#F1 #JapaneseGP Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen beats @SChecoPerez to 36th-career pole.

Verstappen Japanese GP Pole – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen outpaced his team-mate Sergio Perez to storm to his 36^th-career pole in qualifying at the Japanese GP whilst McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the top three.

In Q3, the initial flyers saw Verstappen score two purple sectors to gain provisional pole setting a 1:28.240 as McLaren’s Norris took a purple sector one with two personal best efforts to fall 0.249 adrift to the Dutchman as Perez was a further 0.365 off his Red Bull team-mate in third.

The final hot-laps Verstappen got a purple sector in sector one, followed by a personal best in sector two and failed to improve in the final sector, but still lowered the benchmark to a 1:28.187 whilst Perez scored a personal best in sector one, put in a solid purple middle sector and a personal best effort in the last sector to get within 0.066 seconds of his team-mate giving Red Bull a front-row lockout whilst McLaren’s Norris completed the top three and was a further 0.292 seconds off the championship leader in third.

Australian Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz was unable to improve on his final flyer settling for fourth on the grid for Ferrari as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso qualified fifth in the sole AMR24 entry in the final qualifying stage.

The second McLaren MCL38 entry of Oscar Piastri was sixth and ahead of Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton who took seventh whilst Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc done only one hot-lap in the top ten shootout to end up eighth.

The second Silver Arrow F1 W15 Mercedes of George Russell and RB’s home favourite Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.

In the second qualifying stage, which was topped by Verstappen, a late improvement from local hero Tsunoda knocked out RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by 0.055 meaning the Australian will start the Japanese GP outside the top ten in 11^th place.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg had his initial Q2 flyer effort invalidated for exceeding track limits at turn 13, but his second hot-lap saw the German wound up 12^th.

Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas qualified in 13^th and in-front of Williams’ Alexander Albon who took 14^th and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who ended as the slowest driver in Q2 taking 15^th on the grid.

In the opening segment, which was topped by Verstappen, a solid late improvement from Sauber’s Bottas pushed the Finn up to eighth to progress into Q2, which eliminated Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll as the Canadian is the quickest of the Q1 eliminatees in 16^th.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ended Q1 in 17^th and in-front of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who placed 18^th and Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu who brought up the rear.

Russell is currently under investigation by the stewards for an unsafe release in-front of McLaren’s Piastri in the pit-lane during Q1.

You can see the full Formula 1 MSC Cruises Japanese Grand Prix 2023 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1232/japan/qualifying.html

2024 Japanese GP Qualifying – The Top Three

2024 Japanese GP Pole Position – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20, 1:28.197:

“It was close in the end, nevertheless, most importantly to be on pole – of course you want every lap to be perfect but at a track like this isn’t always the case. Great for the team to be P1 and P2, great fan support here!”

2^nd Place – Sergio Perez, #11, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20, +0.066s:

“It was close today with Max, it was a good lap. It was tricky out there; we’ve been close all weekend and in those little margins anything can make a difference. I think we are in a good position for tomorrow.”

3^rd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38, +0.292s:

“We had a good car today, we could fight, we did some good laps in Q3 so a good one for us. We are trying to catch up to the Red Bulls, but they are doing a good job so hats off to them.”

#F1 #JapaneseGP FP3: @Max33Verstappen edges @RedBullRacing team-mate @SChecoPerez by 0.269s.

#JapaneseGP FP2: @McLarenF1’s @OscarPiastri tops damp session. #F1 #JapanGP

#JapaneseGP FP1 Report: @Max33Verstappen heads @RedBullRacing 1-2. #F1

#F1 MSC Cruises #JapaneseGP 2024 Preview. #Formula1 #JapanGP