Red Bull’s Max Verstappen delivered an astonishing lap at the death to pip the two McLaren drivers to a surprise pole position at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.
McLaren had dominated proceedings up until the Q3 shootout when Verstappen edged Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with less than half a tenth separating the trio.
McLaren had completed a clean sweep in practice as Norris pumped in a late lap to beat team-mate Piastri in FP3 during another session that witnessed disruptions.
Like in FP2, there were two stoppages when grass areas caught alight. The FIA said that “all available time and resources had been focused on dampening the grass”.
McLaren set the initial pace again
The opening segment started on time, and it was Norris who set the initial pace with a 1:28.233s to go three tenths quicker than Charles Leclerc in the leading Ferrari.
Ferrari had split strategies with Lewis Hamilton on the Medium compound, but that gamble wasn’t appearing to be a suitable call as he was six tenths behind Leclerc.
Yuki Tsunoda elevated his Red Bull up into third place, four tenths down on Norris, while team-mate Verstappen posted a time three tenths faster on his inaugural lap.
Piastri had seemed more at ease with McLaren’s MCL39 through FP3 and eclipsed his team-mate, as George Russell in the Mercedes proceeded to also usurp Norris.
However, Norris responded on his second push lap to go beneath the 1:28s mark with a 1:27.845s, almost three tenths quicker than Piastri’s original benchmark time.
Leclerc toured less than a tenth back, while Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, now on the red-walled Softs, climbed into sixth position behind Oliver Bearman’s Haas.
Mixed fortunes at Aston Martin
The drop zone included Hamilton’s successor at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Aston Martin duo and both Racing Bulls despite the side’s strong practice pace.
Antonelli salvaged his prospects as he hauled his Mercedes up to seventh, with Isack Hadjar, who had been complaining about a recurring issue, also getting through.
Fernando Alonso also escaped the bottom five, but Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll’s hopes were scuppered when he went wide in the Esses and into the gravel.
Alongside Stroll, the two Sauber drivers – Nico Hulkenberg leading Gabriel Bortoleto – Esteban Ocon in the second Haas and Jack Doohan’s Alpine were all eliminated.
But there were no such issues to report at McLaren as Piastri’s table-topping lap remained unbeaten, leaving him and Norris as the two drivers to catch going into Q2.
Verstappen fronted the initial times when Q2 started over the Ferrari drivers on used rubber, but Norris displaced him with a lap three tenths quicker than the Red Bull.
Piastri was unable to replicate his Q1 exploits as a wide moment at Degner 2 cost him three tenths in the middle sector, allowing Russell to again claim second place.
Tsunoda would have been anxious as he was situated in the elimination zone, and he was made to encounter a nervous wait as another grass fire triggered a red flag.
Tsunoda misses Q3 on Red Bull debut
The wait to dampen the blaze on the inside of 130R was not an elongated one and the session restarted with more than eight minutes remaining in the second stage.
Ferrari were quick to venture back out onto the track once the action resumed, but Leclerc and Hamilton could not do enough to trouble Norris, Russell or Verstappen.
Tsunoda was under pressure and a minor improvement wasn’t enough to avoid a premature exit on his Red Bull debut, with drivers behind him still to post their times.
That would culminate in Tsunoda posting the slowest time on home soil in Q2, with Lawson, Alonso, Carlos Sainz’s Williams and Pierre Gasly also not making the cut.
Their collective misfortune was Bearman’s gain as the Haas driver progressed through into Q3 on his maiden F1 trip to Suzuka, along with Racing Bulls rookie Hadjar.
Russell laid down the initial Q3 benchmark among the leading contingent with a 1:27.318s, but Verstappen pieced together a promising end to his lap to creep ahead.
However, the Dutchman’s spell at the top was short-lived as Piastri went over two-tenths faster, with team-mate Norris over four tenths behind in the second McLaren.
Leclerc was on course to move in alongside Piastri on the front row, but he lost time in the final sector and wound up behind Verstappen, with Hamilton down in sixth.
Verstappen surprises McLaren
Russell was aiming to replicate the last-gasp heroics which secured him second on the grid in Shanghai, though a mistake in the opening sector derailed his chances.
The Mercedes driver remained in fourth spot as Norris went into the 1:26s to go 0.057s faster than Piastri, who was down on his own personal best in the first sector.
But while it seemed like Norris was on course to secure pole, Verstappen produced a remarkable lap to edge the points leader and his team-mate, who didn’t improve.
There ended up being 0.044s covering the top three – Verstappen and the McLarens – with Leclerc in fourth position, ahead of Mercedes drivers Russell and Antonelli.
Hadjar also excelled in the single Racing Bulls car in Q3 to beat Hamilton’s Ferrari to seventh place, with Albon’s Williams and Bearman’s Haas rounding out the top 10.
READ MORE – F1 2025 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
