Verstappen explained why he didn't make it to the final.

      Max Verstappen showed the eleventh fastest time in the qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix and will start outside the top ten for the second time this season. After the session, the four-time world champion explained his result.

      Isaac Hajar continued his scoring streak – the race in Suzuka became the eighth consecutive event in which the French driver qualified in the top ten.

      Isaac Hajar (8th): "I knew it would be difficult to make it to the final, considering how our practice sessions went. The car handled completely differently in qualifying – it was very hard to drive. To be honest, I aimed to qualify in the top seven. The goal was not achieved, although we were quite close to it.

      Given the cars starting next to me, I need to try to earn points in the race. It will be tough, but that’s the goal. But in any case, the main task for tomorrow is not to earn points, but to understand how we can make the car faster."

      Max Verstappen (11th): "Not the best qualifying. For a while, we thought we had fixed something in the third practice, but in qualifying, everything became very difficult again. The car was constantly sliding and at the same time not turning in the middle of the corners. As a result, there are big problems with the car's balance, so nothing good.

      I believe we have even more problems than we did last year. Some elements of the car are not working the way we want them to work right now."