Verstappen clinches stunning pole position ahead of Norris and Piastri in Japanese GP Qualifying

Max Verstappen stormed to a surprise pole position in Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, the World Champion surging to P1 in the final moments to displace the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

After Piastri and Norris set the pace during Q1 and Q2 respectively, the trend initially looked to have continued into the top-10 shootout, with Piastri provisionally going fastest during the first runs.

Norris then seemed to have secured pole as the final laps went on the board – before Verstappen surged through to go fastest of all on a 1m 26.983s, the Red Bull driver beating Norris by just 0.012s while Piastri had to settle for third.

Charles Leclerc led Ferrari’s charge in P4, with George Russell in P5 for Mercedes following a messy moment on his flying lap. Fellow Silver Arrows driver Kimi Antonelli took P6 and another rookie, Isack Hadjar, was an impressive P7 for Racing Bulls.

Lewis Hamilton claimed eighth place in the Ferrari, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and the Haas of Ollie Bearman in ninth and 10th respectively.

The big news from Q2 was the exit of Yuki Tsunoda in P15 during his debut Qualifying for Red Bull, the Japanese driver placing behind Liam Lawson – the man he replaced – who took P14 for Racing Bulls.

Others who were unable to progress to the top-10 shootout included Pierre Gasly in 11th for Alpine and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in 13th, while Williams’ Carlos Sainz was originally 12th – however a post-session three-place grid penalty will be applied for the Spaniard after he was judged to have impeded Hamilton in Q2.

The Kick Sauber pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto took P16 and P17 respectively, ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon in P18.

Jack Doohan, meanwhile, struggled to bounce back following his tricky weekend so far at Suzuka, the Alpine driver ending the session in 19th, while Lance Stroll rounded out the order down in 20th after an off-track moment in the Aston Martin.

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Piastri leads as Doohan’s struggles continue

Hours on from the third and final practice session of the weekend – which saw the McLaren pair of Norris and Piastri lead the way – the attentions of the paddock had shifted to Qualifying in order to decide the grid for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The Haas pair of Bearman and Ocon led the pack out when the session got underway at 1500 local time, with the majority of the field bolting on the soft tyre for their initial runs – apart from Hamilton, who was sporting the medium compound for his banker lap.

That gamble did not look to have paid off for Ferrari, Hamilton’s lap proving to be some nine-tenths off the pace-setting time of Norris. Once all 20 drivers had recorded an early flying run, it was Piastri who sat at the top of the timesheets via his effort of 1m 28.143s, five-hundredths clear of Russell, while Norris, Verstappen and Leclerc completed the top five.

It was not all smooth sailing for Verstappen, the Dutchman reporting that his tyres were “not gripping” in the Red Bull. There was also trouble for Hadjar, with the Racing Bulls driver notifying his engineer that he was experiencing the “same issue” that had affected him in FP3, seemingly centering around his seat belts.

The Frenchman – who went on to state that he was unable to focus, labelling his car as “not driveable” – found himself in the drop zone with six minutes left on the clock, along with Lawson, Alonso, Antonelli and Stroll.

One rookie seemingly having a better day was Bearman, who moved up into P5 for Haas. But could the other new arrivals in the sport get themselves out of the danger zone? While Hadjar informed the team that his issue was still persistent after returning to the track, Antonelli improved to slot his Mercedes into P8.

Despite Hadjar’s struggles, the Racing Bulls driver moved up to 12th, while Lawson just escaped the relegation zone by taking 15th. The names that were not so lucky included the Kick Saubers of Hulkenberg and Bortoleto, who were eliminated in 16th and 17th respectively.

Ocon also failed to make the cut in P18, and Doohan’s difficult weekend continued as the Alpine driver could only manage P19. Bringing up the rear was Stroll, ending the session in a disappointing P20 for Aston Martin after running through the gravel following a wide moment.

Knocked out: Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Ocon, Doohan, Stroll

Q2 – Norris sets the pace as both Lawson and Tsunoda exit

Verstappen was the first to head out on track as the 15 remaining drivers hit the circuit for Q2 and the World Champion looked to have set the early pace with his first time on the board – before he was subsequently dislodged by the McLaren of Norris, going fastest on a 1m 27.146s.

Russell followed in second, ahead of Verstappen, Piastri – who lost time after going wide through the Degners – and an eye-catching Albon in fifth for Williams. The action then came to a brief halt owing to another small fire at the side of the track, with Sainz, Alonso, Bearman, Tsunoda and Lawson the drivers at risk in the drop zone.

When the session resumed with just over eight minutes left on the clock, the Ferrari duo of Hamilton and Leclerc were keen to get back on track – having yet to set a time on fresh tyres – while the rest of the field seemed content to wait it out in their garages.

Leclerc moved up into fourth, the Monegasque going on to tell his engineer that “the first sector was rubbish from me”, while Hamilton slotted into fifth as other drivers started to emerge for their final efforts.

Alonso improved to initially escape the danger zone, pushing Lawson down in the process, before better times from the likes of Bearman dropped the two-time World Champion down to P13. Gasly also exited in P11 – missing out by less than two-hundredths – as did Sainz in P12, Lawson behind Alonso in P14 and Tsunoda back in P15 during his first Qualifying for Red Bull.

It was also confirmed that a potential impeding incident will be investigated after the session after Sainz appeared to get in Hamilton’s way, the Ferrari driver voicing his unhappiness about the moment over the radio. The stewards would go on to hit the Williams driver with a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's race.

Knocked out: Gasly, Sainz, Alonso, Lawson, Tsunoda

Q3 – Verstappen grabs shock pole position from Norris

The action continued at pace as Q3 got underway, with Verstappen seemingly grabbing provisional pole before Piastri swept through moments later to take the position on a lap of 1m 27.052s, putting him two-tenths ahead of the Red Bull.

Leclerc claimed third in the Ferrari, while Russell was fourth and Norris took fifth place, the Briton some four-tenths back from his team mate after running slightly wide through Turn 7. Hamilton also experienced a small slide, the seven-time World Champion slotting into sixth.

As attentions turned to the decisive final runs, Russell looked to have missed his chance of securing pole when the Mercedes had a moment in the first corner, but there seemed to be no such trouble for Norris who went quickest to take P1.

Yet a surprise was in store as Verstappen surged through to snatch pole position, the Red Bull driver pumping in an effort of 1m 26.983s to beat Norris by just over one-hundredth of a second. Piastri, meanwhile, remained in third, with Leclerc taking fourth ahead of the Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli in fifth and sixth respectively.

Hadjar ended the session in P7 – outqualifying both his current team mate Lawson and former one Tsunoda – while Hamilton was P8 for Ferrari ahead of Albon and Bearman, the latter enjoying his strongest Qualifying performance of the season so far in the Haas.

Key quote

"I am [surprised]," said polesitter Verstappen. "We tried the best we could I think to get the best possible balance with the car, but it wasn’t easy even in Qualifying. Every session we just kept on making little improvements and I think that’s where we made the difference. The last lap was just flat out. Around here, being on the limit or maybe a bit over in places is incredibly rewarding."

What’s next

The 2025 Japanese Grand Prix is set to begin at 1400 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from Suzuka.