in their final runs, with Fernando Alonso among the exceptions.
Final top 10: Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Sainz, Alonso, Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell and Yuki Tsunoda.
