It was Red Bull’s 27th P 1 and 2 finish.
SUZUKA, Japan—Returning after a tough weekend two weeks ago in Australia, Max Verstappen came closer to another victory Saturday afternoon by taking a 1:28:197 fastest lap to secure his fourth pole in a row for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. He finished ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. while McLaren’s Lando Norris improved by finishing in third.
Max Verstappen: It was quite close at the end. This track is quite sensitive to the tires overall, with the tarmac being really aggressive. When you want to go to the limit, it doesn’t always work out. But nonetheless, I think the most important thing is being on the pole.
Verstappen dominated the entire qualifying session, taking all three sessions and having no difficulties being the quickest in the last ten minutes. No driver got closer except for Perez. Carlos Sainz was the fastest Ferrari, finishing fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin. Oscar Piastri, in the second McLaren, was sixth, with the two Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell taking seventh and ninth.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was disappointed and complained, as Alonso did earlier, that he could not do more to try to take pole. Hometown hero Yuki Tsunoda advanced to his second consecutive final qualifying round in his RB Visa Cash App entry but could only finish tenth.
Lance Stroll, who was very disappointed in his Aston Martin, was out in the first round, as were Pierre Gasly of Alpine, Zhou Guanyu of Kick Sauber, Williams Logan Sargeant, and Kevin Magnussen of Haas F1. Exiting in the second round were Daniel Ricciardo of RB Visa Cash App, Nico Hulkenberg of Haas F1, Valtteri Bottas of Kick Sauber, Williams Alexander Albon, and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
For Verstappen, taking his fifth consecutive pole was great, but he would like to win another race after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz broke his streak two weeks ago.
“It’s great as a team to be P1 and P2; hopefully, we can keep that going Sunday.”
