Japanese Grand Prix: Verstappen wins pole
Cloudy. Dry. Air +14C, highway +34...29C
Qualifying in Suzuka always turns out to be interesting. Surrounded by barriers, the narrow track includes all possible types of turns, demanding composure and precision from the riders. Any mistake can lead to a crash and a stop of the session, which has happened more than once in training.
The change of the Red Bull Racing team also added intrigue. Rookie Liam Lawson, who rode two stages, was transferred to Racing Bulls, taking in his place Yuki Tsunoda, who became Max Verstappen's teammate on the home stage, tried to keep up and make a good impression, which largely depended on the qualifying results – this year the Red Bull co-driver did not rise above 18th place.
The most unexpected problem was the repeated ignition of last year's grass on the roadsides. On Friday, because of this, the session was stopped twice with red flags, then the grass was mowed and watered, but on Saturday morning, the third training session had to be stopped twice again. Before qualifying, the grass was filled with water again.
In Suzuka, the most versatile cars are successful, fast in turns of various types, and the McLaren drivers – Piastri on Friday and Norris on Saturday - were confidently in the lead in training. George Russell from Mercedes got the closest to them, the rest lost four tenths or more. Before qualifying, the teams adjusted the settings in an attempt to reduce this gap.
For the first time in the season, Pirelli brought the toughest compounds to the stage – C1, C2 and C3 in the role of Hard, Medium and Soft.
In the first session, Hamilton chose Medium for the first attempt, while the others immediately went for Soft. Piastri topped the protocol with 1:28.143.
Everyone passed the second attempt on Soft. Norris rose to the first place with 1:27.845 and did not leave again. The others continued to fight.
As a result, Piastri drove even faster – 1:27.687, and Russell divided the McLaren drivers. Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Okon, Duane and Stroll, who had been on the grass, dropped out of the further fight – in the sixth corner he was literally blown away by a gust of wind. The fifteen riders who passed on fit into eight tenths.
In the second session, everyone went to Soft. Norris set a new benchmark – 1:27.146. The session was stopped with red flags – grass was burning on the side of the road at the exit from 130R. The riders stopped trying and returned to the pits, marshals with fire extinguishers hurried to the place of ignition.
Five minutes later, the riders were able to continue the fight. Sainz interfered with Hamilton on a fast lap and was penalized by losing three places at the start. Norris's result stood. Gasly, Sainz, Alonso, Lawson and Tsunoda did not qualify for the finals.
In the final, Piastri topped the protocol in the first attempt with a new Suzuki absolute record of 1:27.052. In the second, Norris was faster at first with 1:26.995, then Verstappen with 1:26.983.
Max Verstappen won qualifying at Suzuka, taking the 41st pole of his career and the fourth at this track. Tomorrow, Lando Norris will share the front row with him, Piastri and Leclair will start from the second, and from the third – Russell and Antonelli.
Qualification results
Pilot
Team
1st session
2nd session
3rd session
M
Time
Kr
M
Time
Kr
M
Time
Kr
1. M.Verstappen
Red Bull
6
1:27.943
6
3
1:27.502
5
1
1:26.983
6
2. L.Norris
McLaren
3
1:27.845
6
1
1:27.146
3
2
1:26.995
6
3. O.Piastri
McLaren
1
1:27.687
6
4
1:27.507
6
3
1:27.027
6
4. S.Leclair
Ferrari
4
1:27.920
6
5
1:27.555
9
4
1:27.299
6
5. D.Russell
Mercedes
2
1:27.843
6
2
1:27.400
5
5
1:27.318
6
6. K.Antonelli
Mercedes
8
1:27.968
6
7
1:27.639
6
6
1:27.555
6
7. A.Hajjar
Racing Bulls
13
1:28.278
6
9
1:27.775
6
7
1:27.569
6
8. L.Hamilton
Ferrari
5
1:27.942
9
6
1:27.610
8
8
1:27.610
6
9. A.Elbon
Williams
11
1:28.218
6
10
1:27.783
8
9
1:27.615
6
10. O. Berman
Haas
12
1:28.228
9
8
1:27.711
6
10
1:27.867
6
11. P.Gasli
Alpine
9
1:28.186
6
11
1:27.822
6
12. K.Sainz
Williams
10
1:28.209
9
12
1:27.836
6
13. F. Alonso
Aston Martin
14
1:28.337
6
13
1:27.897
6
14. L. Lawson
Racing Bulls
15
1:28.554
6
14
1:27.906
6
15. Yu.Tsunoda
Red Bull
7
1:27.967
6
15
1:28.000
6
16. N. Hulkenberg
Sauber
16
1:28.570
9
17. The city of Bortoleto
Sauber
17
1:28.622
9
18. E.Okon
Haas
18
1:28.696
9
19. D.Duane
Alpine
19
1:28.877
9
20. L.Stroll
Aston Martin
20
1:29.271
5
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